For most of spring training, the Tigers’ starting lineup and almost the entire roster appeared to be etched in stone. The most pressing question, it seemed, was whether Miguel Cabrera would hammer more homers and knock in more runs batting third or fifth.
        That certainly seems like a long time ago -- just like those optimistic references to Murderers Row.
        Right now that is the least of Jim Leyland’s worries.
        Six players currently on the team _ Armando Galarraga, Casey Fossum, Michael Hollimon, Jeff Larish, Brent Clevlen, and Freddy Dolsi _ weren’t even blips on the major league radar screen this spring.
        When a team has to rely on players who weren’t good enough to merit serious consideration just a couple months earlier, I think it is always a cause for concern.
        Those guys didn’t make the team this spring for a reason: Because they weren’t as good as the guys who did.
        Needless to say, that is not the way Leyland and the Tigers’ brass envisioned this season unfolding _ even after they lost Joel Zumaya and Fernando Rodney.
        Since the season began, Cabrera and Guillen have traded positions and Guillen has temporarily been shift to left field. Brandon Inge has gone from the trading block to replacement center fielder to third base to back-up catcher. And injuries to Gary Sheffield have made occasional designated hitters out of the rookie Larish, Cabrera, Guillen, Magglio Ordonez, Marcus Thames and Matt Joyce.
        More than a third of the way through the season, The Best Team Mike Ilitch’s Money Could Buy, many people’s pick to win the American League pennant, remains a perplexing, high-priced work in progress.