Eugene

Kingsale

Kingsale might make the Padres as a fifth outfielder. It could depend on whether the team can sign Eric Owens.

Kingsale is eligible to be activated today, but the Tigers don’t have a spot for him.

Kingsale doesn’t hit enough to be used anywhere other than center, but the Tigers would use him occasionally in left, pushing Dmitri Young to third base or the DH spot.

''I don’t really know how bad it is. It’s not as bad as it looked,’' Kingsale said. He’s day-to-day.

Bad news for Kingsale, who will get one fewer at-bat per game. Under normal circumstances, Higginson would be hurt by batting leadoff, since he’ll have no one to drive in. However, it’s not like he had anyone to drive in while batting third.

Kingsale was a decent reserve outfielder for the Padres in 2002. In order to save money, the team might non-tender Gary Matthews Jr. and give Kingsale back his old job.

The Tigers couldn’t afford to carry two injured outfielder, and Kingsale is more expendable than Bobby Higginson. He should return in two weeks.

This would seem to mean that the Tigers want to keep Andres Torres around as a reserve. We think they’d be better off using Kingsale as a reserve and having Torres play regularly in Triple-A. Torres doesn’t figure to have any fantasy value unless Alex Sanchez gets himself benched.