GM Dave Dombrowski says the Tigers will not pursue free agent shortstop Stephen Drew, the Detroit News' Lynn Henning reports. Dombrowski says the Tigers will go with "internal candidates" to replace the injured Jose Iglesias at shortstop, perhaps including Danny Worth, Eugenio Suarez or Hernan Perez.
Henning takes that to mean that the Tigers might still have interest in pursuing trades as a way of finding a new shortstop, but they will not pursue Drew. The Tigers have the No. 23 pick in the upcoming draft, and Henning suggests they do not want to give that up in order to sign Drew. They also do not want to sign Drew to a long-term deal when Iglesias still figures to be their long-term answer at shortstop.
It emerged this weekend that Iglesias' shin injury would cause him to miss most of the 2014 season. That news has led to increased speculation that the Tigers would sign Drew, who previously had not been able to find much of a market after rejecting a qualifying offer from the Red Sox.
I didn’t figure that the Tigers were going to be interested in Drew. Drew is packing too much baggage with him.
Not to mention they are at a payroll record this year of over $158m
i agree….however, it’s been reported that Drew’s valet allegedly packed his shiny new WS ring in the aforementioned baggage….
Interesting. Having not followed him this offseason, I haven’t heard of any baggage associated with Drew beyond the $ and draft pick. What’s out there?
Well, first there’s Scott Boras, second would be that he’s willing to wait until June, third would be that he really, really, really doesn’t seem to want a one year deal, and the Tigers would only really want him for that, based on what I’ve read.
I’m surprised Ilitch gave this plan the OK, he’d obviously rather win now than save resources for the future.
Lots of rumors of failing health for Mr. Illitch. I have a feeling he doesn’t have as much direct involvment as he may have a few years ago…
The Diamondbacks have multiple shortstops, and apparently Didi lost his starting job to Owings.
Go fleece Kevin Towers, however considering how bad Washington and now Boston have ripped off Detroit, I’m not confident.
Boston ripped off the Tigers? Cuz the guy got hurt?
A guy they knew had a history of shin problems, according to Farrell? Yeah. Pretty one-sided trade.
The reason why Detroit did the trade in the first place was that 1. Peralta was going to be suspended, and 2. Because of the rift in the lockerroom caused by Avisail Garcia giving it to Fielder’s wife (honest to God that is true). At the time it was addition by subtraction. His shin injury will heal, and the lockerrom was better because of it.
I’ve heard that rumor. I don’t really think it makes any sense considering they traded Fielder as well.
Fielder wanted a fresh start. A new team and a new state to reconcile a marriage is what that couple needed. Boras facilitated it to get everybody what they wanted. Tigers, Rangers and Fielders.
What did we/Boston get? The privilege of paying 14.5 mill for rather mediocer pitching from Jake Peavy? Thats not one sided, Sox did not get much value either.
Peavy was fine down the stretch. Boston won the series, not really sure how their fanbase can complain about that.
If this was the NFL there would be talks of cutting/releasing Peavy because he is not worth his contract. That is not rippping of someone in a trade.
Why do I continue to get the feeling that the Tigers aren’t trying to contend at this point? They addressed the closer situation but without straightening the rest of the pen, seemingly gave away Doug Fister for nothing compared to his value, and basically lost the thunder out of their lineup. Yes I know that Hunter, Kinsler, and Martinez are all good complimentary pieces, but there is still really no reason to pitch to Miguel Cabrera. I already had them pegged for 3rd in the AL Central, and while they will under no circumstances drop below the White Sox or Twins, replacing Iglesias with essentially Hernan Perez won’t help those chances.
Their payroll is at 157 and they are not a huge revenue team (245 million). They spend a larger percentage of revenue on payroll than any team but the Dodgers, so I guess they have reached their limits.
I think Boras would consider a backloaded deal with deferred money, but looks like they aren’t going to consider anything at the moment. Maybe another significant injury changes their mind.
The injury would be Drew. You mean to tell me your a Tigers fan, and you want Drew on your team?
That revenue point is certainly an interesting one, however I guess I put more stock in Mike Ilitch’s comments from a while back talking how he wanted a WS ring before he died and couldn’t take the money with him anyway. Given that the team likely sees Iglesias as the long-term answer at short, I’m not sure a multi-year deal for Drew works, and while an opt-out or trade could always be in the cards for next offseason, a large SS class would likely make it harder.
A more recent comment came from DD when he said their model was for sustainable consistent success like the Bobby Cox era Braves. No more “all in”.
3rd in the AL West would be pretty damn good seeing as how they play in the Central. No chance in hell they finish 3rd in the Central. They will win the division with KC keeping things pretty tight.
Kevin, Vegas has the Tigers as the AL favorites to get to the World Series. Maybe you are selling them short. Only the Dodgers have better odds of winning it all.
What else is he going to say? “Yeah, tell Scott and Stephen they can just come pick up their blank cheque at 9:00AM tomorrow.”
They’d spell it check not cheque.
DD just violated the CBA anti-collusion measures by declaring this. Clarke should file a grievance.
Anyways, teams are always optimistic at this time of year, that’s why trades are so hard. As the season progresses, come June the holes become much more apparent.
I understand the Tigers decision since their division is AAAA material for the most part, especially the CWS and Twins. Plenty of time to bolster the roster before the playoffs.
I suspect Iglesias issues are chronic so I would not count on him being the SS of the future now. A SS who relies on his glove with bad pins is a problem,
I get a kick at how folks say don’t give up a pick for a FA but are OK with trading off a prospect or two for a SS. Tigers gave up a good prospect for Iglesias, and now people want them to do the same for Franklin, et all.
It depends on how he phrased it. That headline makes it sound like he said “No we don’t want Stephen Drew” when the quote simply said he wanted to pursue internal options.
If Drew’s agent is publicly declaring his client a fit for the Tigers and Mets, how is it collusion for those named teams to say ‘No, you are incorrect, I don’t want your client?’ I do see how those statements affect the leverage Drew & his agent have trying to get signed up with other teams, but they were the ones who took negotiations to the media in the first place.
Well said, Boras calls out teams publicly when they do not want his clients and accuses them of not wanting to improve, not making good decisions etc. A team should be allowed to correct the record.
Next thing you know, Hershey’s lawyers will come knocking at my door because I said I’m going to use the Nestle stuff that’s already in my kitchen.
So, a man walks into a bar and finds DD and Boras. Goes over to DD and says, “bummer about Iglesias, what are you going to do?” DD says “internal options.” So, he moseys over to Boras, holding court. Boras is claiming he’s had “conversations with a number of teams, including the Tigers, and everyone understands that when a player of Drew’s quality is available, any deal with be multiple years with an opt out.”
Call in the lawyers, and the security guards, and march DD off to collusion prison.
Mistake
Darwin Barney to Detroit? Tigers don’t really need another bat for their line-up, they need Barney for his defense. Plus the trade would free up a spot for Javier Baez to play everyday.
Barney isn’t a SS
According to rotoworld, Barney has been playing SS this spring as insurance to Castro’s injury AND showcase him off to other teams who are looking for a SS.
Hernan Perez can play solid defense and not hit just as well as Barney at a quarter of the cost. No thanks
Mistake, and fwiw, I believe in saving for the future big time.
But the tigers are too high on the win curve, and very easily could get as much production out of drew as they could ever find in the pick they would forfeit.
And he’s probably fairly cheap.
2/20 and get him. In a year, if Iglesias doesn’t recover well, they still have him. And he can play third if necessary
Why not sign him in June after the draft?
Because that could be the value of enough games to affect the tigers playoff probability, and who is to say he will be available then?
IF it’s true, and I don’t think it is, I’m sad for all Tigers fans out there because I thought it was a match made in heaven for both sides. That said, I hope it’s true, because I just want to stick it to Boras and whoever signs with him.
If the earlier reports of the Red Sox playing the waiting game with Drew turn out to be true, then well-played, Boston.
No to Drew. Giving Boston a draft pick after this debacle would be adding insult to INJURY.
Tigers don’t give the Sox a Pick. Tigers lose theirs, teams behind them move up 1 slot. The Comp Pick is because he didn’t accept QO. I guess you mean Comp Pick.
Looks like a trade for Franklin is going down by mid-week this week. What does Detroit have that Seattle would want. No way is Porcello worth it for Seattle.
Nothing. Seattle wants major league ready OF. It’s have to be a 3 team swing
Z just said he had his ears open for more pitching.
Drew should have taken the qualifying offer from sox, take 14 mil for one yr and prove you can play, without injury. Noone wants him, always injured, not to mention his agent is “I hate baseball” Boras, who wants waaay to much money for Drew.
Drew will probably sit out half of the season before someone signs him…
He took a one-year deal last year with the hopes of getting a multi-year contract this offseason. I
Glad to hear common sense has won over the knee-jerk reaction to signing Drew.He is a fine Shortstop but not any better than what the Tigers currently have or can possibly obtain for alot less. I know others here will say Drew is the answer, but I have a hard time dismissing his .222/.295/.392 batting line in 2013 away from Fenway,only 86 & 79 games played in 2011 & 2012,inflated salary demands plus the loss of a draft pick. The best thing to do is wait till Iggy sees the specialist on Tuesday in Colorado and see if we are looking at a 15 day DL,60 day DL,or a half year to complete year injury. By next Sunday Detroit will need the Shortstop for Opening Day on the field getting reps with Kinsler.
I don’t think I would put much merit into what Lynn Henning says. Guy has been wrong a bunch of times, most recently that the Tigers were going to sign Brian Wilson, no doubt. He’s DD’s go to guy in the media to get out a report that everyone knows isn’t true.
Tigers will sign him, regardless of this report. DD doesn’t tell the media anything. This is just posturing. If so, this is also exactly why I thought it was stupid for DD to not at least offer Peralta a qualifying offer. He wound up making close to 14.1MM in AAV anyway (13MM AAV). I realize part of his hefty contract was that he had no draft pick attached and he would not likely have made as much otherwise. Still, if he leaves, Tigers lock up a first round draft pick, to replace the one they would have to give up to sign Stephen Drew now.
Conversely, even if he would have accepted the qualifying offer, they could have stuck his bat at 3b, where he’s much less of a defensive liability and have him as a back-up at SS in case, oh I don’t know, Iglesias blows out his shin. They also would have had plenty of suitors line-up to trade for Peralta and get him on a short-term deal. Now it looks like the Tigers are going to still wind up paying Drew close to that money AND surrendering a draft pick.
If Iggy’s BA was higher and more critical to the success of this team the Tigers would be in a much greater hurry to find a reliable replacement for him. Since he was only projected to hit around .230 the front office believes Suarez, Perez, or Worth can do at least that well at the plate and play SS reasonably well. IMO “Reasonably” is an assumption that will not be proven as none have Iggy’s range, hands, glove, or arm.
The Tigers could probably get Castro from the Cubs if they have a stud pitcher in the minors.
As a Tribe fan, id love to get a 3rd team involved and give them Asdrubal for prospects, and just sink or swim with Lindor
You mean a team doesn’t want to give $12M a year to an average shortstop? Shocker.
They are the “evil empire” Tigers…. life is one big blank check
Kind of funny/odd the number of teams this off season that have gone out of their way to say that they’re not interested in Drew.
Pennington for Crosby and others?
The Jays need to be in on Drew to solidify 2B. Goins is a hell of a fielder, but he will have a tough time batting his weight.