Category Archives: Contracts

Analyzing the contracts of Detroit Tigers players.

Contracts, Roster Management

Nine more sign

1 Comment

The Tigers signed nine more players today. The group includes

  • Roman Colon
  • Jason Grilli
  • Kyle Sleeth
  • Wilfredo Ledezma
  • Nate Robertson
  • Omar Infante
  • Chris Shelton
  • Nook Logan
  • Marcus Thames

Detroit has now signed 39 players on the 40 man roster. If my records are correct, the one member of the 40 man that hasn’t signed is Craig Dingman. Dingman of course has the artery issue in his arm and he’s unlikely to pitch anytime soon. It will be interesting to see if the Tigers sign him, or let him loose. Even if they sign him, he is likely to be headed to the 60 Day DL meaning that there will be another roster spot to play with.

Similarly, Troy Percival will be going on the 60 day disabled list meaning that there will most likely be two spots available.

Contracts, Roster Management

Tigers sign 5 more

Detroit agreed to terms with five more players today. Franklyn German, Fernando Rodney, Curtis Granderson, Don Kelly, and Kody Kirkland are now all under contract. Terms weren’t disclosed, but it is a pretty safe bet that German, Rodney, and Granderson all received contracts in the $350,000 range (give or take $10,000).

The Tigers now have signed 30 or the 40 members of the major league roster.

detroit tigers

Contracts

Tigers sign 8

1 Comment

The Tigers signed 8 players today, bringing the total number of players signed to 25. Five of the eight are sporting their first big league contract. The players are:

  • Eulogio De La Cruz
  • Preston Larrison
  • Humberto Sanchez
  • Jordan Tata
  • Mark Woodyard
  • Joel Zumaya
  • Tony Giarratano
  • Brent Clevlen
Contracts, Defense, Statistics, Uncategorized

Quick Hits

4 Comments

Some brief notes an links as I prepare to have 14 preschoolers over for a birthday party tomorrow…

Monroe Re-ups

The Detroit Tigers avoided arbitration hearings completely this year with Craig Monroe now under contract. He signed for one year and $2.8 million. A fair deal all around, and the two sides essentially split the difference from their initial offers.

Defensive Wrap-Ups

I’ve been doing quite a bit of defensive comparisons lately, and using a bunch of metrics. Coincidentally there were a couple of articles today summarizing the various measures. Jon Weisman of Dodger Thoughts did a piece for SI outlining the quest for the perfect defensive measure.

In the same vein, David Gassko of the Hardball Times compared the various metrics in articles located here and here. (via Baseball Musings)

Granderson goes home

A nice article about Curtis Granderson visiting his middle school alma mater.

Tiger Stadium rotting and rocking

With Tiger Stadium playing host to Bud Bowl (a big party/concert) over Super Bowl weekend there have been a couple articles about it’s current state. ESPN had a long piece about the Stadium, and the lack of events held since the final game.

The Bud Bowl is one proposal that the city did approve. Rottach said Detroit is charging Anheuser-Busch $40,000 to rent the stadium. More important than the money, though, was the thoroughness of Anheuser-Busch’s proposal, which included a commitment to return the stadium to the exact specifications it had before.

Earlier in the week the Free Press ran a story, complete with pictures, about how run down the stadium had become. It included a picture of a tree growing in the stands, and part of a wall crumbling.

detroit, detroit tigers, baseball, tiger stadium

Contracts, Former Tigers

Stuff you might find interesting

4 Comments

A few links and items that you may not have seen but might find interesting:

The Ray Lankford Wing

Beyond the Boxscore has created the Ray Lankford wing of the Hall of Fame for players with “no real shot at the Hall of Fame, but a great career nonetheless.” Unfortunately, or fortunately I guess, the Hall is populated by many ex Tigers. Trammell, Whitaker, Morris, Parrish, Freehan, and Lolich are among the 246 inductees.

Monroe negotiations

Okay, you probably saw this but I was in California when this came out, and I happened to miss it. Craig Monroe is the Tigers last unsigned arbitration eligible player. The teams have exchanged figures and are $600,000 apart. Detroit offered $2.45 million and Monroe is looking for $3.05. I imagine that the two sides will reach an agreement pretty much in the middle and Monroe will get a salary close to his buddy Carlos Pena, despite having double the win shares.

AL Central talk

Remember 12 months ago, heck even 8 months ago when the AL Central was generally regarded as an exceptionally weak division. Now it seems you can’t read an article that doesn’t it declare it the best division in baseball. A recent post about the AL-C generated nearly 200 comments on John Sickels blog (although it is a pretty boring discussion for Tigers and Royals fans).

Is the Central really that good? How was everybody so wrong going to the season? What changed to make it better? Will it be as strong this year?

Okay so there wasn’t that much interesting stuff. That’s the problem with being on the road, I get thrown off my game.

Contracts, Roster Management

Tigers sign Bonderman, Spurling, and Pena

5 Comments

Detroit signed Jeremy Bonderman, Chris Spurling and Carlos Pena to one year deals, thus avoiding arbitration. Craig Monroe remains the lone arbitration eligible player not under contract.

The only mild suprise is that Bonderman re-upped for a single year instead of working out a long term contract.

I don’t have terms of the contracts, and will be away from the internet the bulk of the day. So if you hear the terms, please post them.

UPDATE: As mentioned in the comments, Bonderman got $2.3 million, Pena received $2.8 million, and Spurling signed for $725,000. Of the 3, Spurling’s offer is the closest to what I would have expected. My guess would have been the contracts for Pena and Bonderman would have been reversed.

I’m surprised to see Maroth and Bonderman getting the same salary next year, especially with Maroth getting $5.25 million guaranteed.

And I’m not sure how Carlos Pena played a horrible April and May, a coule months in the minors, and a spectacular 7 week finish to the season into a raise. I expected him to be back at the same amount as last year. I’m not bemoaning his contract by any means, I’m just surprised he got a raise.

detroit tigers, baseball

Contracts

Tigers sign Maroth and Inge

3 Comments

The Detroit Tigers have signed Mike Maroth and Brandon Inge. Maroth got a two year deal, and Inge re-upped for one season. I don’t have the terms of either deal, but if various reports are accurate Maroth will get $5.25 million total with $2.3 million in the first year, and $2.95 million in 2007.

Assuming the details of Maroth’s contract are accurate, I like the deal for both sides. Maroth gets two years guaranteed, and the Tigers get some cost certainty in an ever escalating market for pitchers. The contract will be up in 2008 when the Tigers will have considerable payroll flexibility. If Maroth is still part of the mix, they could then try to ink him to another multi-year deal buying out his last year of arbitration and first year(s) of free agency. Plus, $2.5 million per year for 200 innings of league average pitching isn’t a bad deal.

baseball

Contracts, Pitching

Locking Up Bonderman

4 Comments

With Jeremy Bonderman reaching arbitration, he won’t be had for the $400,000 that he made the past two years. The 2006 season will be the first of 3 seasons where Bonderman will be arbitration eligible before reaching free agency. Now there is a school of thought – that has been applied very effectively in the past by the Indians – that it is wise sign young talent to multiyear contracts and secure their first years of free agency. Of the subset of Tigers eligible for arbitration, Bonderman is the most likely candidate to warrant a long term deal. The question is should the Tigers try to do it?

Bonderman is still extremely young, and still an injury risk. He’s been relatively healthy so far, but has yet to accumulate 200 innings in a season (which is probably a good thing). Bonderman has shows moments of brilliance, but when looking at his seasons in total he is simply an above average pitcher at this time. He started off excelelnt, but a line drive combined with other soreness contributed to a sinking strikeout rate and subpar performance in the second half.

At the same time, the Tigers moves this season have indicated that they plan on Bonderman being a fixture in the rotation for years to come. They didn’t pursue the top shelf pitchers in the hopes that Bonderman can fill that role. Additionally, the spending on free agents continues to drive the price for talent higher. Bonderman will stand to benefit from this surge regardless of if he signs a one year deal or something long term. Will the market continue to get above average pitchers $7 million or more a year, or will there be a correction with a new CBA on the horizon?

As a matter of comparison, last year the Twins signed Johan Santana to a 4 year contract which secured Santana’s first two years of free agent eligibility. To get the deal done it cost the Twins $40 million over 4 years. Now Santana just happens to be the best pitcher in the American League. But, pitchers who have done a lot less in their careers (or are well past their prime) have managed to secure contracts in the same neighborhood just one year later. Some continued growth from Bonderman, and continued growth in the free agent market and 4 years at $6 million per might seem like a bargain.

If you’re the Tigers, do you use the second half struggles as a way to save millions over the next several years? If you’re Jeremy Bonderman, do you turn down a long term contract because you know you can get a bigger payday when you put all the pieces together?

Contracts, Roster Management

Pena tendered

10 Comments

Carlos Pena, Jeremy Bonderman, Mike Maroth, Brandon Inge, and Craig Monroe were all tendered contracts by the Tigers. Midnight last night was the deadline for teams to offer contracts to players who were arbitration eligible, but not free agent eligible (those with between 3 and 6 years of Major League service time).

Now the question becomes which of that group, if any, receive long term deals. The advantage of signing a player to a long term contract at this point, is that you could secure the player’s first year or two of free agency, and perhaps save some money. The downside for the club is that they will probably have to pay a little more in the early years of the contract than they would going to arbitration each year. Also, they are locked into a long term contract when a series of one year deals would have been possible. From the player’s perspective they may give up some money at the end of the contract, to get a guaranteed 4 year deal.

Of the group, I’d say that Jeremy Bonderman would be the most likely to receive that long term deal. Given that Bonderman hasn’t been ace-like for an entire season yet, it may be cheaper to lock him up before that special season comes along. Also, with the escalation in pitcher salaries, locking him up at a lower rate now my be advantageous.

UPDATE: Here is a complete list of non-tenders from around the league.

Contracts

About Payroll Flexibility

6 Comments

When I interviewed Dave Dombrowski last January, one question asked was about payroll flexiblity. At the time, the Tigers only had 3 players signed beyond 2005, Ivan Rodriguez, Troy Percival, and Carlos Guillen (Magglio Ordonez had yet to sign, and Dmitri Young had the vesting option). Since then the Tigers have locked up additional players, and lost some of their flexiblity.

So far the Tigers have $65 million commited to 10 players in 2006. Of those 10 players, one of them probably will never throw a pitch (Troy Percival), and the other isn’t even a lock to make the roster (Justin Verlander). The Tigers also have 3 players who are in line for hefty raises in Craig Monroe, Mike Maroth, and Jeremy Bonderman. The trio will probably fetch $10 million between them easily – especially with the contracts given to starting pichers this year. Essentially the Tigers will be paying $75 million for half a roster.

In 2007 things are a little better. Dmitri Young’s salary comes off the books (assuming the team doesn’t pick up the $7 million option, as does Troy Percival’s. But even with that relief the committed payroll is $47 million. By that time, Nate Robertson, Fernando Rodney, Franklyn German, Omar Infante, and probably Chris Shelton, will join the arbitration ranks, and hopefully Bonderman will have shown enough to warrant $5 million a year.

Going forward another year to 2008 probably isn’t worthwhile because I’m not sure how much roster continuity you can count on, but we’ll do it anyways. In 2008 the Tigers only have Placido Polanco, Magglio Ordonez, and Justin Verlander. Pudge has a $13 million team option with a $3 million buyout. Bonderman will be in his last year before free agency, and Joel Zumaya and Curtis Granderson will be in their last years of indentured servitude.

Next year will be expensive for the Tigers, and 2007 won’t be a picnic either. However, they are well positioned to take on contracts in 2008. In addition, if the promise of the 2005 draft class at least partially fulfills itself, there could be a nice mix of cheap young talent and established homegrown talent. I don’t know how this compares to other teams, but things look promising.

And that is what I like about the Kenny Rogers and Todd Jones contracts. I think both are on the steep side – especially given their ages. However, any pain is in the short term. Detroit isn’t hooked into long, potentially crippling contracts. Afterall, they already have one of those with Ordonez.

I don’t think I’ve sat down and looked 3 years out at the Tigers before, but I have to say I’m encouraged. I know another year of development doesn’t sound promising to Tiger fans, but 5/50 contracts aren’t the answer.

Contracts, Free Agents, Roster Management

Kenny Rogers the Signer

26 Comments

I wish I could have posted this earlier (darn day job), but as everybody has heard Kenny Rogers is a Detroit Tiger pending a physical. The deal is for $16 million over two year, which is line with other contracts. That said, I’m not thrilled.

Rogers has been fairly durable throwing over 190 innings each of the last 4 years. Last year he did a remarkable job preventing homers (only 15) despite pitching in the launching pad that is Texas. However, he also saw his strikeout rate drop to 4.02/9IP. While I expect the Tigers infield defense to be solid next year, that still amounts to a ton of outs left up to fielders. While his 3.46 ERA last year was impressive, his 4.30 DIPS ERA is rather average. I guess the good news is that the Tigers have two of the best pickoff pitchers (Maroth also) in the majors now.

My other issue with this signing and the to a lesser extent the Todd Jones signing, is the age. Rogers is 41 and Jones will be 38. For a team that was severely hampered by injuries last year, Detroit has increased that the chances of that happening again. Luckily the contracts are short term.

In terms of payroll, the Tigers had approximately $18 million come off the books with the departures of Fernando Vina, Bobby Higginson, Rondell White, and Jason Johnson. With these signings the Tigers are $3-$4 million below last year’s payroll. However, Magglio Ordonez goes to $15 million, and the Tigers contingent of arbitration eligible players are inline for big raises (especially Jeremy Bonderman given the starting pitching contracts). I won’t worry about this too much because so far the Tigers heavy investments the last few years haven’t precluded them for investing in scouting and development, or in purusing additional players.

No Offer for Johnson
In what may be the most disappointing move of the last two days, the Tigers decided not to offer arbitration to Jason Johnson. Johnson was very unlikely to have accepted, and even if he had accepted he would have provided similar production at a simliar price as Kenny Rogers. By failing to offer arbitration the Tigers gave up a shot at an additional first or second round draft pick.

Tiger Town
There’s another new Tiger blog – Tiger Town.

Contracts, Free Agents, Trade Rumors, Uncategorized

Tigers get Todd Jones

5 Comments

The Detroit News is reporting that the Detroit Tigers have reached an agreement with Todd Jones. It is reportedly a two year deal (Tim points out in the comments it is rumored to be $8-10 million which seems like a lot to me). Jones was quite good last year as he halved his walk rate (1.7) and struck out 7.8/9IP. Most impressive may have been that he allowed only 2 home runs in 73 innings pitched. Granted he was in a park that limits homers, but he’ll be moving to a park that limits homers as well.

While his numbers were better across the board last year, the strength in his strikeouts, walks, and homers, indicates that it probably wasn’t all luck.

Jones is a likable guy who may be a good influence in the bullpen. Matt Anderson’s best season came when he took over closer duties from Jones in 2001. Maybe he can have a similar effect on Fernando Rodney.

The timing is a little curious in that Florida probably wasn’t going to offer arbitration to Jones by midnight tonight. If the deal is closed before midnight, or if the Marlins in fact do offer arbitration, the Tigers will lose a 2nd round draft pick.

Granderson in demand
First there were the rumors about Curtis Granderson to Florida for Josh Beckett. Then it was Granderson in the Javier Vazquez deal. Now it appears that the Red Sox are interested in Curtis as well. At least it further validates Tiger fans’ hope that Granderson is the real deal.