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Tigers Notes: Fielder, Cespedes, Boesch

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The Tigers agreed to sign Prince Fielder to the biggest contract in franchise history and the fourth biggest in MLB history less than 24 hours ago, so there’s lots of Tigers chatter today. Here are the latest links…

  • Some ‘MLB bigs’ say the Fielder contract is too long and for too much money, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets. The first baseman agreed to a nine-year, $214MM deal.
  • One rival general manager says Fielder has elite makeup, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney tweets. “He's great that way," the GM said.
  • People in baseball aren’t sure if the Fielder signing takes the Tigers out of the running for Cuban outfielder Yoenis Cespedes, Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com tweets. Cespedes has gained residency in the Dominican Republic, but he's not yet a free agent.
  • Tigers outfielder Brennan Boesch joined Jim Bowden and Casey Stern on MLB Network Radio and said he's eargerly awaiting hitting in the same lineup as Fielder. Boesch added that he had no idea Fielder was joining the Tigers.
  • Tigers right-hander Max Scherzer told John Lowe of the Detroit Free Press that "[his] phone has blown up talking about [the news]. It is Christmas come late."
  • Here are some more reactions to the Fielder deal.

Reactions To The Prince Fielder Signing

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Scott Boras did it again. Just when it looked like the market for Prince Fielder had slowed late in the offseason, Boras got his prized client the fourth richest contract in baseball history. The Tigers agreed to sign the slugger to a nine-year contract worth $214MM today, giving them the most devastating 3-4 lineup tandem in the game. Here's a recap of what's been said about the deal…

  • "In some sense, I'm glad he got a good contract that he's satisfied with. We knew early on that we probably weren't going to be in it. I think Prince probably knew that, too," said Brewers GM Doug Melvin to MLB.com's Adam McCalvy. Melvin confirmed they hadn't had serious extension talks with Fielder since Spring Training of 2010, and he credited the slugger with helping the team get back to being contenders.
  • Rival executives told Joel Sherman of The New York Post that they think the signing came from ownership, not GM Dave Dombrowski (Twitter link). He says deals for other Boras clients — Johnny Damon, Ivan Rodriguez, and Magglio Ordonez — happened the same way. Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports heard that owner Mike Illitch influenced the signing "100%" (Twitter link).
  • The Nationals and a mystery team were strongly in on Fielder, reports Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (Twitter links). The Mariners, meanwhile, told teams they didn't have money to spend on a hitter of Prince's caliber, which is why they traded for Jesus Montero according to Sherman.
  • Andrew Baggarly of The Mercury News says (on Twitter) that the Giants were never really in on Fielder.
  • ESPN's Keith Law, Dave Cameron of FanGraphs, and SI.com's Cliff Corcoran agree that Fielder will improve the Tigers in the short-term, but the last few years of the contract could be messy.

Johnny Damon Would Consider Tigers

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The Tigers are considering Johnny Damon for their designated hitter job and the interest is mutual. The 38-year-old free agent is open to returning to Detroit, where he played in 2010, tweets John Lowe of the Detroit Free Press. 

"I have interest knowing that I loved playing there and they are a team built to win," Damon said.

Damon is just 277 career hits away from the 3,000 hit milestone. He hit .261/.326/.418 with 16 homers and 29 doubles in 582 plate appearances as the Rays' DH in 2011. Relative to the league as a whole, he hit well (110 OPS+), but DHs averaged a better batting line this past season: .265/.340/.429. The Scott Boras client has played in at least 140 games every season since 1996. I examined Damon's free agent stock in November, concluding that another modest one-year deal is likely. 

The Tigers are on the lookout for DH help and seem to be especially intrigued by left-handed bats, like Damon. The club has also been linked to left-handed hitting free agents Juan Pierre, Raul Ibanez and Hideki Matsui.

Quick Hits: Cespedes, Pierzynski, Molina, Selig

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A few news items to wrap up a busy Monday…

  • The Cubs, Marlins and Tigers are the three teams most actively targeting Yoenis Cespedes, reports FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal (Twitter link).  Last week, Cespedes said the Cubs were his most ardent suitor, with the Marlins, Tigers, Orioles, White Sox and Indians also showing "more interest" in him.
  • White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski tells MLB.com's Scott Merkin that he plans to continue playing after 2012.  Pierzynski, 35, has spent the last seven years with the Sox and is a free agent after this season.
  • Yadier Molina's future with the Cardinals is debated in a St. Louis Post-Dispatch roundtable.
  • Bud Selig's two-year contract extension was officially finalized and announced today, Major League Baseball announced.  Selig will remain commissioner through the 2014 season.  The extension was approved by a unanimous 30-0 vote amongst team owners.
  • Derrek Lee could retire if he doesn't find "a perfect situation," tweets Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com.  Yesterday, Joel Sherman of the New York Post said Lee could be in for a Jermaine Dye-esque "forced retirement" since no team would be willing to meet his desired price.
  • The Rays reportedly have interest in Edgar Renteria for a bench spot, writes Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.
  • The Astros will consider uniform changes and even possibly a name change for 2013, new club owner Jim Crane announced at a press conference today (passed on by Zachary Levine of the Houston Chronicle).
  • Indians catcher Lou Marson could see a lot of playing time against left-handed pitching, writes MLB.com's Jordan Bastian.  Regular catcher Carlos Santana could play at first base on the days the strong-armed Marson (who threw out 33.3% of baserunners last year) is behind the plate.  The right-handed hitting Marson has a .285/.367/.395 career line against southpaws and would add balance to an Indians lineup that is very heavy on left-handed bats.

Tigers, Prince Fielder Nearing Nine-Year Deal

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The Tigers are "very close" to a nine-year deal with Prince Fielder, Yahoo's Tim Brown tweets. Fielder will join Miguel Cabrera in the middle of the Tigers' order to create more than enough offense to make up for the loss of Victor Martinez.

Though the market for Fielder seemed far from robust at times this offseason agent Scott Boras has found an unexpected suitor once again. 

This post was originally published on January, 24th, 2012.

Tigers Have Some Interest In Matsui, Ibanez

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11:53pm: Knobler indicates that Oswalt has turned the Tigers down even though they were very interested in signing him (Twitter links). They even had Justin Verlander make a recruiting call. He says the Tigers are likely to leave the fifth starter's job up for grabs in Spring Training.

9:01am: The Tigers have some interest in Hideki Matsui and Raul Ibanez, Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com reports on Twitter. Victor Martinez will likely miss the entire season with a torn ACL, so Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski is in the market for a designated hitter.

The Tigers are considering free agents Johnny Damon and Juan Pierre, but might rely on internal options at DH. Matsui, Ibanez, Pierre and Damon all bat from the left side, but club could consider right-handed bats such as Vladimir Guerrero, Magglio Ordonez and Derrek Lee. Both Matsui and Ibanez have been linked to the Yankees, another club that may add a designated hitter.

The Tigers have also shown interest in Roy Oswalt, according to Knobler. While Jacob Turner and others are candidates to start for Detroit, the team is considering ways of adding starting pitching depth before Opening Day. Knobler says it appears unlikely that the Tigers will sign Oswalt, which matches up with what Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports reported yesterday.

Tigers Considering Damon, Pierre

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2:22pm: Jim Bowden of MLB Network Radio and ESPN tweets that the Tigers are also considering Juan Pierre. The thought would be to add a table-setter type and then let Brennan Boesch and Delmon Young drive in the extra runs rather than trying to add a middle-of-the-order hitter.

1:07pm: The Tigers are pursuing Johnny Damon, a source tells Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (via Twitter).  Morosi adds that at this point, he's a stronger possibility for the club than Derrek Lee.

Detroit lost designated hitter Victor Martinez for the 2012 season last week when the switch-hitter tore his ACL during his offseason workouts, leaving a hole in their lineup. Though Damon turned 38 this offseason, he still posted respectable offensive numbers last season, batting .261/.326/.418 with 16 homers and 19 steals in 647 plate appearances for the Rays, most of which came as a DH.

A signing would make for a reunion between the two sides, as Damon spent the 2010 season as Detroit's primary DH, though he did make 36 outfield appearances that year. His outfield time was even more sparse in Tampa, with only 16 appearances to his credit.

Since becoming a full-time player in 1996, Damon has never played in fewer than 141 games in a season; he's averaged 655 plate appearances per season and played for six different teams in that time.

Steve Adams contributed to this post.

Red Sox Intensifying Pursuit Of Roy Oswalt

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8:16pm: Oswalt is not close to signing, reports Morosi (on Twitter). The Red Sox remain very much involved, he says.

6:53pm: With the Marco Scutaro trade providing $6MM of salary relief, the Red Sox have now intensified their pursuit of Roy Oswalt according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (all Twitter links). They are not the only team in on the right-hander, though the Tigers are only on the fringe of the sweepstakes. Morosi calls the situation "fluid."

Oswalt, 34, is reportedly looking for a one-year deal worth $8MM. Earlier this week we heard that Boston would have to move some money to be able to afford him, which is exactly what the Scutaro trade did. Oswalt pitched to a 3.69 ERA with 6.0 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 in 139 IP for the Phillies last season, missing time with back problems. Prior to that, the long-time Astro made at least 30 starts and threw at least 180 IP in seven straight seasons.

AL Central Notes: Eldred, Gordon, Carmona

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It was on this day in 1993 that Tigers legend Charlie Gehringer passed away at the age of 89.  Gehringer spent his entire 19-year career in Detroit, finishing with a .320/.404/.480 career line, the 1937 AL MVP Award, a 1935 World Series championship and induction into the Baseball Hall Of Fame.  Gehringer is still among the Tigers' franchise leaders in virtually every offensive category and is widely regarded as one of the game's greatest second basemen.

Some items from Detroit and elsewhere in the AL Central…

  • The Tigers signed first baseman Brad Eldred to a minor league contract that doesn't include an invitation to the team's Major League Spring Training camp.  Eldred, 31, has an .870 OPS and 227 homers over 10 minor league seasons but has seen just 282 plate appearances in the bigs, his most recent cup of coffee coming with the Rockies in 2010.  Eldred hit .278/.351/.536 for the Giants' Triple-A affiliate last season.
  • The Royals shouldn't wait to sign Alex Gordon to an extension, argues Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star.  Mellinger thinks Michael Cuddyer's three-year, $31.5MM pact with the Rockies could be "the general framework" for a new Gordon deal, and both Gordon and Cuddyer are represented by agent Casey Close.  Mellinger thinks a four-year, $35MM contract would fair to both sides; that's about $5MM higher than what MLBTR's Tim Dierkes guessed a Gordon extension would look like last August.
  • Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com thinks the Indians should release Roberto Hernandez Heredia (a.k.a. Fausto Carmona) and use the saved salary on an available pitcher like Roy Oswalt, Edwin Jackson or Livan Hernandez.
  • Melissa Segura of Sports Illustrated looks at how teams pay much larger median bonuses to 16-year-old Latin American prospects, when a much smaller percentage of those young prospects actually reach the majors.  While players like Carmona have knowingly committed age and identity fraud, Segura argues that "by placing such high premiums on 16-year-olds, teams are fooling themselves."

Stark On Tigers, Pineda, Dodgers, Rockies, Angels

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On Tuesday the Tigers learned that they'll be without Victor Martinez for the 2012 season and the club won't be able to truly replace everything that he brings to the lineup, writes Jayson Stark of ESPN.com.  Only four other players matched or bested the 33-year-old's .330/.380/.470 slash line last season: Adrian Gonzalez, Ryan Braun, Michael Young and Miguel Cabrera.  Stark takes a look at Detroit's options and much more in tonight's column:

  • Before Carlos Pena re-upped with the Rays, it appeared he was at the top of the Tigers' list.  Now, Stark says that the club could deal for Bobby Abreu, sign Yoenis Cespedes, or bring Johnny Damon back for another go-round in Detroit.  Outside of those players, the club could look into left-handed-hitting free agents such as Hideki Matsui, Raul Ibanez, J.D. Drew, and Kosuke Fukudome.  Right-handed options include Vladimir Guerrero, Magglio Ordonez, Cody Ross, and Derrek Lee.
  • One club official estimated that he had about a dozen conversations with the Mariners this winter and Michael Pineda's name never came up.  That's probably because M's GM Jack Zduriencik wanted young, controllable, impact bats like Jesus Montero, Mike Stanton, and Logan Morrison and only dangled the pitcher to those teams.  Eventually, it was the Yanks who made the deal.
  • There are also two "conspiracy theories" floating around regarding the deal.  One school of thought has people wondering if Pineda's fading velocity down the stretch trigged the M's to trade him.  There are also clubs wondering if the Yankees had concerns about Montero's mental make-up.
  • There has never been a team in history with three $20MM-a-year pitchers, but the Phillies will have to be the first if they want to hang on to Cole Hamels.  The club has been hoping that Hamels would take a Jered Weaver-type deal, but agent John Boggs wants more.  Stark believes that this is due in part to his view of C.C. Sabathia and Ryan Howard.  Sabathia was the last dominant left-hander to hit the market at age 28 and Howard comes up in conversation because the Phillies gave him top-of-the-market dollars two years before free agency.
  • One team executive said that "Next year this time, the Dodgers will be THE team calling up every marquee free agent.  They're going to have serious money.  They'll be the Yankees West."
  • Rockies GM Dan O'Dowd has amassed so much controllable starting-pitching depth, he might turn around and trade an arm or two to replenish his position-player prospect pool.  Earlier today, O'Dowd shipped Kevin Slowey to the Indians for right-handed reliever Zach Putnam.
  • The Angels are downplaying the possibility that they'll add a closer to supplant Jordan Walden. They've been looking for another left-handed reliever, they've checked in on Brad Lidge, and now they're basically "looking to deepen their supporting cast," according to one exec.
  • Agents who have spoken with the Yankees say that, despite rumors they could sign a DH-type like Damon, Matsui or Ibanez, the team isn't too hungry for a bat. One source says that, in truth, the Yankees have told agents that a veteran DH is actually "a very low priority."
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