Only five days remain until Opening Day, and the Tigers’ 25-man roster is rapidly taking its final shape. Competition for a bench role as a utility infielder had been whittled down to Alexi Amarista and Niko Goodrum in the past week. Other hopefuls such as Ronny Rodriguez and Pete Kozma were re-assigned to minor league camp on Thursday. On Saturday morning, the Tigers announced that Amarista had been granted his unconditional release, which appears to lock Goodrum in as the Tigers’ backup infielder.
Amarista has proven the more sure handed defender at second base or shortstop this spring, but struggled mightily with the bat.