Today’s High Five:

• The Tigers traded away OF Matt Joyce for Tampa Bay pitcher Edwin Jackson. Though Joyce just broke in with the Tigers last season and Jackson has been in the majors since 2003, Jackson is just a year older than Joyce — reminiscent of the Miguel Cabrera trade last year, when one of the prospects the Tigers traded away, Burke Badenhop, was older than Cabrera. Joyce looked good in Detroit last season, and filled a need as a young, left-handed power hitter. Jackson is one of those uber-prospects who hit the bigs early but hasn’t quite put it all together, so the Rays’ fans have grown frustrated with him and made a skeptic of Billfer as well. I can think of two guys who’ve passed through Detroit that fit the same description. One is Jeremy Bonderman, who statistically is not radically different from Jackson. The other is Carlos Pena, who finally found success with the Rays. Hopefully this will be payback. (Jackson showed signs of coming around in 2008, going 7-2 in July and August; his July ERA was 3.77; it was 2.27 in August.)
• The trade happened after the Indians helped facilitate a trade that sent J.J. Putz to the Mets, who are apparently using All-Star game rosters as a blueprint for constructing their bullpen. That means the Tigers are still searching for bullpen help, and there’s a chance the answer is the Mitten’s former tee-ball coach from waaaaay back when, John Smoltz.
• Michigan State’s football team finally secured a blue-chip pass-rushing recruit in Ohio’s Corey Freeman. Freeman was originally a Rich Rodriguez commit at West Virginia for 2008, but didn’t qualify. Apparently he’s eligible now and can enroll in January.
• Baseball’s Rule 5 Draft is today, and the Tigers drafted pitcher Kyle Bloom from the Pirates. But the D-Backs didn’t do anything to help the mood over at Detroit Tigers Weblog HQ when they picked Tigers minor league catcher James Skelton. The deal with Rule 5 picks is that they have to spend the 2009 season in the majors or else be returned to their previous organization.
• Jake at Motown Sports Revival is so excited about Michigan’s basketball team that he’s gushing like the Mitten with Mark Dantonio.

Today’s schedule:

• Nothing doing.