In news that was more or less expected at this point, the Tigers announced today that Carlos Guillen and Joel Zumaya have both been officially ruled out for Opening Day.
Guillen recently experienced a setback in his recovery from knee surgery and Zumaya is likely still several weeks away from being cleared to throw following his latest arm problems, delaying his comeback from the broken elbow that ended his season in June.
They’ll begin the season on the disabled list and remain in Florida for extended spring training. Zumaya’s situation doesn’t really alter the Tigers’ immediate bullpen plans, as Jim Leyland has been preparing as if he wasn’t a lock to be ready for Game 1 anyway, but with Guillen out Will Rhymes and Scott Sizemore are now competing for the starting job at second base.