At this point I think Juan Gone would have liked to take that $140 million bullet.

I would be very suprised if there is not some sort of out clause in this contract. Any over/under bets on how many years Pudge stays in Detroit?

I wouldn't call it desperation so much as greed on Pudge's part... he took that one year deal for a big, long-term payday, and he's gonna get that payday no matter how terrible the circumstances.

If there is an out clause then there's no chance he'll use it before at least two years are up. And by that time no-one will give Pudge a two year deal let alone another long term contract.

If all Pudge cared about was guaranteed security no matter the circumstances then you can't say Boras didn't do his job. He held on until someone caved. I'm not sure I understand why Detroit offered four years when no-one else was offering more than two. But then no-one understood why the Rangers kept increasing their bid for ARod in order to one up themselves. I guess that's the skill of the agent.

It's probably a bit of a small market inferiority complex. Texas thought A-Rod would sign with a big market east coast team in a second if the Ranger's offer wasn't ridiculously higher, a notion most likely nurtured by Boras, so they complied. The Tigers especially probably think Rodriguez would bolt for a better team in a second if a half decent 2 or 3 year offer came along so they feel they have to offer much more than market for him. It's kinda sad.

Regardless of what he's paid and what is said about him, he's fun to watch. As a Tiger's fan, I'm excited to see Pudge play. But as a half-way intelligent person (or so my teachers always told me) I think this signing is stupid. Rodriguez is injury prone and aging, two horrible qualities for a high-priced catcher to have.

The Tigers (most specifically Ilitch) came out and said they would be willing to overpay to bring a star to the team...and that's what they have done.

It's an obvious MONSTER upgrade over Brandon Inge, but it is not going to make the Tigers into a .500 club...

On it's own, it's not a great move, but a move that the Tigers are willing to take to at least bring home a few more wins. I wouldn't doubt that I-Rod won't finish his career as a Tiger, as surely a contending team would trade for him later on.

Of course, Tiger Stadium II is going to put a big dent into I-Rod's numbers, so it won't help that cause...I just wonder if he can keep up the decent walk rate he developed last year.

Intuitively, I would have agreed with the notion that Detroit will hurt Pudge's numbers ... but having just checked it out, I found that Pro Player depressed offence at an 11.2% clip last year, while Comerica was just 8.2% in favour of pitching, according to BPro's park effect numbers. According to those figures, the toughest pitcher's park in the National League last year was ... Philadephia. San Diego was second, and legendary hitter's graveyard Chavez Ravine was third. FWIW.

Albatross! Albatross! I wonder if you get wafers with it.

Over the next four years, IRod's only shot at the playoffs is a serious injury to Posada or Varitek. Failing that, what could possibly rescue him from Motown hell?

Motown hell

I should add that the definition of hell, here, is playing a great game, outdoors in the sunshine, in a nice new park, for $10M a year.

Chuck,

I had visions of a deranged Berry Gordy before you clarified what you meant by Motown Hell. Either that or the monotonous drone of a car assembly plant.

Four years makes Pudge almost untradeable, and if he does have an escape clause, so what? Even if he can become a free agent again after 2005, will there be any suitors then? It seems more likely that he'll stick around in Detroit, collecting the rest of his $40 million on a team that will still be in the basement. As Chuck suggests, there are worse hells, but Ivan will regret his decision.

Dombrowski will be long gone from Motown before this folly expires.

Dave has been painted into a very uncomfortable corner. There was no quick fix for this team. The Weaver trade was a step in the right direction, but that plan, which required time, has been abandoned already in favour of the expensive band-aid approach. Ilitch's money would have been better spent paying Higginson to play somewhere else, and getting a prospect or two in return.

I agree that the GM's career could be doomed, even more than the catcher's. Dombrowski's only way out may be to blame the owner's impatience and hope to be fired. Of course, that won't endear him to other potential employers, so he's probably tempted to put on a brave face and keep his job as long as he can. It's quite possible that signing Pudge, which I'm sure he did reluctantly, has made this Dave's last stand.

While I don't expect the Tigers to do squat next year, remember that this is the AL Central, the worse division in baseball (okay, maybe fighting it out with the NL West this year). Who on this board honestly, and I mean honestly, saw the Royals as a .500 ball club last year? Or the Twins being in first place in August 3 years back?

Shit happens.

Also, Dombrowski was forced into this move by the owner. If they improve by 20 games this year, which is a possibilty, they'll still suck, but at lesat they'll be on the right track.

Can Dombrowski be faulted for this? I thought the signing was entirely orchestrated by Ilitch - he wanted to buy respectability. Obvoiusly when it backfires, Dombrowski will take the fall.

That being said the purpose of these signings is to remove the stigma of the 2004 Tigers being the worst team ever and to create a better environment for the prospects to develop. To simplify and paraphase a Ken Dryden quote "competitors don't compete unless they believe they are in a race". (the actual quote involved an anecdote about horse racing)To encourage their young players to improve the Tigers have to at least provide the illusion that they can win games and the extra-hard work and attention to detail will pay-off with immediate results. These signings provide that illusion. Time will tell if the Pena's, Munson's and Maroth's will develop. (Its the same argument being used for why we should keep Carlos)

I think the Tigers may actually have a chance not to lose 100 games now but I'd be a lot more comfortable with that projection if they had picked up a couple of capable starters.

As good as the Weaver trade seemed to be for Detroit they'd almost undone it by their ridiculous insistence to rush Bonderman to the big leagues before pitching above A-ball for no particularly good reason. Bonderman didn't give them performance they couldn't have gotten from the waiver wire and they used up a year of his service.

I just hope he can recover from this year, but if Roy could do it then why not Bonderman? If he struggles again this year it may actually become the ideal time for another team to make a trading run at him. The Jays have an extra bat or two and should be deep in low to mid minors pitching this year and the Tigers sure could use some offence.

one of those baffling January moves that doesn't seem to be in anyone's best interests

Speaking of baffling January moves, let's rewind one year (nearly to the day)...

"...a freakishly bizarre move..." - Mick
"It doesn't make any sense..." - Coach
"Apparently it was a move made purely for marketing purposes." - R Billie
"...the blueprint is so meandering and stupefyingly inconsistent...[the signing will] blow the budget on a catcher they don't need." - Dan Le Batard, Miami Herald

Of course, I'm referring to Pudge signing with the World Champion Marlins.

Now, I am not -- repeat, not -- suggesting that the '04 Tigers can be the '03 Marlins, no matter how much spin Pudge puts on his decision at the press conference.

But the way I see it...

a) He's a good player, taking at-bats from horrible players.
b) He's not "blocking the plate" -- by which I mean the Tigers don't have any prospect remotely in the league of a Mauer or Quiroz that would see his integration into the lineup delayed by Pudge's presence.
c) He didn't cost the Tigers any talent or picks.

So it's only Mike Illitch's money, even if it's being spent in a monkey-see-monkey-do way. Pudge will sell tickets, even if his team can't break 70 wins. Chuck's "albatross" point is the only concern -- in other words, will it become a Darren Dreifort- or Jason Kendall-type contract that will cause the fire sale of valuable assets in a few years, or prevent the Tigers from signing coveted free agents? It may. But what -- and who -- do the Tigers have to lose? I can't fathom Detroit's payroll becoming prohibitively high in the near future. Who's going to earn big bucks?

Detroit is nowhere near the playoffs, but it's not an objectively bad move for the Tigers. It may be an objectively bad move for Pudge, but can you blame him for cashing in?

PS. Kudos to Craig Burley for recognizing a year ago that the Marlins had a window of competitive opportunity in 2003. (See the thread in the archived link).

I'm right with Mike D. Pudge is a *damn good* player, and it's always better to have damn good players than damn bad ones.

Moving from Walbeck/Inge, to Pudge, is easily (by a coutnry mile) the largest improvement that any team in baseball will have at a single position. Is it worth $40 million for four years? Maybe not, but the Tigers have a catcher now - Maxim St-Pierre was really their only good catching prospect, I believe) but he hit 236/299/358 at AA.

Nice point, Mike D. I guess I am a bit puzzled by the Tigers. I don't follow hockey much, but I thought that Ilitch had a fairly good reputation as an owner of the Red Wings. I have a high opinion of Dombrowski from his Expos and Marlins days.

My take on the acquisition is this. Pudge was worth well more than $10 million last year, and is probably a good bet to be worth it this year and maybe next. But, he's a catcher, and he's already caught the number of innings when catchers usually start running into injury (and performance) trouble.

If Ilitch is prepared to spend Red Sox/Yankee money on salaries 3-4 years from now, this is really not a bad acquisition. Rodriguez is a fine defensive catcher, who will probably remain so. In 2006 and 2007, I wouldn't count on him to play more than 100 games and to do better than .265/.310/.400, but you can still use that. In the meanwhile, he's probably going to be quite useful in bringing along a young pitching staff.

On the other hand, if Ilitch's long-term budget is in the $50-80 million range, the risk that Rodriguez' salary will be an albatross is way, way too high to justify the signing.

I never blame a player for taking the money. That's a lot of money. And Pudge already has a World Series ring, so that's not a huge incentive for him.

Pudge's contract will likely become a giant anvil around the Tigers' neck by its end, but at least it tells the 18 or so Tiger fans who are left that the team isn't about to pull a Milwaukee on them. He might make it fun to come to the park. Besides, he'll have lots of opportunities to throw out baserunners.

I actually like the signing for the Tigers for some of the reasons Mike D has outlined. Ilitch says he wants to spend money and overpay then you might as well do it for good players rather than the middling guys the Tigers had gotten to that point. But I should add that while Pudge had a large hand in the Marlins' success it would have been meaningless without the unexpected development of Dontrelle Willis and a large step forward by Josh Beckett. I mean a lot of longshot teams could be a Pudge away from a division title if they develop two quality rotation options out of nowhere.

I don't really see that happening for the Tigers but at least they've given their fans SOMETHING to enjoy while they wait for Dombrowski to try to squeeze something out of the sparse farm system. Now if only Dombrowski was better at replacing prospects of limited potential and overpaid mediocrities with freely available talent Detroit could actually have been a .500 team this year.

Moving from Walbeck/Inge, to Pudge, is easily (by a coutnry mile) the largest improvement that any team in baseball will have at a single position.

I dunno, Coach. Shane Spencer/Juan Rivera to Gary Sheffield is an awfully nice bump. And Casey Fossum to Curt Schilling? Or Deivi Cruz to Miguel Tejada?

I'm just sayin' ... that's a sweeping statement you've made there.

I really don't have a problem with this signing. Tigers are getting one of the top 2 in MLB at his position. Dombrowski has flipped FA stars in Florida for young talent that rebuilt the Marlins. I can see him doing that with Rodriguez. The rumored contract is not one that would be immovable as long as Pudge can stay healthy. How often do herniated discs in the low back end a player's career?? Not often. Having the DH option can do nothing but help Rodriguez stay healthy and productive.

Signing Pudge adds respectability to the team in '04 and I think he'll eventually be traded. It's even possible that the Tigers are now just a broker by which Pudge returns to the Marlins.

I am just back from two days in the motor city and it was nice to hear baseball on the radio between the hours of 4 pm and 7 pm. Toronto radio's winter coverage of baseball starts afetr 8 at night, last about 6 minutes, once or twice a week.

Anyway sentiment in Detroit is:

1. Pudge is an improvement and gives the fans something to see next season

2. Pudge should help the young pitchers

3. They had to overpay for Pudge to get at least one premier free agent to go there

4. This opens the door to more free agents coming in next year

There is also concern over the long term cost of the deal. Apparently Illitch is carrying a big mortgage on Comerica so there is a limit on how big the payroll can go.

There is an out clause but apparently it protects the Tigers. Should IRod have a spine injury landing him on the DL for more than five weeks they have the right to terminate the contract after 2005.