Thinking (and linking) over lunch

♦ That sound you may have heard earlier today was from the Brandon Inge Haters Club, lamenting his new contract extension (four years, $24.4 million) from the Detroit Tigers.

Some people point to Inge's error totals and say he's a poor defensive third baseman. Others (a group in which I include myself) say he gets to balls that most other guys at his position wouldn't come near. Yes - sometimes that leads to errors, and he makes some throws he probably shouldn't, but knocking down balls that would otherwise go to the outfield saves quite a few runs, too.

To me, that defensive ability makes up for his offensive shortcomings. No, he's not Aramis Ramirez and probably never will be. He's the Tigers' ninth-place hitter, and is hardly the easy out often expected at that position. And hey, Detroit isn't paying Inge $15 million a season, either.

Here's more from The Detroit Tigers Weblog.

♦ Speaking of contract extensions, Brian at Beyond Boxscores thinks the Tigers need to work out a deal with Jeremy Bonderman - and pronto. When you see the deals handed out to middle-of-the-road starters like Vincente Padilla, Ted Lilly, and Gil Meche, it's hard to argue such a good point.

Given what Bonderman's achieved at his age, he'd attract some serious interest on the open market, and the Tigers should be lock him up before it gets to that point. They're smart, proactive guys over there, right?

♦ ESPN.com's Keith Law compares Gil Meche's five-year, $55 million deal with the Royals to what the Tigers did two years ago with Magglio Ordonez.

Is this an indication, by the way, that baseball's revenue-sharing plan is working? Kansas City giving a five-year deal, at $10 million a season, to a starting pitcher? (The Big Lead seems to think it's making things worse.)

♦ Nothing makes me smile more than Mike McClary's persistence in wanting the Tigers to get rid of Craig Monroe. As I've said before, the man deserves credit for consistency in his beliefs.

And now, Mike has Billfer on his side, too - though with a bit less fervor.

♦ Did the Tigers pick up Jamie Walker's replacement in yesterday's Rule 5 draft? What can be expected from young Edward Campusano? 81 strikeouts in 55 1/2 innings. Here's more from TigerBlog (who warns not to get too excited about those K numbers).

(Tip o' the cap to Tiger Tales)

♦ Sifting through all the transactions and rumors from the Baseball Winter Meetings, I'm thinking the best deal made in Orlando is the Braves trading Horacio Ramirez for Rafael Soriano. Suddenly, Atlanta's bullpen - which has been an annual weakness, and may have been the difference in knocking them out of the NL Wild Card race - could be looking pretty good.

I'm not sure the Mets are sweating it, though. And I don't know why the Mariners would trade Soriano. But I might be biased because he was very good to my fantasy baseball team mid-season.