Tiger Talks

With Dombrowski at the winter meetings, every hour brings news of a new Tiger trade. Last night, there was a rumored three team deal that would ship Edwin to the D'backs and Granderson to the Yanks. The Tigers would receive starting pitcher Max Scherzer and center field prospect Austin Jackson (plus others).

Yet, the Tigers cooled on this, according Buster Olney's twitter page. I still don't quite understand why the Tigers would want to trade those two players in the first place. Granderson is slated to earn $5.5M next season. Edwin is out of a contract, but his arbitration deal would be something like $8M. So, the Tigers save roughly $13.5M next year. Folks, that's chump change. They're paying $13M to Guillen alone, $12M to D-train, $12.5M to Bonderman, $10M to Nate, and $18M to Maggs! Yes, it might be nice for Ilitch to clear the Granderson and Edwin salaries off the books and maybe break even, but at what price? The PR hit would be severe. Despite the awful economy, Tiger fans still came to the park last year. They didn't set any attendance records, but they supported a mediocre team all year long. They would certainly do the same next season, unless the fans feel the team isn't interested in winning.

Sports fans are savvy, especially in Detroit. Teams not named the Lions suffer in attendance if fans sense a change in culture. Trading those two young, talented players would send a clear signal that the Tigers are desperately cutting costs. I believe that - if Ilitch publicly stated that money is an issue - fans of Detroit will buy $5 Hot-n-readys every day if it meant keeping the Tiger core in place for 2011. All those salaries that I mentioned earlier (save Guillen) come off the books after this year. That's a total of $60M. Granted, some salaries would increase in 2011, like Verlander, Jackson and Granderson (should they all stay), but the increases would be a small fraction of the $60M.

I find it hard to believe that Dombrowski and Ilitch would not simply take the financial hit in 2010, knowing how much better off they'd be in 2011. Why sacrifice the future? Yet, here we are. Trade rumors every hour on the hour. According to that Buster Olney twitter page, the Tigers are asking for the moon. That's the best news we've heard all week.

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In much, much less interesting news, the Tigers did resign Adam Everett. He'll resume his role as primary shortstop. Ramon Santiago will shift between short and 2nd base, sharing time at 2nd with rookie Scott Sizemore. At the very least, the Tigers middle infield will be in decent shape, though a definite step down without Polanco.

Brandon Lyon and Fernando Rodney both turned down arbitration. That's somewhat good news for Tiger fans. They can still sign with the Tigers, but, should they sign elsewhere, the Tigers get two picks after the 1st round of next year's MLB draft. My guess is that Lyon will draw some interest around the league, but he may stick with the Tigers as the 1st choice closer. As for Rodney, I think he's gone. Some other team will fall in love with his save stats and outbid Dombrowski.