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Tigers Rumors

Quick Hits: Dodgers, Pujols, Lannan

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | April 10, 2012 at 4:35pm CDT

Jackie Robinson signed a Major League contract with Dodgers GM Branch Rickey on this date in 1947. Robinson played in his first MLB game five days later and went on to be named Rookie of the Year. Here are some notes from around MLB on the anniversary of that historic day…

  • Things are looking up for the Dodgers now that they've put 2011 behind them and are about to undergo an ownership transition, Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports writes.
  • Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com suggests the Cardinals will be fine this season, even with longtime star Albert Pujols playing for the Angels.
  • The Orioles, Cubs, Tigers, Red Sox, Astros and Tigers have expressed interest in John Lannan, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. However, the Nationals are inclined to hold onto the left-hander. "We feel he's a solid major-league starting pitcher," GM Mike Rizzo said. "But we feel we have five guys who are better than him." The Tigers haven't ruled Lannan out, Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports tweets.
  • High school center fielder Byron Buxton and college catcher Mike Zunino top Keith Law's list of amateur player eligible for this summer's draft (ESPN Insider link).
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Baltimore Orioles Boston Red Sox Chicago Cubs Detroit Tigers Houston Astros Los Angeles Angels Los Angeles Dodgers St. Louis Cardinals Washington Nationals Albert Pujols John Lannan

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Cafardo On Kinsler, Cox, Damon, Prior, Lannan

By Zachary Links | April 8, 2012 at 10:01am CDT

It's clear to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe that the collapse of last September bothered some Red Sox players more than others.  While some are using it as fuel for motivation, others seem eager to leave it in the past completely.  Former Braves manager Bobby Cox told Cafardo that he preferred the latter. "The way I looked at it, you let it go both ways. If we win the World Series, I’d say enjoy it but time to get ready for the next year. Every season is different. I don’t think there should be carryover either way," Cox said.  Here's more from Cafardo..

  • Major league sources say that Ian Kinsler should average $13-$14MM over five or six years once his deal is done.  While he and the Rangers couldn’t come to terms by Opening Day, it’s not out of the question that something gets done during the season.  Brandon Phillips of the Reds should be in the Dan Uggla range – about five-years for $60MM.  Dustin Pedroia's six-year, $40.5MM deal with the Red Sox now looks like bargain as it goes through 2014 with an $11MM option for 2015.
  • When asked if he would consider managing again, Cox didn’t give a resounding no. "I don’t know. I don’t know. I’m done," he said. But he added, “I miss it. I miss it every day." While Cox has deep ties to Dodgers president Stan Kasten, he said he would not consider going back to being a GM.  Cox is signed to be an adviser for the Braves through the 2015 season.
  • When asked about Johnny Damon remaining on the open market, one AL GM was perplexed and suggested that the Rays, Indians, Orioles, and Tigers could all use him.
  • Cafardo's "all-free agent team" features right-hander Roy Oswalt, Damon in center field, Hideki Matsui as DH, Vladimir Guerrero in left field, Magglio Ordonez in right, catcher Ivan Rodriguez, first baseman Derrek Lee, second baseman Aaron Miles, shortstop Felipe Lopez, third baseman Casey Blake.  Oswalt tops the rotation alongside Javier Vazquez, who he notes has not officially retired.  Cafardo also lists Mike Gonzalez and Arthur Rhodes as the top relievers available.
  • Mark Prior’s throwing sessions have looked decent, according to major league sources, and he may be getting ready to throw for teams soon.
  • Nationals pitcher John Lannan remains in limbo as he pitches in Triple-A, but as injuries mount his trade request may be heard.  The left-hander is only 27 and could fit on many staffs as a fourth or fifth starter, but his $5MM salary is an obvious hurdle.
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Atlanta Braves Baltimore Orioles Boston Red Sox Cincinnati Reds Cleveland Guardians Detroit Tigers Tampa Bay Rays Texas Rangers Washington Nationals Ian Kinsler Johnny Damon Mark Prior

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Central Links: Axford, Tigers, Hosmer

By Mike Axisa | March 31, 2012 at 8:16pm CDT

Three years ago today, the Reds traded Jeff Keppinger to the Astros for a player to be named later. That player ended up being Drew Sutton. Here's the latest from baseball's two Central divisions…

  • "I don't care if it does," said John Axford to MLB.com's Adam McCalvy when asked if he minds if extensions talks with the Brewers carry over into the regular season. "I'm open to still talking [during the season], for sure, and it doesn't affect me if we don't talk."
  • "What I'm telling you is that we don't definitely have any trades in place," said Tigers manager Jim Leyland to MLB.com's Jason Beck. Detroit appears to be taking as much time as possible before announcing their final roster moves.
  • With Alex Gordon now signed to an extension, the Royals will try to convince Eric Hosmer to sign a long-term deal according to ESPN's Buster Olney (Insider req'd). I looked at Hosmer as an extension candidate in January, but the first baseman recently said he's not in a rush to sign a new deal.
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Detroit Tigers Kansas City Royals Milwaukee Brewers Eric Hosmer John Axford

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Knobler On Inge, Donald, Jimenez

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | March 30, 2012 at 2:15pm CDT

The latest rumors from Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com (all links go to Twitter)…

  • The Tigers have tried hard to interest the Phillies in Brandon Inge without much success. Inge offers steady defense at third and has been learning second base this spring, but he earns $5.5MM in 2012.
  • The Phillies tried to re-acquire utility player Jason Donald from the Indians, but Cleveland preferred to keep him. The Phillies drafted Donald in 2006 and sent him to Cleveland in the 2009 Cliff Lee trade.
  • Teams inquired on Ubaldo Jimenez this spring, but the Indians don’t have interest in moving him, either.
  • Scouts are watching Diamondbacks left-hander Mike Zagurski, since there’s a sense the Diamondbacks might trade him.
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Arizona Diamondbacks Cleveland Guardians Detroit Tigers Philadelphia Phillies Brandon Inge Jason Donald Mike Zagurski Ubaldo Jimenez

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Magglio Ordonez Says He’s Close To Retiring

By Mark Polishuk | March 27, 2012 at 3:21pm CDT

TUESDAY, 3:21pm: Ordonez told Ignacio Serrano from El Nacional in Venezuela that he hasn't retired just yet. "It's not official, I still haven't retired, but if in something doesn't appear in the next two weeks, I think that will be my final decision." In regard to accepting a minor league contract, Ordonez was clear: "With all respect to the players in the minor leagues, I've played for 15 years in the big leagues and I don't want to play there" (via MLBTR’s Nick Collias).

MONDAY, 7:11pm: Ordonez confirmed via e-mail that he wrote the tweet, reports MLB.com's Jason Beck.

5:50pm: Magglio Ordonez may be close to ending his 15-year Major League career, tweeting a message of "Estoy muy serca de mi retiro!" (translated as "I am very close to my retirement") this afternoon.  The Tigers have confirmed that the Twitter account indeed belongs to Ordonez, reports Chris Iott of MLive.com.

Ordonez suffered a fractured ankle during the ALCS, his second such injury in as many seasons.  He had been cleared to resume baseball activities and had expressed interest in playing in 2012 but only on a Major League contract.  The Athletics showed some interest in Ordonez but instead signed another veteran bat in Manny Ramirez.  Ordonez, who turned 38 in January, hit .255/.303/.331 (all career lows) in 357 plate appearances for Detroit last season.

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Detroit Tigers Magglio Ordonez

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Dolan On Indians, Hernandez, Sizemore, Free Agents

By Mark Polishuk | March 26, 2012 at 10:30pm CDT

Indians CEO Paul Dolan recently spoke to Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer about a number of topics concerning business both on and off the field…

  • Dolan wasn't "shocked" to hear about Roberto Hernandez (a.k.a. Fausto Carmona) living under a false identity, saying that the team had heard an unsubstantiated rumor about the situation last year.
  • Grady Sizemore will miss at least one month of the regular season after undergoing minor back surgery, but Dolan doesn't regret re-signing the outfielder.  "It's disappointing that he got hurt again," Dolan said.  "But we thought it was worth the risk because no one else on the [free agent] market had even close to Grady's upside for that price."
  • Though recent long-term signings like Sizemore, Travis Hafner and Jake Westbrook have suffered injuries, Dolan said he is still open to signing players to such deals, though not without some caution.  "If Chris [Antonetti] and Mark [Shapiro] comes to us with a long-term deal they want to make, we will seriously consider it. They have not done that [lately]," Dolan said.  "We will remain open, but in totality, how successful have those kind of deals been? More often than not, they have been failures."
  • Dolan disputed a recent Forbes article that claimed the Indians made a $30MM profit in 2011, arguing that while the club "made a little bit" of profit, that money went back into the team.  Dolan said the MLB Players Association cited the Indians as a franchise that was properly using the league's revenue sharing system.
  • Dolan was surprised when GM Chris Antonetti approached him about the Ubaldo Jimenez deal last summer.  "Like most fans, I'm used to us trading for prospects — not trading some of our best prospects," Dolan said.  "I was happy to see us take that approach and try to win."
  • It doesn't concern Dolan that the Indians don't have any players under contract past 2013, as the CEO notes that the team has control over many of its young stars like Carlos Santana and Jason Kipnis for years to come.
  • Dolan didn't address rumors that the team was looking to sell cable network Sports Time Ohio, but said, "We are always looking to add revenue on the TV side of things."
  • It doesn't sound as if Dolan was totally satisfied with baseball's new collective bargaining agreement.  "We achieved labor peace," said Dolan. "But we didn't address the fundamental problems [such as a lack of a salary cap]."
  • Dolan said that there have been no "serious buyers" interested in purchasing the team during his ownership stint.  He would possibly have interest in a minority investor, should such an interested investor come forward.
  • The Tigers' signing of Prince Fielder dwarfed the Tribe's modest payroll increase of $50MM to $70MM.  "I understand that makes us look bad," Dolan said. "I don't understand the foundation of what they are doing … OK, in the short term, I do understand it, but long term …"  The Tigers' desire to win now makes them "operate much different than most franchises.  Even the teams in major markets tend to operate as we do — they spend what they take in and don't go way above that."
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Cleveland Guardians Collective Bargaining Agreement Detroit Tigers Fausto Carmona Grady Sizemore

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Offseason In Review: Detroit Tigers

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | March 26, 2012 at 7:37am CDT

Tigers owner Mike Ilitch spent aggressively on one of the top free agents available to bolster an already formidable offense.

Major League Signings

  • Prince Fielder, 1B: nine years, $214MM. 
  • Jose Valverde, RP: one year, $9MM. Club option exercised.
  • Ramon Santiago, IF: two years, $4MM. 
  • Octavio Dotel, RP: one year, $3.5MM. 
  • Gerald Laird, C: one year, $1MM.
  • Total spend: $231.5MM.

Notable Minor League Signings

  • Brent Dlugach, Chris Bootcheck, Niuman Romero, Darin Downs.

Trades and Claims

  • Acquired RP Collin Balester from the Nationals for RP Ryan Perry.

Notable Losses

  • Magglio Ordonez, Wilson Betemit, Carlos Guillen, Brad Penny, Joel Zumaya, Perry.

Draft Picks Gained or Lost

  • Lost 27th overall selection to Brewers for Fielder. 

Back in October, the Tigers’ chances of signing a major free agent seemed decent, if not particularly strong.  Jose Reyes, Jimmy Rollins, Aramis Ramirez, Mark Buehrle and Yu Darvish all made a certain amount of sense for the Tigers, a team without certainty on the left side of the infield or a proven fifth starter. But Prince Fielder? Not a chance.

Prince Fielder - Tigers

Things changed pretty quickly once Victor Martinez tore his ACL during an ill-fated offseason workout. Within ten days, owner Mike Ilitch had approved a $214MM contract for Fielder and, just like that, the 2012 Tigers were a changed team. 

Fielder, undoubtedly one of the top offensive producers in baseball, has averaged 160 games in six full seasons. He brings durability and pure left-handed power to a Tigers lineup that placed fourth in the majors in scoring a year ago. They’ll put up a few runs again in 2012.

Detroit’s infield defense could become a concern as a result of the Fielder signing. Fielder will play first base and Miguel Cabrera will play third, a position at which he has played just 14 MLB games since being traded to Detroit after the 2007 season. Now that the Tigers have promised both superstars an everyday job in the field, they face a potentially difficult situation. Should Cabrera’s defense prove to be a real barrier to the team’s success, manager Jim Leyland and GM Dave Dombrowski will have to find a way to keep him in the lineup at another position. 

When the Tigers’ offseason began, its success seemed to hinge on Dombrowski’s ability to obtain a second baseman and add pitching depth. The Fielder deal pushed Brandon Inge from third to second, where he’s competing for the starting job alongside the versatile Ryan Raburn and Ramon Santiago, who re-signed in Detroit after testing the free agent market. The Tigers apparently preferred their internal options to free agent second basemen such as Aaron Hill, Kelly Johnson and Mark Ellis.

The Tigers’ rotation features an enviable top four and their bullpen includes a number of proven relievers, but they added less pitching than I expected this winter. They inquired on Roy Oswalt, using the defending Cy Young and MVP as a recruiter, but the choosy right-hander didn’t reciprocate the team’s interest and he remains unsigned. 

Speculation linked the Tigers to left-handed free agent starters such as Erik Bedard, Paul Maholm, Jeff Francis and Joe Saunders throughout the offseason, but the club ultimately passed on every one of them. They’ll go with an internal candidate for the fifth starter’s job, a role for which a group of left-handers are currently competing. 

The Tigers could have added a starter on a minor league deal, even if they believe their young arms are ready to contribute at the Major League level. Most teams go through nine or ten starters over the course of a full season, so the additional depth would have helped. Perhaps the Tigers did show interest and starters such as Francis decided they'd have a better chance at winning a starting job elsewhere.

Dombrowski added Octavio Dotel to the bullpen, and though the veteran reliever is essentially a right-on-right specialist at this point in his career, the one-year deal makes sense. The Tigers traded flame-throwing former first rounder Ryan Perry for long relief option Collin Balester, but didn’t acquire others who are likely to make an impact out of the ‘pen in 2012. The Tigers’ bullpen doesn’t have many openings and the front office apparently determined that major turnover wasn't necessary.

The Tigers arrived at a turning point when the ligament in Martinez’s knee snapped two months ago. They could have made do without the switch-hitter and would have been favored to win the division even if they had allowed Fielder to go elsewhere. Instead, infield defense be damned, they signed Fielder to one of the biggest contracts in baseball history. The deal has its critics, as most nine-figure agreements do, but few will deny that the Tigers are a serious threat to repeat as AL Central champions and play deep into the postseason once again.

Photo courtesy Icon SMI.

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2011-12 Offseason In Review Detroit Tigers

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Heyman On Lannan, Tigers, Abreu, Zito, Dunn

By Zachary Links | March 25, 2012 at 9:49pm CDT

Here's the latest from Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com..

  • The Tigers' interest in John Lannan is only lukewarm at best and one executive told Heyman (via Twitter) that American League teams are leery of what switching leagues would do.  For their part, the Nationals still seem eager to move the left-hander.
  • With no real playing time likely available to Bobby Abreu, it might be for the best for the Angels to simply release the veteran, Heyman writes.  Even though Abreu's agents, Peter and Edward Greenberg, said his recent comments were taken out of context, Abreu is obviously frustrated and unhappy about his situation.
  • Is Barry Zito's contract the worst free agent deal ever? – Heyman believes that it is and it tops his top ten list.  John Lackey, Gary Matthews, Carl Pavano, and Mike Hampton round out the top five.
  • There are several theories as to why Adam Dunn wasn't able to produce last year, including the idea that his big contract got to him, writes Heyman.  The 32-year-old hit .159/.292/.277 in 122 games last season.
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Chicago White Sox Detroit Tigers Los Angeles Angels San Francisco Giants Washington Nationals Adam Dunn Barry Zito Bobby Abreu John Lannan

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Central Links: Leyland, White Sox, Indians, Chapman

By Mike Axisa | March 23, 2012 at 7:32pm CDT

Twelve years ago today, the Cardinals traded Kent Bottenfield and Adam Kennedy to the Angels for Jim Edmonds. Edmonds went on to hit .285/.393/.555 in eight years with St. Louis, a stint that included six Gold Gloves, three All-Star Game appearances, two top-five finishes in the MVP voting, two NL pennants, and one World Series title. Here's the latest from baseball's two Central divisions…

  • Tigers manager Jim Leyland isn't ready to call it a career, writes MLB.com's Jason Beck. The 67-year-old Leyland is going year-to-year with his contract so "there's no issues whatsoever."
  • White Sox GM Kenny Williams told MLB.com's Scott Merkin that he has no regrets about taking chances on big name players who haven't worked out, specifically Jake Peavy, Adam Dunn, and Alex Rios. "If it doesn't work, I know at the end of the day we tried the best," said the GM.
  • Injuries have already taken a toll on the Indians' outfield, and manager Manny Acta told Paul Hoynes of The Cleveland Plain-Dealer that any left field candidates "need to hit … We can't have a pecking order for defensive left fielders here. We need to see some stuff, some offense, some production."
  • The Reds still haven't made a decision about whether Aroldis Chapman will be a starter or reliever this season, writes MLB.com's Mark Bowman. "We're close," said manager Dusty Baker. "You'll be notified when we make our decision on what's happening. Right now, we don't know."
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Tigers Claim Kelvin De La Cruz

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | March 23, 2012 at 12:38pm CDT

The Tigers announced that they claimed left-hander Kelvin De La Cruz off of waivers from the Indians. The Tigers have optioned the 23-year-old to Double-A.

It's been a busy few months for De La Cruz, who has been traded to the Rangers, re-acquired by the Indians and then designated for assignment. He posted a 4.19 ERA with 9.9 K/9 and 6.0 BB/9 in 86 innings as a starter and reliever at Double-A last year. The 6'5" lefty has typically walked and struck out lots of opponents, as his career rates of 8.9 K/9 and 4.9 BB/9 indicate.

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Cleveland Guardians Detroit Tigers Transactions

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