Danny Knobler

There's a chance Aubrey Huff could help the Tigers.

And a real chance that they could help him.

According to some quick research through baseball-reference.com , Huff ranks fourth among active players in most games played without ever appearing in the playoffs. He might rank first in fewest games played in a pennant race, or fewest days in first place.

Huff has been in the major leagues since 2000, with Tampa Bay, Houston and Baltimore. He was traded to the Astros in July 2006, and played 68 games for a second-place team that finished 82-80 and made a late charge in the National League Central.

Those are the only games Huff has ever played for a team that avoided 90 losses.

I saw Huff this spring in Ft. Lauderdale, and he said he wanted to stay with the Orioles because he saw them building the same type of team he watched come together with the Rays. The Rays traded Huff two years before they made the playoffs, and he didn't want to leave the Orioles a year or two too early.

Now he's been traded to a team that's in first place. He's never been in first place after April, not in 10 seasons, not in 1,282 major-league games.

Oh, and those three guys who have played more games than Huff and never made it to the playoffs?

Randy Winn (1,563 games), who has a chance this year with the Giants; Mike Sweeney (1,373), who has an outside chance with the Mariners; and Michael Young (1,329), who has a chance with the Rangers.