It's been a busy morning for the Tigers, who announced today that they're bringing back Jhonny Peralta, Octavio Dotel and manager Jim Leyland. Detroit GM Dave Dombrowski recently addressed the media, discussing the 2012 team and the Tigers' offseason plans. George Sipple of the Detroit Free Press has the highlights from the briefing (all links go to Twitter):
- The Tigers won't bring back Delmon Young, since they expect Victor Martinez to DH in 2013. Jose Valverde won't return either, according to Dombrowski.
- The Tigers will tender Brennan Boesch a contract, but they're in the process of removing Don Kelly from the 40-man roster. Dombrowski wasn't prepared to discuss the future of non-tender candidate Ryan Raburn.
- The Tigers want to re-sign free agent right-hander Anibal Sanchez, Dombrowski said.
- Free agent catcher Gerald Laird could return, but that's not a sure thing.
- Hard throwing relief prospect Bruce Rondon draws lots of trade interest, according to Dombrowski. "You would not believe the number of clubs that call me about Rondon," the GM said.
- Earlier today John Lowe of the Detroit Free Press took a position by position look at the upcoming offseason for the Tigers.
I’m sure there’s interest in Rondon. That kid has some good stuff… He should be competing for a late inning spot during the spring
Totally agree. Would love to see him closing games out. His size alone is intimidating!
I very seriously doubt that Rondon will be a candidate for closer @ the age of 21. (He has pitched all of 8 innings above A /AA in his career). Let him prove that he make the MLB roster in 2013 and can do the job consistently out of the bullpen before thrusting him into the closers roll. That is the quickest way to ruin a great prospect. If DD doens’nt sign or trade for another closer, I expect the Tigers to look at Dotel, Coke, Alburquerque and maybe Beniot, (even I think he is better suited for the set-up roll… IF he can keep the ball down and not give up so many HR’s in 2013) as the potential closer for 2013.
Oh, I don’t think Rondon closes next year… But I could see him in the 7th with a lead
I think that could be a possibility- follow the old Ray Miller Baltimore Orioles model- maybe even start the season in the minors, if he does well bring him up and use him in a mop-up roll to build a little confidence and then gradually work him in as the 7th inning guy. Certainly worth considering. I’d certainly rather hold onto a good prospect and see what happens than trade him for some mediocre career middle-reliever who happened to pitch 40 or 50 good innings last season and hope he can rekindle the same magic.
Absolutely! Plus it’ll give us a good idea as to what we really have in Rondon.
Just as EightMileCats said, probably won’t be next year. But he’s still looks like a force and is very exciting.
Valverde lost a lot of money this year.
He’s also made a whole lot of money the last few years.
Tigers will tender Boesch…..why? Dude had one good half a season. Since the all star break last year he has a sub 300 OBP, not even power to compensate and he has looked awful in the outfield. Guy is like 27, it’s not like he’s a prospect who can still turn it around
There are no bad one year deals.
If he doesn’t have it again, he gets dfa’d. If he shows some life, he can either be a piece to help us or a chip to trade
They can tender Boesch for not a lot of $ and send him to AAA. I thought I was watching Paul O’Neill when he first debuted. There might be some potential left in the tank. I say why not.
My guess is that DD might want to include him a deal. That would be better than letting him “walk” for nothing. It appears that there may be still interest from other clubs based on his short glimpses of production. Regardless, Boesch is in great need of a change of scenery and fresh start. Still could have an upside under the right circumstances.
Because he hit like a god for that half a season.
He’s got unbelievable raw power, he just needs to find the strike zone. 2011 wasn’t a bad year either until he broke his thumb, and hopefully he can fix his swing.
Because it’s for one year and no money. Low risk with potential reward. I don’t think he will do anything but at worst he’s minor league depth with major league experience.
There probably tendering Boesch to trade him he has value to a team like the rays maybe in a deal for James Shields or in a dream of mine Price
Boesch has no value for anyone of note.
Boesch would pretty much be a throw in at this point. Truthfully Raburn has more value due to him having some versatility.
Boesch would have no value to the Rays; he is another Ben Francisco. To get Price or Shields, Castellanos would have to be in the deal
I’m thinking Valverde will go to Miami since they just traded Bell
So they want to make the same mistake twice?
valverde is prob settling for a 1 mil 1 year deal
It’s Miami.
It’s doubtful that Young even has the motivation or skill to even hit umpires anymore. Terrible.
He’s the oldest looking 27 year old in the majors. I thought maybe he’d carve out a niche as a role player a la Craig Monroe or Marcus Thames for the Tiger. But he was awful in every phase of the game outside of the playoffs.
I think the Tigers are making all of the right moves so far. Well done DD.
VMart should be a big offensive upgrade over Delmon next year. Dirks, if healthy over a full season, could put up great numbers and add great defense as well. Avila and Peralta both had disappointing offensive seasons and could rebound too. And a battle in RF between Castellanos, Garcia, and Boesch should produce at least one major league caliber player. They should try to resign Sanchez, as he’s a strikeout pitcher that fits their defensive scheme much better than a guy like Porcello. Also, they gave up too much for him to let him slip away. It also enables them to trade Porcello, for maybe another former top prospect that is currently disappointing.
Delmon Young to Red Soxs to play LF or Houston to DH
I know it’s probably not going to happen but Delmon Young to Toronto would be a good move for the jays.
If by good you mean terrible, then yes, very good
Anyone that signs Valverde should have a clause in the contract forbidding him to go through that ridiculous routine he goes through with every pitch.
The racial incident in NY hurt Young. Even though he won the MVP Award for the ALDS, Ilitch and Dombroski couldn’t run off the podium fast enough to avoid being near him when he was given the trophy.
Looked liked he had put the bat throwing incident behind him and then got himself suckered into an ignorant bias incident. That’s going to cut the number of teams that will give him serious consideration and affect the money offers.
No thanks, SF doesn’t need the big potato.
I think his stats hurt him more than anything.
Slopeboy writes: “Even though he won the MVP Award for the ALDS…”
You mean ALCS. Division series do not have a MVP award because, just in one league, there is more than one matchup. So it was in the league championship series, in the AL, that the 2012 winner was Detroit Tigers’ Delmon Young.
Honestly the fact that he’s only a DH and is extremely streaky hurts him much more than that incident. Even when it first happened there wasn’t a ton of media coverage on it and it quieted down rather quickly.