Jhonny Peralta.jpg

Jhonny Peralta appears to be a lock to be on the American League Division Series roster for the Detroit Tigers.

(AP File Photo)

DETROIT -- Baseball fans spend a ton of time in the days leading up to the first playoff game pondering who will and will not be on their favorite team's postseason roster.

But in the end, all that time is spent debating which two or three players will be on the end of the bench or buried in the bullpen. Seriously, it's not as if the Detroit Tigers are choosing between Prince Fielder and Victor Martinez, right?

But it is worth taking a look at how the roster might stack up for the Tigers heading into the American League Division Series against the Oakland Athletics that begins Friday.

Position players (14 spots):

Prince Fielder, Omar Infante, Jose Iglesias, Miguel Cabrera, Andy Dirks, Austin Jackson, Torii Hunter, Alex Avila, Victor Martinez, Brayan Pena, Don Kelly, Ramon Santiago.

This leaves two spots open for the following players: Jhonny Peralta, Matt Tuiasosopo, Hernan Perez, Nick Castellanos.

Peralta appears to be a lock at this point. My best guess is that he will be the starting left fielder against left-handed starters and act as a pinch hitter off the bench the rest of the time. Since the A's have all right-handed starters, Peralta will likely be the main pinch hitter for the Tigers in the Division Series.

Castellanos has zero chance to be on the playoff roster. Why is he listed above? It has something to do with search-engine optimization, I believe. Plus, if he weren't included, there would be a slew of questions about why he was not.

If the final spot comes down to Tuiasosopo and Perez, it appears that Perez has the major edge. Tuiasosopo has struggled throughout the second half of the season and hasn't had a hit since Aug. 28. Perez could be valuable off the bench as a pinch runner in the late innings.

Go with Peralta and Perez for the final two spots here.

Starting pitchers (4 spots):

Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, Anibal Sanchez, Doug Fister.

This is locked in. No point spending one more word talking about it.

Bullpen (7 spots):

Joaquin Benoit, Drew Smyly, Jose Veras, Al Alburquerque, Rick Porcello.

The final two spots would have gone to Bruce Rondon and Phil Coke if they were healthy. But both of them have elbow issues and

. That leaves the Tigers choosing between pitchers like Luke Putkonen, Jeremy Bonderman, Evan Reed, Jose Alvarez and Darin Downs for the final two spots in the bullpen.

Putkonen seems to be the frontrunner for Rondon's spot. He's been dependable this season and could pitch multiple innings in a blowout or a long extra-inning game.

The Tigers used Alvarez more down the stretch than they used Downs and actually didn't promote Downs right away after rosters expanded Sept. 1. And even though there is video evidence

, I have reconsidered and am now leaning toward Downs.

Downs pitched well in three outings late in September and has better numbers against left-handed batters than Alvarez has. In the absence of Coke, the Tigers are likely to rely more on Alburquerque against left-handed batters in tough spots, but if they are looking for a second left-hander, Downs could be the guy.

Go with Putkonen and Downs.

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