Come Monday night, if the Tigers take a lead into the bottom of the ninth inning of their season opener in Toronto, Fernando Rodney -- not Brandon Lyon -- will be summoned from the bullpen to try to save the win.
        “I haven’t named Fernando Rodney as my closer,” Jim Leyland declared Wednesday. “But on Opening Day he will be.
        “That doesn’t mean  he’s going to close every day,” the manager cautioned. “I don’t know.
        “All I am saying is, if we have a lead in the ninth inning on Monday, he will be. And that’s the end of that conversation.”
        It is likely Lyon will also be used as a closer. So could Joel Zumaya after he comes off the disabled list.
        “Fernando Rodney is in the best shape he’s been in since I’ve been here,” Leyland said. “I think he’s going to have a good year. He needs to be, and I think he will be, a big pitcher for us.”
        As a show of team unity, many of the Tigers swapped uniforms for Wednesday’s game.
        Justin Verlander and Gerald Laird traded shirts, Magglio Ordonez wore Al Kaline’s No. 6, Curtis Granderson and Josh Anderson wore each other’s names and numbers, and Brandon Inge wore the Bat Boy’s jersey.