Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Tigers Rumors

Granderson Has Multiyear Deal Talks

By | at

According to Jon Paul Morosi of the Detroit Free Press, the Tigers had preliminary talks earlier this month with Curtis Granderson’s agent regarding a long-term contract.  The Tigers initiated the conversation, but they didn’t discuss length or amount.  Must’ve been a short meeting, right?

Morosi suggests the Tigers’ recent model of buying out one year of free agency could result in a deal for Granderson of five or more years.  He’s eligible for free agency after the 2011 season.

Granderson, 27 in March, hit .302/.361/.552 for the Tigers in ’07.  If he figures out lefties, he’s a superstar.  The Fielding Bible’s panel of experts ranked his defense fifth among center fielders.

Miguel Cabrera Gets $11.3MM

By | at

Miguel Cabrera agreed on a salary around what was expected with the Tigers – $11.3MM for 2008.  I recently talked to the Detroit Free Press’s Jon Paul Morosi about the long-term possibilities, if you’re interested.

Danny Knobler says this was Cabrera’s agents’ preference – get the one-year deal done with today’s deadline and then work on a something long-term.

Rumor Royalty: Jon Paul Morosi (Tigers)

By | at

Jon Paul Morosi of the Detroit Free Press snags our Rumor Royalty honor for the Tigers.  Here’s a link to the paper’s Tigers page and one to Morosi’s blog.  Many thanks to Jon for participating.  Click here and scroll to read all Rumor Royalty entries.

MLBTR: We’ve heard chatter that Miguel Cabrera could be baseball’s next $200 million player.  Is there any chance this could happen with the Tigers?  Seems that it would require an 8-10 year commitment.

Morosi: This much is clear: The Tigers love Cabrera and will do what they can to sign him long-term. (He’s two seasons away from free agency now.) I’m confident that they would make him a six-year offer for a little more than $100 million. But there’s a big gap between those figures and a 10-year deal in the $200 million range. There is little doubt that his free agency years will be valued at more than $20 million each; he has better career offensive numbers than Torii Hunter, whose contract with the Angels averages $18 million per year.

MLBTR: The Tigers have become major spenders in recent years.  Do you expect them to make a play for any of the big name free agent starters next winter, such as C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Ben Sheets, or Oliver Perez?

Morosi: I don’t anticipate them being major players in the market for big-money starters next off-season. Then again, I didn’t think they were going to trade for Dontrelle Willis when I arrived at the winter meetings last month. Right now, they have four starters — Willis, Justin Verlander, Jeremy Bonderman and Nate Robertson — who are under club control through at least 2009. That’s pretty good depth. And Kenny Rogers could borrow a page from Jamie Moyer — who is two years his senior — and pitch longer than anyone expects.

On the other hand, the Tigers might need to look for a starter next winter if Rogers leaves/retires and one of the other four is injured or traded.

MLBTR: Will we see Brandon Inge and/or Marcus Thames in the Detroit organization on Opening Day?  Which one is more likely to be traded?

Morosi: Inge is the more likely of the two to be traded, but I wouldn’t be surprised if both are still with the team on Opening Day. A quiet development here has been Vance Wilson’s uncertain health after missing all of last season with an elbow injury that ultimately required Tommy John surgery. Jim Leyland said during the Tigers’ caravan over the weekend that he’s concerned about whether Wilson will be ready for the start of the season. Inge, who preceded Pudge Rodriguez as the starting catcher, could provide some insurance there. (Last year’s backup, Mike Rabelo, went to Florida in the Cabrera/Willis deal.)

The Tigers are still trying to trade Inge — Leyland said as much over the weekend — but it doesn’t seem that there’s a big market for him as a starting third baseman. And the Rolen-Glaus trade meant two more teams solved their third base questions, reducing the number of potential suitors for Inge. So, he may have no choice but to accept a bench role.

Detroit has been open to trading Thames at various times, but he’s still a very valuable player for this team. He has 44 home runs over the past two seasons in roughly the same number of at-bats (617) that some everday players get in a single season. He’s continued working out at first base this winter, and he could get some part-time at-bats there, in the outfield, and at designated hitter on Gary Sheffield’s days off.

Odds and Ends: Hendrickson, Soria, Sherrill

By | at

Here’s today’s random collection of links.

  • The Marlins signed Mark Hendrickson as the veteran leadership guy for ’08, at a cost of $1.5MM.  He was knocked around in 15 starts for the Dodgers in ’07 but was solid in the pen.  The Marlins will put him in the rotation, perhaps to tutor fellow southpaws Andrew Miller and Scott Olsen.
  • Craig Brown would like to see the Royals use Joakim Soria as a starter.
  • There is a theory that the Mariners’ signing of Arthur Rhodes will allow them to trade George Sherrill in an Erik Bedard deal.  Seems a half-baked theory, wherever it originated.  I don’t think Sherrill is holding this deal up.
  • An argument for the Nate Robertson extension from Danny Knobler, and one against from J.C. Bradbury.  Also, Peter Abraham thinks Chien Ming-Wang’s agent will use Robertson as a comparable.
  • The White Sox are still considering Bartolo Colon, according to ESPN Radio’s Bruce Levine.
  • Pat Burrell would love to re-sign with the Phillies after this season.  Pat, by the way, doesn’t have a computer and owes his second half success to "more hits."
  • Phil Hughes has a computer, and even a new blog.  Not much going on over there yet though.

Robertson Signs Three-Year Deal

By | at

According to Ken Rosenthal, the Tigers have signed starter Nate Robertson to a three-year, $21.25MM deal.  The contract buys out two arbitration years and one year of free agency.  He could get an extra million bucks in 2010 based on previous innings incentives.  I thought this would cost $27MM.

Solid move for the Tigers, given the price of pitching these days.  Robertson is 30 years old and he’s always good for 30 starts (though he did miss a few starts with a tired arm in the summer of ’07).  His peripheral stats were respectable despite his 4.76 ERA last year.

Odds and Ends: Inge, Snell, Jones

By | at

Some early Monday odds and ends to get things rolling…

Odds and Ends: Morneau, Jocketty, Santana

By | at

Your usual dose of random rumors and links…

Tigers Still Hope To Sign Miguel Cabrera To Extension

By | at

Jon Paul Morosi of the Detroit Free Press has an article up today in which he tosses around some numbers regarding a possible Miguel Cabrera contract extension.  Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski admitted his desire to sign Cabrera long-term recently.

Morosi expects Cabrera to receive an $11MM contract for ’08, if he doesn’t sign long-term soon.  Morosi calculates that if Cabrera signed right now, six years and $105MM might be a reasonable amount.  That would be $11MM for ’08, $14MM for ’09, and $20MM per year thereafter.

By the way, I’m happy to report that Morosi has agreed to answer some questions for our Rumor Royalty series.  Feel free to leave suggestions in the comments.

Odds and Ends: Mantei, Foulke, Cairo, Guardado

By | at

Here are this morning’s random rumors and links.

Odds and Ends: Cameron, Inge, Bay

By | at

Here are some random rumors and links I’ve cobbled together today.

  • The Fish officially signed Jorge Cantu to a minor-league deal worth $500K with $100K in incentives.
  • The Cardinals re-upped Aaron Miles for $1.4 mil.  This team needs some good middle infielders.
  • According to Tyler Kepner, Alex Rodriguez has been "privately endorsing" Mike Cameron.  Well, it’s not private anymore!  The Yankees could entertain such a signing if they trade Melky Cabrera but don’t want to move Johnny Damon back to center.  Kepner’s article also discusses the internal struggle between Hank and Hal Steinbrenner.  Hank wants Johan Santana, Hal wants to show a little financial restraint.

  • Lynn Henning digs into the Brandon Inge situation, with help from the always-insightful Keith Law.  Henning believes Inge would view a shift back to catcher "with contempt."
  • Scott Wuerz runs through various possible Cardinals targets.  He notes that the Pirates had considered the White Sox their best possible trade partner for Jason Bay, and are disappointed by Chicago’s Nick Swisher acquisition.
  • Seems that Bartolo Colon has yet to crack 90 mph in the Dominican Winter League.
  • There are rumblings that the Astros are considering bringing Freddy Garcia back.
  • R.J. Anderson snagged an interesting interview with Paul DePodesta.
  • Minor League guru and MLB.com senior writer Jonathan Mayo has a new book coming out about what it’s like to face Roger Clemens.  I’m going to do a Q&A with Jonathan next week; if you have any good question ideas leave ’em in the comments.  By the way, Mayo finished his book before the Mitchell Report came out.
  • Yankees fans – Ray Istorico has an illustrated history of the early Yankees coming out in a few months.
  • I will be appearing on XM Radio’s MLB Home Plate show on Sunday around 2:25 CST.
Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top