Cabrera serious about third base, and I bet Inge can tell

So now Brandon Inge wants to take a shot at second base, and everyone wants to take a shot at Brandon Inge. Fair enough. But I’m here to tell you, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
The Tigers’ erstwhile third baseman-catcher-second-baseman-utility guy was mostly horrible last season. He’s 34 and in the last year of his contract. His detractors now outnumber his supporters.
But I actually think his gambit for second base is a positive sign for the Tigers. You know what it tells me? It tells me Inge has heard or seen how determined Miguel Cabrera is to make the switch to third and lock that position down, reducing the backup’s role.
Some in baseball think the Cabrera-to-third thing is a ruse by the Tigers, and fairly soon, Cabrera and Prince Fielder will be splitting time at first base and DH. I don’t buy that. I think Cabrera likes the challenge, which is why he dropped a reported 25 pounds and will be at third when spring training opens.
My theory is, that partly explains why Inge went to Dave Dombrowski and Jim Leyland and asked for a shot at second, where Ryan Raburn and Ramon Santiago are scheduled to platoon. If Inge truly can make the transition, that could enable the Tigers to bump Raburn back to leftfield or DH.
Maybe I’m being a goofy optimist — probably because it has felt like spring all winter in balmy Detroit. But I don’t think Inge has poor intentions here. He might be mildly delusional, or he might have seen what other Tigers players have seen, that Cabrera is thoroughly committed to making the third-base switch work.
If the Tigers needed a regular defensive replacement at third, Inge was supposed to be the guy (and still could be). But if Cabrera handles it just fine, Don Kelly would be an adequate fill-in. I’m certainly not saying the latest Inge maneuver will work. I’m just suggesting it might say more about Cabrera’s adaptability than it does about Inge’s.