If Tigers sign Johnny Damon, Carlos Guillen's role would change

Detroit -- Will this be Johnny Damon Week for the Tigers?

There are those who think so -- just as they correctly thought last week would feature Justin Verlander's signing.

But for all this talk about Damon, whether it leads anywhere or not, isn't a likely offshoot getting lost in the shuffle?

Carlos Guillen's ever-changing role is being forgotten by those who would wedge Damon into the Tigers' plans.

Damon, if the Tigers sign him, will expect to get at least 600 plate appearances this season. Why? Because he hasn't had fewer than 600 in any season since 1997 -- and his level of play in recent years doesn't dictate that he suddenly should become part of an outfield rotation.

He's a full-time player.

You might like that idea, you might not. But he would come to Detroit as an everyday player -- the more at-bats the merrier.

Clete Thomas, of course, would become collateral damage. As a part-time left-handed hitting outfielder being replaced by a full-time left-handed hitting outfielder, Thomas would become a roster casualty.

Ryan Raburn would be affected as well -- by not having his playing time increase as much as he hoped.

But who would become the principal lineup casualty?

Guillen would, in this sense: Last October, when Guillen and manager Jim Leyland got into a tiff about how Guillen was used in 2009, Leyland couldn't have been clearer about his plans.

"Carlos Guillen is our left fielder," Leyland said at the time. "He's our everyday left fielder, and hopefully he'll be productive. If he's looking for reassurance, we want him to play every day."

Case closed? Not exactly.

That was October.

It also was said after Guillen reiterated his desire to be a full-time player -- and that he didn't want to play left if it meant coming out of the game for a defensive replacement.

In other words, he wants to be a nine-inning contributor. The Tigers countered by saying he was to be their left fielder.

The addition of Damon, however, would end any chance of that.

Damon isn't a Gold Glove left fielder, but he is a left fielder. It's not that he can't be a designated hitter. On the contrary, he's had seasons in which he's done an excellent job as a DH on a limited basis.

But in 2007 for the Yankees, when he had more at-bats as the DH than he did as the team's left fielder (201-133), Damon hit .353 when playing left and only .229 as the DH.

If he signs, there is no doubt he'll be considered an outfielder more than a DH.

And you know where that puts Guillen.

In the lineup as the Tigers' DH, primarily against right-handed pitchers.

That's not in keeping with Leyland's October statement -- although to be fair, early off-season words don't always survive the winter.

The Tigers also had earlier plans for the closer's role that dissolved when they signed Jose Valverde.

Such statements are forever subject to improvement.

However, in Guillen we're talking about a player who has bounced everywhere in the last few years -- from short, to first, to third, to left.

If the Tigers sign Damon, Guillen would have every right to think, "But you said I was the full-time left fielder."

And he was. But that was then.

Teams change. So do roles. If this does turn out to be Johnny Damon Week, voila, Guillen's role gets changed again.

Whether or not he thought it would. Whether or not he likes it.