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Tigers Get Betemit From Royals

With Brandon Inge struggling at third base, the Tigers have acquired Wilson Betemit from the Royals in a deal for two minor leaguers, the teams announced Wednesday.

To get Betemit, who hit .281 in 57 games for the Royals, the Tigers gave up a pair of players who were in Class A, pitcher Antonio Cruz and catcher Julio Rodriguez. Neither was considered to be one of the team's top prospects.

The Tigers have had just a .500 OPS out of their third basemen (mostly Inge, but also Don Kelly) this year. The only team worse has been the Mariners (mostly Chone Figgins), at .463.

The Tigers signed Inge to a two-year, $11.5 million contract last winter, but he has been awful offensively all season. Inge is hitting just .177, and has hit only one home run.

Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski told reporters in Detroit that he considers Kelly to be ahead of Inge on the Tigers' depth chart at third base. Dombrowski said that the Tigers would make a roster move once Betemit reports on Thursday, while refusing to commit on Inge's future with the team.

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