Lakeland, Fla. — In years past, that last Grapefruit League game in March was D-Day for guys hoping to make the big-league cut.
Not so Sunday at Publix Field/Marchant Stadium where the Tigers were waiting, perhaps till mid-week, to seal their Opening Day roster.
“Today is a little bit of a fake last day,” Tigers manager AJ Hinch explained a few hours before the Tigers and Rays were playing, in Hinch’s words, “a shell game.”
Two explanations for the “fake last day” and “shell game” references.
The Tigers and Mets were wrapping up their Grapefruit League seasons Sunday.