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Patrick Hayes' prescription for the Tigers? Trade for Milton Bradley, and give him the right-field job. Sign free agent Justin Duchscherer. Oh, and give a couple of Gerald Laird's plate appearances to prospect Alex Avila.

Wait, what? Milton Bradley in right field? Really? Yes, really:

Right Field: The outfield needs a makeover, and it's going to start here. Trade Jeremy Bonderman to the Cubs for Milton Bradley. Both make roughly $10 million per year. Bradley is signed for one more year than Bonderman, but the Cubs are desperate to get rid of him, so it's conceivable they'd pay that final year if the Tigers take him.

Jim Leyland is known for working well with head cases. Gary Sheffield didn't produce in Detroit, but he didn't make waves either. So what you say? Well, in NY he was calling Derek Jeter "not all the way black" and Joe Torre a slave master. He's had nothing negative to say about his Detroit tenure. Bradley is not as crazy as Sheff, this can work.

Before signing with the Cubs, Bradley had a career-year in Texas, with a .999 OPS. Once he escapes the racism in Wrigleyville and comes to the more laid back environment in Detroit, he'll be just fine.

Maybe that "racism in Wrigleyville" link is supposed to be sarcastic, but if you actually read the story you'll find that nobody's got any evidence for any sort of racial abuse being heaped on Bradley at Wrigley Field. Leaving aside the intangibles, though, I'm fascinated by this notion that Milton Bradley might be someone's every-day right fielder for some extended stretch of time.

He's been in the majors for 10 seasons. He's started more than 110 games in the outfield exactly once. Players don't generally get healthier as they age; in fact, they generally get less healthy. Which doesn't mean the Tigers couldn't use Bradley. Hayes has slotted Magglio Ordonez as the Tigers' DH, but he's not a terrible outfielder and could simply continue playing right field.

Would adding Bradley and Duchscherer really make a difference next season? Probably not. Even if Bradley stays healthy enough -- physically and emotionally -- to play 140 games and the Duke gives the Tigers 175 good innings, the Tigers would still need a bit of luck to reach the 90 wins it will likely take to capture the AL Central. The basic problem is that in 2010 the Tigers will spend $50 million on Ordonez, Jeremy Bonderman, Dontrelle Willis, and Nate Robertson ... and only one of those fellows is likely to be more than just moderately useful.

It's not easy to win that way, particularly without a great deal of creativity. Maybe Dave Dombrowski will surprise us.

Did you know that Armando Galarraga's rotation slot has been questioned? Well, according to John Lowe, Galarraga's now safe because the Tigers have two other starters who are a lot worse than him ...

Jeremy Bonderman's return hasn't cost Armando Galarraga his spot in the rotation, at least not for now.

Tigers manager Jim Leyland said Tuesday that Galarraga will take his regular turn Saturday in Pittsburgh. Sunday's starter will be either Bonderman or Dontrelle Willis, with the other evidently to be skipped at least this time through the rotation. Of the Bonderman-Willis pending decision, Leyland said, "I don't know what we're going to do - we're in a dilemma.”

For now, Bonderman's return gives the Tigers six starters for a five-man rotation. Thus Leyland has six relievers instead of the standard complement of seven.

This is sort of a reverse Sophie's Choice. Meryl Streep loved both her children, and was forced to send one to a terrible fate. Jim Leyland probably can't stand Bonderman or Willis, but he's being forced to employ one in a key role. Let us review ...

since the first day of the 2008 season, Willis is 1-5 with a 7.83 ERA in 54 innings.

Same span, Bonderman is 3-5 with a 4.78 ERA in 75 innings.

Leyland's Choice doesn't seem that difficult, does it? If Bonderman's at all healthy, he has to start Sunday against the Pirates, if only so the Tigers can see what they've got. If he's even halfway-effective, it's easy. If he's not, we start this sad movie over again.

(H/T: Buster)

Today the bell might have tolled for a certain left-hander who used to be real good. From MLive.com's James Schmehl:

Dontrelle Willis has had a few impressive starts and a few not-so-encouraging outings since rejoining the Tigers' starting rotation in May.

Willis' start [Thursday] likely falls under the latter.

Willis, who allowed five earned runs, despite not giving up a hit in 2 1/3 innings, was relieved after hitting the leadoff man and then walking four of the next five batters to force in a pair of runs.

"I just got frustrated," Willis said. "That was the first time I've ever had a call that I felt should have gone my way and I let it get to me."

Well, just to be clear ... Willis has started five games for the Tigers, which makes it hard to wedge two different fews in there. In his first start, he didn't strike out a single Twin and was KO'd in the fifth inning. In his second start, he gave up just one hit before leaving in the seventh and picked up his first victory since 2007. In his third start, he walked as many batters (4) as he struck out. In his fourth start, he gave up two home runs, walked two batters, and recorded one (1) strikeout. And today in his fifth start, he couldn't throw strikes and thus couldn't escape the third inning.

I count one impressive start, two unacceptable starts, and two disasters. Worse, the two disasters have come most recently, suggesting that Willis is heading in the wrong direction. I'm not sure if it's time to give up on Willis, as he did show better (if not necessarily good) control during his stint this spring in the minors. But with Jeremy Bonderman slated to return to Detroit's rotation, perhaps as soon as next Monday, I'm afraid we may have seen the last of Dontrelle Willis for a while. Which might be the best thing for everyone involved.