LAKELAND, Fla. -- The Detroit Tigers have plenty of pitchers who can close. But they don't have a closer. Not now, anyway.

The Tigers have sent Bruce Rondon to Triple-A Toledo and will start the season with a mix-and-match approach when it comes to closing games.

"It's maybe different, unusual, but it doesn't mean it won't work," Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski said after announcing the move. "I feel comfortable with the abilities out there."

The Tigers also sent Luis Marte to Toledo, which means left-hander Darin Downs has made the team.

Basically, everyone in the bullpen -- Joaquin Benoit, Octavio Dotel, Phil Coke, Al Alburquerque, Brayan Villarreal, Downs and Drew Smyly -- could get a save opportunity here or there, but the bulk of them seem likely to go to veterans like Benoit, Dotel and Coke.

"We have good pitchers," Dombrowski said. "We have guys that can close games. The difference really right now is we don't have the guy that, every day, you give him the ball.

"It doesn't mean other guys can't close. They've done it before, in some cases. But it's also a situation where, those other guys, they can do the job at the end of the game. They have good ability."

Come back to MLive throughout the day for updates on this story.

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