Tiger off-season

Some interesting quotes from Tiger free agents here. It's looking more and more likely that Polanco is history. According to the article, Dombrowski already said that minor leaguer Scott Sizemore is ready to step in. That's a pretty dangerous assumption, in my opinion. Sizemore is completely unproven. Polanco's bat and glove were crucial to the team last season, and, in the 2nd half of the season, he carried the team. At this point, it seems Dombrowski has accepted that another team will outbid him.

Adam Everett appears to be a safer bet to return. Only a $1million investment last year, I expect Everett to make between $1.5-$2million. Or he may get a multi-year deal for less per year.

As for Rodney and Lyon, both will get raises. Neither Rodney nor the Tigers are saying they want to part ways, but I just have a feeling Dombrowski will offer Lyon first. He'll probably offer Lyon something like a $12 million over 2 years. If Lyon agrees, Rodney will have to look elsewhere. Lyon will close and one of the youngsters will have to step in as set-up man (Perry? Fu Te Ni? Seay?... gulp... Zumaya?).

The biggest problem facing the Tigers, though, is not impending free agency. Sure, they may lose Polanco, Rodney, and Lyon, but they're also damn close to losing fan interest. After such a dreadful end to the '09 campaign, on the heels of the over-hyped last-place '08 squad, the Tigers are flirting with fan apathy.

Dumars positioned himself somewhat nicely to address fan apathy by jettisoning most of the troublesome core and bringing in fresh faces. The Pistons may struggle mightily all year, but Dumars created at least the illusion of a new beginning. For the Dombrowski, he's stuck with the same old team. GMs in baseball, once they commit to a contract, are bound by it through thick and thin. So, he's got little wiggle room with so much money tied up in the veterans who cashed in after '06 - you know the names (Bonderman, Nate, Maggs, Guillen). The Tigers can't bring in a Ben Gordon. Heck, they can barely afford a Chris Wilcox.

Next year, we'll be looking at a weakened Tiger team filling the holes with minor leaguers. It's gonna be a tough sell. The great purge will happen after 2010. But, man, that's a long time to wait, and, as the great sage Caputo said, "A season is a terrible thing to waste."