It speaks to the Tigers’ confidence in their depth today that they were able to designate Kyle Lobstein for assignment on Friday to make a spot for utility man Mike Aviles on their 40-man roster.
A year ago at this time a look through the depth chart would have shown Lobstein to be, if not an important part of the team’s future, at least a necessary one.
Detroit teams put together by then-general manager Dave Dombrowski all had the same general flaw year to year: high peaks and low valleys. So if starters were to fall to injury, the replacements were more than a typical drop-off in quality.