Jordan Zimmermann Signs With Tigers

[Magneto2.0]

Keith Law isn't exactly breaking news with his assessment that a pitcher in his 30s is gonna start declining and/or get injured.

[Jocephus]

In his first public comments following a disappointing 2015 season full of upheaval, Ilitch endorsed the work of new general manager Al Avila and indicated Avila has the green light to spend at will during free agency.

Following a pair of trades to acquire closer Francisco Rodriguez and outfielder Cameron Maybin, the Tigers inked the 29-year-old Zimmermann, a top free agent, to a five-year deal worth $110 million, a source told ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick.

"I think I proved that," Ilitch said when asked about his willingness to open the purse strings. "I've been in baseball for a lot of years. I didn't care about spending money. They get the players, and I spend, and I don't worry about it because they have good judgment."

His message to Avila this winter?

"I don't care about the money," he said. "I want the best players."

In fact, Ilitch admitted he'd be open to crossing the luxury tax threshold if the payroll continued to escalate and the market required such a commitment.

"Well, I'm supposed to be a good boy and not go over it, but again, if I'm gonna get certain players that can help us a lot, I'm going to go over it," he said before conceding this strategy was frowned upon. "Oops, I shouldn't have said that."

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/14262 ... win-titles

[cardsfansince82]

"I don't care about the money," he said. "I want the best players."

Now that's an owner vidor/mortimer/etc can get behind!

The Tigers owe $128 million a year through at least 2019 to six guys:

Code: Select all

                      Age     Avg Salary          FA
Miguel Cabrera		32	$31,000,000	              2024
Justin Verlander		32	$27,000,000	2021
Jordan Zimmermann	29	$22,000,000	2021
Anibal Sanchez		31	$16,000,000	2019
Ian Kinsler		        33	$15,000,000	2019
Victor Martinez	DH	36		$17,000,000	2019

[lukethedrifter]

Then why did they dump Fielder?

[JoeMcKim]

This is essentially a Scherzer for Zimmermann trade with a year delayed before it became finalized.

[JL21]

Keith Law isn't exactly breaking news with his assessment that a pitcher in his 30s is gonna start declining and/or get injured.

I laughed. Well done.

I guess I would have to look a little deeper, but I figured most of his decline this year was due to the Nats' miserable defense.

[Magneto2.0]

Keith Law isn't exactly breaking news with his assessment that a pitcher in his 30s is gonna start declining and/or get injured.

I laughed. Well done.

I guess I would have to look a little deeper, but I figured most of his decline this year was due to the Nats' miserable defense.

*takes bow* thank you, thank you.

I also think the velocity played a big part. I saw a stat that the year prior he threw over 1000 pitches at 94 (or more) MPH. Last year he only threw about 550 pitches at 94 (or more) MPH. Which I think lead to more home runs.

[st.lewis11]

Then why did they dump Fielder?

Don't remember details, but I read somewhere he messed with a teammate's wife (or someone messed with his).......I forgot which it was, but that was a big reason they looked into trading him in the first place.

[ZigZagCardsFan]

And here I thought it was because they had an aging Miguel Cabrera that they wanted at 1B with an aging Victor Martinez that needed to DH and a gaping hole at 2B rather than some TMZ drama.

[lukethedrifter]

And here I thought it was because they had an aging Miguel Cabrera that they wanted at 1B with an aging Victor Martinez that needed to DH and a gaping hole at 2B rather than some TMZ drama.

Sure that makes sense so I guess they really had no plan when they signed them all.