Here’s the latest from around the AL Central…
- The Twins don’t have interest in free agent southpaw Matt Thornton, 1500 ESPN Twin Cities’ Darren Wolfson reports (Twitter link), though in a subtweet, Wolfson said “seven or so” other teams are interested. Wolfson speculated that Thornton could be a fit in Minnesota due to the team’s familiarity with him as an AL Central rival in Chicago for so many years. The Twins are also in need of bullpen help and the 39-year-old Thornton has posted a 1.98 ERA over 77 1/3 innings in 2014-15 (though advanced metrics aren’t as bullish about his performance).
- In today’s mailbag, a reader asked Paul Hoynes of The Plain Dealer about the Indians’ decision not to protect Hector Rondon in the Rule 5 draft after the 2012 season. Thanks to injury troubles, Rondon didn’t pitch much in the three years leading up to that Rule 5 draft. Beyond that, Rondon was asked to pitch in relief in after returning from elbow surgery and the Tribe’s bullpen was already stacked. Of course, Rondon would go on to break through with the Cubs and become their closer.
- Also from Hoynes’ mailbag, he discussed a bit of trade speculation and said he personally doesn’t think the Indians will end up dealing Carlos Carrasco.
- Tigers GM Al Avila said the team extended a contract offer to Rajai Davis before deciding to trade for Cameron Maybin instead, Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press writes. “At the end of the day, we felt [Maybin] was the best option for us,” Avila said. With Maybin now in the fold, Davis will almost certainly be with another team in 2016.
- Tigers executive vice president and GM Al Avila has followed through on his promise to beef up the club’s scouting and analytics staffs, Chris McCosky of The Detroit News writes. The Tigers announced several new additions to both departments and their international scouting staff earlier this week, all of which are listed in McCosky’s piece.
MLBTR’s Zach Links also contributed to this post
So, the Tigers added to their scouting and analytics staff with the money they saved by not extending Dombrowski. Interesting.
Might have paid it back with the Maybin deal. While the cost was literally nothing, an out of options AAAA reliever and Speir, whose ceiling is a 6-7th inning reliever.. If he reaches it as a upper 80’s to 91mph throwing righty. They might have been able to retain Davis for another 2y with that same amount (9m) and Davis has a steady track record, something Maybin is sorely missing.
Hope it works out for Detroit. I remember the enigma that was Maybin all to well from his marlins days. He’d tear it up, then it would all be gone. Maybe going back to the organization which drafted him will put him on a steady track?
As the article states:
Detroit Tigers general manager Al Avila said on Friday evening that the team had extended an offer to the veteran outfielder….“At the end of the day, we felt this was the best option for us,” Avila said.
All of that means the Tigers’ offer was for less money,less years or both to suit Davis at this time. Tigers moved on.
My guess is they offered just about what you said or maybe 2yrs in the $10-12MM range. Davis, here in Nov., is probably looking for 3 years at $6-8MM per. Tigers seem to be looking for shorter term deals for the fringe areas and maybe even the SP market. They better be prepared to offer an upper level second tier SP a 5-7yr deal if they want to compete in 2016.
Hi,
I read the article. it’s not like Davis won’t play the market for a bit and see what’s out there and they can use Gose in CF still, then find another inexpensive late season sign if he spurned them. Nori Aoki, Gerrardo Parra are just 2 that could have probably been had for less cash only and have track records.
My thoughts are that Maybin just isn’t consistent. It’s nothing against the guy, he just isn’t consistent over either a full season, much less 2 in a row and wonder if Avila gave too much of the Tiger’s payroll to the wrong guy.
In the Indians mailbag, one of the suggestions was a potential Danny Salazar for Paul Goldschmidt swap. Just when you thought you’ve seen the most bizarre trade proposals…
That was super bizarre. Then again some Indians fans tend to overvalue players. I’ve seen some tribe fans float hypothetical Mike Trout and Stanton trades.
I’m not sure that’s unique to any one fan base. I’ve seen absurd offers from fans of most teams, but the suggestion that Goldschmidt “would probably be a nice fit” for Cleveland just seemed weird
Cleveland could not afford Goldschmidt. Boston on the other hand would be a great fit for Goldschmidt.
Cameron Maybin finally fulfilling his potential? Nice addition if this last season he enjoyed becomes a trend now in big D.
Though originally a head scratcher, I personally am quite fond of this deal. The Tigers get rid of a poor relief arm, making room for a more productive left-hander, possibly Bastardo. More importantly, this gives the the Tigers another athletic player with a unique set of tools which I believe are perfect for Comerica. His speed is a great addition to the line up, but I also believe that being around great hitters like Miggy and the Martini duo, as well as receive guidance from Wally Joyner will allow him to refine his swing and drive the ball.