Looks like the Tigers will be getting another slugger into camp after all. But this one won't be swinging; he'll be mentoring.

A report out of Venezuela quotes former Major League All-Star Andres Galarraga saying he has been offered a job by the Tigers to come to Spring Training in an instructional role. Among his duties reportedly would be to serve as a mentor to Miguel Cabrera.

Team president/general manager Dave Dombrowski replied Saturday that he wasn't prepared to discuss Galarraga's role at this time. (Update: It appears they're still talking and haven't finalized it yet, which would explain the hesitation to comment. Still, it sounds like he's coming.)

If it happens, It would be an interesting match of one of Venezuela's most revered players and the young star whose talent has drawn comparisons with Galarraga ever since he was a teenager.

Galarraga talked Friday during the Caribbean Series, which matches up the winter ball champions from Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Mexico and Puerto Rico. This year, it's being held on Margarita Island in Venezuela.

When Cabrera talked about his battle with alcoholism a few weeks ago, the Tigers talked about having someone with him in Spring Training as part of his counseling program. This sounds quite a bit bigger than that.

Galarraga probably should've received a lot more Hall of Fame consideration than he did this year. He was one-and-done when he failed to draw votes from five percent of the total ballots, an amazing fate for someone who hit 399 home runs, put up 1,425 RBIs and was regarded among the best at his position for more than a decade. Magglio Ordonez speaks of him like a national hero, the greatest player to come out of his country. Whenever Ordonez has been compared to him, it's humbling for him.

Galarraga didn't find a full-time role until catching on with Montreal at age 26 in 1987, eight years after he signed with the Expos as an amateur free agent, and around the same time Dave Dombrowski was in Montreal's front office. Cabrera is 26 now, turns 27 in April, and has driven in at least 100 runs on all six of his full big-league seasons. He has  four years with at least a .320 batting average and .940 OPS.

But obviously, Cabrera has some challenges to overcome and some growing up to do.

For all of you who emailed the inbox asking which big-name free agents the Tigers could pursue next winter after losing so much payroll in expiring contracts, there's the Lee Corso line: Not so fast, my friend.

Assuming the report becomes official Thursday or Friday and Justin Verlander gets his contract extension at somewhere around five years and $80 million, the Tigers will have accomplished the monumental task of keeping their ace for the long term. That's the good news. Their next challenge will be how to manage their roster around it.

If the $80 million figure is correct, assume that around $60 million will be laid out in the final three years from 2012-14, the free-agent years that the Tigers will have bought out. The first two years will be far less because they're buying out arbitration years. Add that configuration to the Tigers payroll, and in those final three years, Verlander would be the second Tiger making $20 million or more per year, joining Miguel Cabrera. His contract hits the $20 million salary this year and stays there the next, followed by two years at $21 million and 2014-15 at $22 million each.

Just three teams are currently on track to have two players making $20 million a year at the same time: The Yankees have four (of course), the Mets two (Beltran and Santana), and the Phillies will have two of them in 2011, when the salaries on Ryan Howard and Roy Halladay both pick up. The Cardinals will come close if they sign Albert Pujols long term to go with Matt Holliday's contract at $17 million per year. The Cubs come really close with Carlos Zambrano and Alfonso Soriano both making around $19 million this year and two seasons after that.

Once the Cardinals re-signed Holliday this winter, the big question that followed was whether they could afford to keep him and Pujols long term and still field a contending team around them. That's in St. Louis, where the payroll hasn't doesn't top $100 million. The Tigers have topped $100 million the last two years, and it's looking like their payroll could actually be higher this season than it was in 2009, despite trading Curtis Granderson and Edwin Jackson and letting their free agents go. You'd have to not count Gary Sheffield's salary from last year to get to that high total, but still, you get the idea.

Dave Dombrowski didn't talk about slashing payroll this offseason, insisted they weren't gutting, but he talked about making adjustments given the realities of this economy. Here was surely one adjustment, making room for Verlander's salary this year. In the context of the economy, and the idea that Michigan will take longer to recover than other areas, finding a way to field a contending team while supporting the salaries of Verlander and Cabrera isn't as easy as finding free agents willing to play for a contender.

There was a line of thought not long ago that a team cannot win if one player takes up more than 15 percent of payroll. Assuming the numbers above, Verlander and Cabrera could combine to make anywhere from $40 to $45 million from 2012-14. Even if the Tigers hold payroll around $120 million per year, Verlander and Cabrera would take up at least a third of that.

The Tigers have two choices: They can either look to trade Cabrera at some point in the future, or they can invest heavily in their farm system and through trades to start cranking out young talent to put around these guys. It sure looks like they're trying to do the latter. In this scenario, they would use free agency to fill in a few holes here and there, not to build a team. In other words, you don't go signing Orlando Hudson when Scott Sizemore is ready to do the job. You might add Johnny Damon to fill a leadoff hole, but you do it as a short-term patch until your younger guys are ready.

Time will tell whether they can pull it off. If they can, it's going to be a very exciting team to watch. Toiling around the Internet, I found a Tom Verducci piece on SI.com from 2007 listing his top 10 franchise players under 25. Cabrera was first, Verlander eighth.

Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that she talked with free-agent infielder Adam Kennedy, who told her that he's in talks with Cleveland and Washington. Nothing is going down, he said, until fellow free-agent second baseman Orlando Hudson signs somewhere. Whatever happens there, though, it doesn't suggest the Tigers are particularly high on the list of potential destinations, especially when paired with Dave Dombrowski's remarks this week that they're not close on any signings right now.

So as you might have seen on the site or on MLB Network last night, MLB.com came out with its preseason Top 50 prospect list. The Tigers came in with two kids on the list: Austin Jackson was the top Tiger at 38th, but first-round draft pick Jacob Turner isn't far behind at 42.

Today, ESPN.com's Keith Law came out with his top 100 prospects list. Jackson and Turner are on that list, too, but neither cracked the Top 50. Casey Crosby, however, did. He's at 45, with Jackson at 70 and Turner at 80. Interestingly, Law is subdued on his projections for Jackson, whom he sees as a true center field with a league-average bat. Scott Sizemore barely missed the top 100, Law writes, and probably would've made the cut had his Arizona Fall League not ended early with a broken ankle. Law projects him as a "solid-average regular for several years."

Not to be overlooked (thanks to Ed Price for pointing it out) is the prospects list from AOL Fanhouse, which has five (count 'em, five) Tigers in the Top 100. Jackson is 25th on that list by Frankie Piliere, who says Jackson has "grown by leaps and bounds since he was drafted." The next-highest Tiger is Andy Oliver, who didn't make the other two lists but hits 47th here. Another missing name from the other two rankings, Daniel Schlereth, is 78th, followed by Crosby at 82 and Turner at 90.

My point isn't to argue that any one list is better than another; I just find the varying opinions fascinating. I'm entering my ninth year on this beat, and I can't remember such varying national opinions on Tigers prospects. The one thing all these lists have in common is that they show progress in Detroit's farm system. They're drafting and developing more high-level talent rather than just one or two really good pitchers, and in the case of Jackson and Schlereth, they're trading for them too.

You might remember a story I did last winter on Nate Robertson working out at Detroit Mercy under the watch of their strength and conditioning coordinator, Nick Wilson, who has some Tigers ties. Well, Robertson is helping give back to the school and to charity tonight, when he joins in the Cardio for a Cause fundraiser.

According to a release from the school, a series of 216 participants will pedal for 10 minutes each on a stationary bike, for a total of 36 hours of biking. UDM basketball coach Ray McCallum started it off Wednesday morning. Robertson will end it as the final biker, pedaling from 8:20 to 8:30 p.m. courtside at Calihan Hall while the Titans take on Loyola-Chicago. Robertson is expected to sign some autographs afterwards. Fans at the game can make donations.

Proceeds from the event go to four different causes: UDM's strength and conditioning program, Children's Hospital of Michigan, The V Foundation for Cancer Research (that's the foundation in Jim Valvano's memory) and the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund.

The incident at a Phoenix Suns game that resulted in the arrest of Tigers catcher Gerald Laird revolved around the wife of NBA player Eddie House, the Arizona Republic reported Tuesday, citing a police report.

Gerald Laird was booked on suspicion of misdemeanor assault. Laird told MLB.com earlier this month that the incident was a misunderstanding that was blown out of proportion, and while he has declined to go into further detail while the case is still pending, he reiterated that to reporters Saturday at TigerFest.

His brother, Yankees prospect Brandon Laird, was booked on suspicion of disorderly conduct. Their uncle, Gregory Collins, was arrested on suspicion of assault. The police report lists Charlsie House as an investigative lead, according to the Republic.

More from the newspaper report:

Authorities said House quickly left the arena's Verve Energy Lounge after accusing the Lairds' 70-year-old grandfather, who was never cited, of touching her inappropriately.

House said she "did not want any prosecution" and was "reluctant to give any of her information" to officers, according to the report. A bartender told police House claimed she was being harassed prior to the fight.

Officers who responded to the fight said Brandon Laird, 22, shouted derogatory remarks toward House and other women at the lounge before taking a swing at one of the women. The Yankees' prospect was booked on suspicion of misdemeanor disorderly conduct.

The paper cites the police report quoting Laird as telling officers he was just trying to "watch the game and have some fun," and that the incident involved "some lady inside that was bragging about her husband playing for the Celtics."

Most of them, you would've already expected, but there are a few that you might not. Among them are Kory Casto, who stands a chance to get more time than expected at third base while Brandon Inge works his surgically repaired knees back into game shape.

Cody Satterwhite and Robbie Weinhardt are both invited. It's a long shot for them to make the club, but a good shot for them to make an impression and set themselves up for a midseason call-up.

I'm not sure how many Spring Trainings with the Tigers this will be for Max St. Pierre, but it has to be a lot. For someone who has not appeared in a Major League game, it has to be an incredible total.

Here's the full list:

Pitchers: Phil Dumatrait, Enrique Gonzalez, Josh Rainwater, Cody Satterwhite, Robbie Weinhardt
Catchers: Robinzon Diaz, John Murrian, Mike Rabelo, Eric Roof, Max St. Pierre
Infielders: Kory Casto, Jeff Larish, Gustavo Nunez

All in all, it isn't a huge list compared with other years. But they really don't need a whole lot of invites this year.

The mystery of how the Tigers would create roster space for Jose Valverde has been solved. They outrighted the contract of corner infielder Jeff Larish to Triple-A Toledo.

It's a surprising move when you consider how valued he was last winter, to the point that the Tigers wouldn't deal him to Seattle in any trade talks for J.J. Putz. He was set up to be a valuable left-handed bat and role player last year, and he made the Opening Day roster, but he batted .216 in 32 games before going to Toledo in early June. He hit .265 with a .397 on-base percentage, six home runs and 26 RBIs in 61 games there, but struggled down the stretch before undergoing surgery on his right wrist.

Larish will still be in Major League camp as a non-roster invitee, so he'll still have a chance to crack the roster.

The Tigers now have more pitchers (21) on their 40-man roster than position players.

As I wrote in my story on Curtis Granderson's charity basketball game Sunday, it was fitting that one of Granderson's last events in the Detroit area was a community work. As much as he has done on the field, his off-field work really made an impression.

For almost everyone, that impression has been a positive one. Still, some -- or maybe one -- made it an issue for scrutiny in the days and weeks after Granderson's trade to New York. Was he doing too much?

Granderson has stayed out of that debate, but when he was asked about Sunday, he admitted he was perplexed about that it's even worth bringing up.

"It's amazing how, you know, so much is talked about players not doing something [to give back]," Granderson said after Sunday's game. "Then I do something, and now that's the reason why everyone thought I was playing bad. But yet, my involvement with so many different things -- from my book, to my foundation, to education, the RBI program -- is very minimal.

"My book ["All You Can Be"] took two days. That's it. Two days. Everybody thinks it took a lot longer. I did autograph signings on an off-day. When I mentioned with RBI and countless organizations, it's really just my name, and that I support them. They may have an event, but there's a good chance I'm probably playing and not there. So there are a lot of things the resume, but it's not that time-consuming.

"It's amazing what's OK to spend your time on and what's not. If I were married and had kids, that's OK. But the fact that I'm helping out everyone else's kids, there seems to be a problem with that."

Granderson said he really isn't sure where the pushback is coming from. But it's clearly something worth defending himself against.

"It's been talked about over the past two years, I think," Granderson said. "And honestly, the busiest year was 2007, which was arguably my best year.

That was the year Granderson hit 20 doubles, triples, home runs and stolen bases along with a .300 average.

"I was doing two school visits a day and then coming to the ballpark, and then two more the next day," Granderson continued. "Then we had all the Tigers events. We were establishing the [Grand Kids] foundation. We were doing autograph signings. I had the blog I was doing three times a week versus one time a week. All these different things, and it was arguably the best season. So I can't put too much into what's happening off the field correlating with on the field."

Scott Sizemore still has some small pins in his left fibula from the surgery he underwent in the fall to repair the fracture from the Arizona Fall League. But he doesn't have the big pins that were in place to hold everything together.

More importantly, he doesn't have any hesitation in his belief that he'll be ready for Spring Training in about a month.

"It feels good," Sizemore said of his ankle. "Good range of motion. It doesn't feel achy or anything. I'm excited to start working out."

He'll have to wait another week for that. The holes in his bone from where the big pins were inserted through the bone, those holes still have to fill in. From there, he'll be cleared for more running and lateral movement.

Before those pins were removed, Sizemore said, he was hitting and taking ground balls. So this coming week will be more of a short break.

He believes he should be ready. Leyland is definitely hoping for it. He could be Leyland's best choice for a No. 2 hitter. And they need him getting time at second base alongside Adam Everett and Ramon Santiago in Spring Training.