Some Tiger links from this week so far:

• Gary Sheffield should be a first ballot HOFer says Dave Studeman at the Hardball Times. The article has him at 28th on the list of all time players in Win Shares Above Bench.
• Tigers got a B in the SI American League report card of off season moves. Only one team got an A and that was the Red Sox. I’m not sure the A is warranted but here’s the rest of them around the AL Central: White Sox - C-, Royals - C-, Cleveland - B, Twins - D.
• Joe Crede was signed to a one-year 4.94M contract with the White Sox. This is viewed by many as a step out the door for Crede who was looking for a multi-year contract.
• Guillen contract negotiations still in the works. This one I’m watching with great interest, you can read my thoughts in my earlier post.
• Good to see the Tigers not taking one of the top draft picks any more.
• Interestingly weird article at Baseball Prospectus that somehow compares Honus Wagner to Neifi Perez. (Subscription Required)
• Part two of the interview with Ernie Harwell is available at Hardball Times.

On a side note did anyone else notice in the Leyland interview him point out the Thames again at first when Shelton came up? I’ll bet a reason we haven’t seen Thames traded is them keeping him as backup at first in-case Shelton doesn’t show them what they want post Casey. Just a thought.

The Tiger related news is really starting to grow as Spring Training nears. With the Tiger Caravan this week and Tigerfest this weekend it will only continue to grow.