Speculating Once More on Wilson, Tigers, Monroe

There are only so many ways you can break down one recycled story, so this is it. If the Pirates trade Jack Wilson to the Tigers, I’ll post again. If they don’t, this is the last you’ll hear about it—until the off-season, of course, when the rumors will run rampant once again.
For this morning’s Post-Gazette, Dejan Kovacevic wrote a blurb on Jack Wilson’s “whirlwind day.” He was referring not only to the shortstop’s bout of asthma from Thursday, but also the Tigers’ roster moves—namely the designation for assignment of outfielder Craig Monroe—that surely would re-start the Wilson-to-the-Tigers headlines:

The Detroit Free Press reported that Monroe has cleared waivers—as has Wilson—so it could be a sign that the teams are still talking trade. Or, the recall of Santiago could mean that the Tigers have given up on a deal and will use him to spell defensively deficient Carlos Guillen at shortstop rather than Wilson.

This was the first that I’d heard of Carlos Guillen as an insufficient defender. I’d read he had room for improvement, yes, but I didn’t think he was a black hole.
So, I dug a little deeper.
On Monday, the Detroit Free Press’ Drew Sharp wrote:

If the Tigers don’t make the playoffs, their inability to pry shortstop Jack Wilson away from Pittsburgh at the trading deadline could prove to be a determining factor. Their interest in Wilson was more than as a safety net off the bench. He would have become a starter.
They have to get shortstop Carlos Guillen and his chronically aching knees over to first base as quickly as possible. Guillen’s defensive inconsistency has magnified the Tigers’ bullpen deficiencies.

Good lord! The fate of the free world—or, at a minimum, Detroit’s pennant hopes—rests on the shoulders of Jack Wilson! (Or some other slick-fielding shortstop.) I can’t imagine Tiger fans are smiling as they read that.
Still, Monroe’s designation doesn’t mean that the teams necessarily are close to a deal. It doesn’t mean that the Tigers have interest in Wilson at all. It means that Detroit wanted Cameron Maybin in the lineup for the stretch run, and they needed to find him a 40-man roster spot.
What really comes into play is whether or not Wilson is a significant upgrade—offensively and defensively—over Ramon Santiago, the shortstop Dave Dombrowski recalled from Triple-A to take over, at least part-time, for Guillen:

Guillen’s knee problems have turned him into an awful defensive shortstop. These days, Guillen plays defense like an inept politician—if he tries to move a little to the left or the right, everything falls apart. …
Santiago is the opposite of [Omar] Infante [a recently demoted utility infielder]: good field, no hit. He has a lifetime on-base percentage of .292 and a lifetime slugging percentage of .299—numbers so bad that [Neifi] Perez probably wouldn’t let Santiago touch one of his bats for fear of a jinx.
But Santiago is a solid defensive shortstop. And we have seen that Jim Leyland often is willing to sacrifice offense for defense at key positions, especially in the short term.

So, is Wilson superior to Santiago? That same writer, Michael Rosenberg, seems to think so:

Wilson, the Pirates’ shortstop, is not much of a hitter, either. But he is better than Santiago and an excellent fielder, by most accounts. The Tigers have been pursuing him for a month.
And considering Leyland and all of his lieutenants have Pirates ties, it’s safe to assume this was not just idle trade talk. They want him. The only question is whether they can get him.
If the Tigers pick up Wilson, they will have a more balanced roster than they had Friday morning.

If I were a betting man, I would say that Wilson is wearing navy and orange by month’s end. And, given the context of the situation—namely the Tigers’ need to move Monroe, and Dave Littlefield’s known interest in the outfielder—I would say that we’d have our center field platoon set up for 2008.
But again, at this point it’s all speculation.