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Tigers Trade/Signing Speculation

Lynn Henning of the Detroit News posted a Q&A yesterday, giving his informed opinion on the Tigers' various hot stove situations.  Below are some highlights.

• Henning expects Kenny Rogers to be with the Tigers in 2008, and I think that's the general sentiment around baseball.  Rogers has already stated that it's the Tigers or retirement in 2008.  I'll guess a $6MM base salary plus incentives to make $10MM possible.
• Henning sees the Tigers picking up Ivan Rodriguez's $13MM option for '08, for lack of a better option.  Given the $3MM buyout it's kind of a like a one-year, $10MM deal.  Ken Rosenthal opined back on August 11th that the Tigers would choose the buyout, but he also felt the team was "almost certain" to exercise the option when discussing it in April.
• The price for Miguel Tejada - $26MM over two years plus a bevy of young players - is considered too high.  I'm not sure where the Tigers payroll will be in '08; they opened '07 with a team-record $95MM mark.  Based on my back of the napkin estimates, the Tigers will have to pay out a net $7.5MM extra based on escalating salaries of players already under contract.  Contracts for Carlos Guillen, Magglio Ordonez, and Jeremy Bonderman will contribute to a $19MM increase, while the losses of Todd Jones, Sean Casey, and Neifi Perez will save the team $11.5MM.  The net effect is the $7.5MM increase, which doesn't account for replacements for the players lost.
• One minor offseason acquisition for Detroit could be a left-handed hitting outfielder who can play first base. Luis Gonzalez, Mark Sweeney, or Darin Erstad could fit the bill.

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