Teams are setting their 40-man rosters today in preparation for the Rule 5 draft and the Tigers cleared room by releasing veteran Ryan Raburn.
Raburn was drafted by Detroit in 2001 and has been with the Tigers since 2007, but that has included several demotions to the minors and a ghastly .171 batting average in 66 games as a big leaguer this year.
Raburn made $2.1 million this year and would have been arbitration eligible for the final time in 2013, so rather than keep him around for a similar price the Tigers decided to cut bait on the 31-year-old. He should be able to land a bench gig somewhere, although Raburn is a tweener in that he doesn’t hit well enough to man a corner outfield spot every day and doesn’t play defense well enough to be an asset elsewhere.
