These can be the difficult days of spring training, when everyone is pretty much getting ready for opening day and the games seem to have no bearing on anything. That goes especially when the roster is already decided — yes, they have one more move to make, but Leyland has said he’s made up his mind and he’s waiting on procedures before he can do actually do it. (That means they’re waiting to see if Franklyn German can clear waivers.) Other than the Indians winning the prestigious Polk County Cup, there wasn’t really much going on Thursday.

Jeremy Bonderman gave up four runs on three homers today, but Leyland chalked it up to him falling out of his groove and putting about a handful of pitches in the same place. He adjusted out of it after that, as is his habit in the regular season. Another 2-for-4 day for Hafner, who’s up to .386 for the spring and looks to again be a thorn in the Tigers’ side.

Fernando Rodney looked good for two outs in the sixth before hitting Victor Martinez with a pitch. Martinez didn’t appreciate it, probably because Dmitri Young was hit in the previous inning. Rodney didn’t say anything, didn’t look Martinez’s way, but he walked off the mound in the direction of home plate. Martinez ended up scoring Cleveland’s go-ahead run, albeit in a spring training win.

Two more games to go, both against the Devil Rays. The Tigers won’t do batting practice tomorrow, instead opting to spend most of their morning on drills before hitting in the cage. They’ll work out Sunday and Tuesday in KC, too, and you get a feeling Leyland is trying to cram in as much work as he can before the season gets going.

Sorry to neglect the blog the last couple days. Between opening day stuff, a long drive to Vero and a sometimes glitchy computer, it’s been a tiring couple days, but we should be OK from here on out. Anyway, to review the roster moves:

Logan, Gomez, Kelly, Mercado, Woodyard, Hessman and now Roman Colon are headed to the minors, presumably Triple-A Toledo for all of them. Former Twins catcher Rob Bowen has been added. So between now and Saturday, the Tigers have to cut a pitcher (German most likely, Grilli possibly) and figure out what to do with Bowen.

Bowen is out of options, so he has to either go north with the big club or go through waivers again. I’m guessing it’s the latter, since there’s no real reason to carry three catchers and Bowen hasn’t shown any reason to stick.

1. Pena was the classic example of a player needing a change of scenery. Leyland said as much before the game, and while I’m not as confident as other people he’ll blossom somewhere else, I’m certain he would never do it here if he stayed. There’s been too much history to let that happen. Pena wasn’t going to get the at-bats needed to emerge at the big-league level. Even if he was the only first baseman here, he was pressing far too much to make any difference here. The big salary was working against him developmentally, and he wouldn’t have taken an assignment back to the minors well enough to get enough out of it. He might come back to bite the Tigers, but can it really be called that when he had zero chance of doing the same thing here?

2. Don’t be surprised if other players start asking Leyland where they stand on this team, as Pena did. Leyland said once he got to Legends Field this morning, another player asked to see him and asked that same question. In this case, Leyland couldn’t give a definitive answer. He was either going to make the team, not make the team, or be traded. Leyland wouldn’t name the player. I checked a couple of likely suspects who made the trip, and both said it wasn’t them.

The Tigers released Carlos Pena this morning. They’ll owe him 45 days pay, meaning $700,000 of his $2.8 million salary. Details to follow.

For anyone who cares, the Reds signed former Tigers center fielder Alex Sanchez to a minor-league contract this weekend. He’ll report to minor-league camp, not the major league version. We’ll see if that starts Sanchez on the path of Triple-A veteran so many other ex-Tigers have followed or if he can salvage something out of a career that has plummeted in the last 12 months and 10 days.

By the way, former Mud Hen Dewayne Wise looked like he had a chance to win a spot on the Reds roster as a backup outfielder, but he sprained his ankle Friday night.

Take a good look at the lineup from Saturday, because Jim Leyland said he’d use it if the opener was today:

1. Curtis Granderson, CF
2. Placido Polanco, 2B
3. Ivan Rodriguez, C
4. Magglio Ordonez, RF
5. Dmitri Young, DH
6. Craig Monroe, LF
7. Carlos Guillen, SS
8. Chris Shelton, 1B
9. Brandon Inge, 3B

Having Guillen and Shelton batting seventh and eighth is a pretty good sign of balance in the lineup if everyone stays healthy. Batting Pudge back in the third spot will probably spark some debate. Leyland is staying true to his statement that he believes last season was an off year for someone he considers a pretty good hitter.

"I just think he’s been a professional hitter his whole career. Hopefully he can be that way this year," Leyland said.

Before debating whether Dmitri should be batting fifth, keep in mind that he’s a switch-hitter coming after three consecutive right-handed batters. Monroe and Shelton are both righties, so the only other non-righty to put in there would be Guillen.

Now that Justin Verlander and Joel Zumaya are both on the team, the Tigers have nine pitchers decided, three left to go, and more than a half-dozen guys left in camp to consider. It’ll be an interesting final stretch if only because putting the two youngsters on the squad leaves some semi-experienced guys fighting for jobs.

At least one of the two rotation runners-up, Jason Grilli and Roman Colon, will probably make the staff as a long reliever. Grilli is out of options, while Colon still has one. Considering Colon has been a seventh-inning guy before, though, both could make it. If that happened, the Tigers would have Chris Spurling, Franklyn German, the two lefties (Hector Mercado and Bobby Seay) and Mark Woodyard fighting for one spot.

German is out of options, too, but that probably wouldn’t be enough reason to keep him if he doesn’t warrant a spot. Spurling struggled early but has settled down since, and he’s coming off a solid second half last year. Leyland said Friday morning he’d like to have a second lefty reliever, but he won’t keep one just for the sake of keeping one. We’ll see where this goes.

It’s official. Jim Leyland named Verlander the fifth starter and Zumaya as one of his relievers. Verlander will start the first Saturday of the season at Texas. Zumaya, meanwhile, could end up in a major role for the Tigers, though not as a setup man or closer.

"Not only is Zumaya going to pitch on the team," Leyland said, "I think he’s going to pitch in some huge situations."

As for Jason Grilli and Roman Colon, the other two contestants in the fifth starter race, Leyland said they’re both in the running for the remaining three spots in the bullpen. Grilli starts today against the Astros. Colon is slated to pitch tomorrow.

Justin Verlander retired all six batters he faced before a 44-minute rain delay in the second inning. That’s about three innings less than the Tigers wanted him to go, but he looked good, fanning Aaron Rowand and Mike Lieberthal on back-to-back called third strikes.

Joel Zumaya worked the fifth and sixth with one single allowed and one strikeout. Jim Leyland admitted before the game that if he makes the team, it would likely be as a reliever. That said, Leyland also hinted that he has a good chance to make the team.

Wilfredo Ledezma optioned to Triple-A Toledo. Chad Durbin, Lee Gardner, Kevin Hodge, Ryan Ludwick, Brian Peterson, Josh Phelps, Max St. Pierre and Reggie Taylor all assigned to minor-league camp.

Phelps is a slight surprise in the fact that it happened this early, but the logjam at first base/DH wasn’t in his favor, with or without Pena. The bigger surprise is Ledezma until you consider his struggles in camp. When you consider that he came into spring training with a real shot to make this team, especially with Leyland looking for a second left-hander in the bullpen, then you could say Ledezma pitched his way off of the roster. I still think he has a chance to make it with this organization, but he has to regain his confidence and learn to work the strike zone again.