Unsubstantiated Trade Rumor of the Week

Here's my first installment of the UTROTW! Let me first say that this IS NOT A REAL TRADE and is COMPLETELY UNSUBSTANTIATED.

The Detroit Tigers trade UTIL Brandon Inge to the Houston Astros for SP Felipe Paulino and SP Bud Norris

Why it makes sense for the Tigers:
At this point in time, Inge is turning into a big headache. The Tigers have a handful of players that can play multiple positions (Sheffield, Cabrera, Guillen, etc.) so the loss of his utility wouldn't hurt them that much. They could use an heir to Pudge, and while James Skelton is a decent prospect, he's still years away. It also wouldn't hurt to dump Inge's $6 mil/year or so salary. Adding arms never hurts, even though Paulino is on the DL right now. We did see an injured top prospect traded in Humberto Sanchez in the Gary Sheffield trade, so it can be done.

Why it makes sense for the Astros:
They need someone to take over at either 3B (for Ty Wiggington/Geoff Blum) or CF (for Michael Bourn/Darin Erstad/Jose Cruz Jr.), as both positions are basically black holes offensively for the Astros. If they mortgaged their entire future to get Valverde and Tejada, they might as well pick up another piece that could fit in at either position as well as spell Towles behind the plate when needed.

Why this probably won't get done:
The Tigers don't really have another guy to back up Pudge at this point. The Astros will probably hold out from trading and end up being sellers. The Tigers are probably afraid of guys who throw 100+ and look to turn into relievers (see Zumaya, Joel).