Tigers Rumors

Eight More Avoid Arbitration

By Tim Dierkes | January 20, 2009 at 2:13pm CDT

SI.com’s Jon Heyman has seven more players who avoided arbitration today: Jeremy Accardo ($900K), Heath Bell ($1.225MM), Ryan Church ($2.8MM), Gerald Laird ($2.8MM), Javier Lopez ($1.35MM), Bobby Seay ($1.3MM), and Joel Zumaya ($735K). I think next year we’ll put all of these in one constantly-updated post.

ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick says Angel Pagan signed for $575K.

Nady, Papelbon, Jackson Avoid Arb

By Tim Dierkes | January 20, 2009 at 1:57pm CDT

Dylan Hernandez has three new ones: Xavier Nady ($6.55MM), Jonathan Papelbon ($6.25MM), and Edwin Jackson ($2.2MM plus $200K in incentives). Papelbon tops Bobby Jenks’ first-year arb reliever record of $5.6MM, set yesterday. ESPN’s Jayson Stark has more; he says Papelbon and the Red Sox discussed multiyear deals but couldn’t find a match. It may be revisited.

Tigers Sign Juan Rincon

By Tim Dierkes | January 20, 2009 at 10:39am CDT

According to the AP, the Tigers signed reliever Juan Rincon to a minor league deal. Rincon, 30 in a few days, posted a 5.86 ERA in 55.3 innings with the Twins and Indians last year. Rincon’s control and ability to get groundballs has slipped in recent times.

Manny Ramirez Rumors: Saturday

By Ben Jones | January 17, 2009 at 5:51pm CDT

Free agent outfielder Manny Ramirez is still looking for a team, and several outlets are writing about him today.

The New York Mets aren’t looking back at him.
Money and the length of contract are causing the San Francisco Giants to remain on the sideline, ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick reports.
Bill Madden of the N.Y. Daily News has a list of teams in his column. He notes the Los Angeles Dodgers have no reason to bid against themselves. Madden’s list of teams? Dodgers, Mets, Giants, Los Angeles Angels, New York Yankees, Washington Nationals and Detroit Tigers.

Rosenthal On Andruw, Nady, Lyon, Madson

By Tim Dierkes | January 16, 2009 at 3:00pm CDT

The latest from Ken Rosenthal…

The Braves are pulling back for the moment in their search for an outfield bat. They’ll hope for a free agent bargain or the right trade. Rosenthal says they’re torn about Andruw Jones. The Braves seek a right-handed hitter but aren’t dead set on it. They were unwilling to meet the Yankees’ demands for Xavier Nady.
Brandon Lyon’s agent is telling teams he has a two-year, $9MM offer in hand (Kyle Farnsworth money). The Tigers or Twins are possibilities there, while the Cardinals may have offered one year. Jon Paul Morosi confirms Detroit’s interest, but says they’ve yet to make an offer. Morosi believes the Tigers have about $5MM left in their budget.
Ryan Madson turned down a three-year, $12MM extension from the Phillies. The Scott Boras client is eligible for free agency after the season.
Execs have all kinds of concerns with Oliver Perez: his flyball tendencies, frequent walks, and inability to reach 200 innings.
The Yankees have little interest in Ben Sheets and Freddy Garcia. The Rangers, Mets, and White Sox remain in the mix for Garcia.
The Brewers and other teams are in on Braden Looper, while the Orioles and Dodgers have backed off.
Edgardo Alfonzo is playing well in the Venezuelan Winter League and could make a comeback.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Pirates, Hudson, Tigers, Braves, Dunn, Yankees

By Cork Gaines | January 16, 2009 at 12:17pm CDT

On this day 29 years ago, Albert Pujols was born. 2009 will be the sixth year of his eight year, $111MM deal (safe to say Cards will pick up his ’11 option). According to Fangraphs, Pujols has already been worth $151.9MM in the first five years of the contract ($30.4M per season), begging the question: How much will Pujols command following the ’11 season, when he will be 32? Last winter, Alex Rodriguez signed for 10 years and $275MM prior to his age 32 season. With less than a month to go before pitchers and catchers report, many players are still looking for their own new contracts. Let’s take a look at what is being written in the Blogosphere…

River Ave. Blues expands on Baseball Prospectus’ case against a salary cap and how small-market teams likely would not be able to support a minimum payroll.
Bucco Blog says the value of young talent has kept the Pirates from rebuilding. Instead, the team has spent the last two years restructuring and are now moving on to the next phase.
Jorge Says No examines the market for Orlando Hudson and feels the Nationals have to make a play for the second baseman.
The Detroit Tigers Weblog takes a look at who is still available to close for the Tigers in ’09.
Infield Chatter says the Braves were forced to overpay for Derek Lowe.
Braves Blast takes a look at the Braves offseason and what is left to do: adding an outfield bat and extending Chipper Jones’ contract.
On Baseball and The Reds takes a look at Adam Dunn’s value, with the numbers suggesting he is not worth much more than $20MM over four years.
Pinstripes Published makes a case for the Yankees acquiring Lastings Milledge from the Nats, while The Chuck Knoblog argues for Elijah Dukes.

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com. If you have a suggestion for this feature, Cork can be reached here. This is by far the best way to get your blog linked on MLBTR.

Odds and Ends: Putz, Mitsui, Varitek

By Tim Dierkes | January 16, 2009 at 9:45am CDT

Links for Friday…

Jacob Jackson proposes a new, simpler free agent compensation system.
Jon Paul Morosi says the Mariners wanted Fernando Perez from the Rays in the failed talks that would’ve brought J.J. Putz to Detroit. The Rays were unwilling to do this in part because B.J. Upton will be unavailable to start the season.
Koji Mitsui again failed to garner a bid from an MLB team.
Aaron Gleeman discusses the Twins’ decision not to use certain advanced statistics.
Tony Massarotti and Curt Schilling talk about the Jason Varitek situation.
Former GM Woody Woodward is back with the Mariners, as a scout. The Pirates added former Tigers GM Bill Lajoie as a senior advisor to Neal Huntington.
The Nationals have done little in the Japanese market, and they were never involved on Koji Uehara.

Tigers Interested In Isringhausen, Lyon

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | January 15, 2009 at 6:37pm CDT

The Tigers are interested in Jason Isringhausen and Brandon Lyon, according to MLB.com’s Jason Beck.

Four teams with closer needs are considering Isringhausen, according to his agent, Dan Horwits. Isringhausen could make a decision by next week. Ken Rosenthal had a similar report yesterday that suggested the Cardinals could be interested and the Dodgers aren’t.

Beck writes that Lyon’s on a "similar timetable." Lyon’s agent, Barry Meister, says his client has drawn interest from four or five teams. Some teams view him as a setup man and others can see him pitching in the eighth and ninth innings. The Tigers have talked with Meister about Lyon recently.

Stark On The Arbitration Class

By Tim Dierkes | January 15, 2009 at 12:25pm CDT

ESPN’s Jayson Stark says we’re headed for a historic arbitration class. Players file today, and the dollar submissions become known on Tuesday. If the sides can’t come to an agreement, they go to a hearing and an arbitrator chooses one of the two salary submissions. Be sure to read the article, but here are a few highlights.

Ryan Howard’s dad may be behind the player’s unprecedented salary expectations. Howard may ask for $15-17MM in his second arbitration year. He could be a trade candidate in the 2009-10 offseason.
Prince Fielder’s numbers and accolades don’t match up to Howard’s, so Scott Boras may have difficulty matching Howard’s first arb year record award of $10MM.
Cole Hamels could ask for $5MM or more, but seems more amenable to a long-term deal than Howard. Will the Phillies offer him more than three years?
Other interesting names: Jonathan Papelbon, Kevin Youkilis, Felix Hernandez, Dan Uggla, Zack Greinke, Justin Verlander, Russell Martin, B.J. Upton, Ryan Zimmerman, Jeff Francoeur, and Ervin Santana.
Looking for a surprise summer trade candidate? Stark talked to one AL exec who wondered if Verlander could be made available if the Tigers are out of contention.

Odds and Ends: Smoltz, Cordero, Colon, Byrd

By Tim Dierkes | January 15, 2009 at 10:45am CDT

Links for Thursday…

John Smoltz told Dan Patrick that the Yankees and Dodgers also courted him.
KNBR had interviews with Scott Boras and Ned Colletti yesterday.
The Dodgers are "only monitoring" Kris Benson and Chad Cordero.
The Phillies have "kept tabs" on Cordero and Eric Milton.
Baseball America ranked the Rangers’ farm system as the best in baseball.
Andy MacPhail says the Orioles don’t necessarily have to add a first baseman.
South Side Sox and Sox Machine on the Bartolo Colon signing.
Jon Paul Morosi says Jason Isringhausen is a "natural fit" for the Tigers.
The Red Sox will only get a supplemental pick for Paul Byrd if he signs before the June draft.
Barry Bloom gathers responses from baseball execs on the salary cap issue.
Eddie Bajek made a breakthrough in his attempt to crack the Elias code.
Richard Justice has an interesting story involving new Astro Russ Ortiz.
Rickey Henderson says he’s still available to play. Asked about the WBC, he responded, ""What is [the WBC], wrestling?"
Transcript of an interview with Red Sox owner John Henry.

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