The number of suitors for potential free agent Adrian Beltre just got a bit smaller.
According to a tweet from the Detroit Tigers, third baseman Brandon Inge has inked a two-year extension with the team, meaning that they are set at that position for the foreseeable future.
Beltre, who is all but assured of testing the market after a phenomenal campaign for the Red Sox in 2010, had been considered a prime offseason target for the Tigers. Detroit has money to spend and Inge's deal expired at the end of the year, which had left them a potential hole at the hot corner. That is no longer the case.
Inge, 33, is a marginal offensive player with some power but continues to provide a solid defensive presence for Detroit. The club has an option to bring him back in 2013.
A Scott Boras client, Beltre will still receive plenty of attention after batting .321 with 28 homers and 102 RBIs in his first and potentially only season in Boston. None of it will come from Detroit, however.
