12:43pm: Davis will earn an even $10MM over the life of the deal, tweets Nicholson-Smith.
9:29am: Davis' contract is a straight two-year deal that doesn't contain any type of option, tweets Nicholson-Smith.
9:02am: Davis' two-year deal is in the $9-10MM range, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (on Twitter). That number continues a surprising increase in the going rate for a fourth outfielder, as Nate McLouth recently signed for $10.75MM over two years with the Nationals.
8:40am: The Tigers have agreed to a two-year deal with outfielder Rajai Davis, according to Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca. Davis is represented by Relativity Sports (formerly known as SFX).
Davis, 33, hasn't played in an everyday role for the Blue Jays over the last three seasons, but has seen enough action to rack up nearly 1,200 plate appearances, recording a .252/.299/.369 slash line. The speedster has also added 125 stolen bases over that period. That batting line may not be particularly impressive, but his .297/.363/.455 line against left-handed pitchers dating back to 2011 certainly is. Davis could make sense in a platoon capacity with Andy Dirks and could fall into a fourth outfielder role should the Tigers land a big fish like Shin-Soo Choo.
Davis will join an outfield group that currently consists of Dirks, Austin Jackson and Torii Hunter. Though he'struggled mightily in his most recent large chunks of center field work (2010-11), Davis has more than 3200 career innings in center, making him a capable short-term option there should Jackson hit the disabled list. Per Fangraphs, only Jacoby Ellsbury added more value on the basepaths than Davis did in 2013.
Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports first reported that the two sides were close to a deal this morning (on Twitter). Nicholson-Smith reported last night that the Tigers were considered the front-runners.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
I think nick will finish the year with an avg around 270-280 and somewhere between 10-15 home runs . And probably won’t reach 13 sb.
With a home park like comerica, the tigers shouldn’t be built around power like they were. They should be quick and athletic. Preferably a lot of singles/doubles hitters with speed to get around the bases, with one guy who can be a power threat, which would be miggy.
They were added to protect them from the rule 5 draft
I’m pretty sure I saw Miguel Cabrera steal third not long ago. Talk about falling asleep!