OT: Tigers sign Jose Valverde
I like this move, the guy has proven he can close. Though my recent memory of him was giving up a game winning HR to Inge that allowed the Tigers to avoid the sweep in Houston after they swept the Cubs and Brewers at home. Good replacement for Rodney. Congrats Sommy.
January 14th, 2010 at 11:36 PM ^
Terrible move. That much for a guy who will only pitch ~70 innings per year? And we give up a 1st round pick? Its not like a closer will put the team over the top. They need a lot more to contend.
January 14th, 2010 at 11:39 PM ^
I dont like this at all. Why would you trade Granderson and play for the future and then go out and and get a 31-year old closer. You either play for the future or play for the now, you cant do both. That leads to nowhere fast.
January 14th, 2010 at 11:44 PM ^
He was a good closer. Lights out against us anyways. Interesting windup, and he's pretty quirky too. Should be fun to watch.
January 14th, 2010 at 11:52 PM ^
Now we need some hitters.
January 14th, 2010 at 11:57 PM ^
Getting Valverde is useful. It gives us a legitimate closer and makes the bullpen relatively stable.
I do not like the $7 million a year part. Unless the contract is heavily backloaded, I am going to be very pissed off. However, if the contract is backloaded, it becomes much more acceptable as we will drop a bunch of dead weight in contracts next year. In that vein, I would view the move as signing a closer for 2011 more than anything else.
January 15th, 2010 at 12:04 AM ^
Ok so wtf are they trying to do? They give the piece of shit magglio a ridiculous extension. Trade Granderson and Jackson along with letting Polanco, Rodney, Lyon all leave to cut salary. Yet spend $14million on a closer.....
WTF DOMBROWSKI???? MAKE UP YOUR DAMN MIND! either rebuild or spend and go for it, but don't give up a draft pick on a closer and pay him 14 million when odds are you will not be remotely close to a contender....and you could have kept the first round pick and tried Perry or Zumaya as closer....Dombrowski should be fired
January 15th, 2010 at 12:15 AM ^
Once again, I will ask that people remember the years of incompetence before he showed up. Dombrowski put together a number of very competitive teams for a franchise that had been at the bottom of the league for over a decade. So, I think he's earned enough that we shouldn't be calling for his job before a single game of the season is played.
I have very mixed feelings about this deal and wish that he hadn't traded away Granderson. That said, I don't know Dombrowski's overall strategy and it's quite possible that his moves will actually turn up well.
January 15th, 2010 at 12:26 AM ^
The fact that they lost a #1 Draft Pick along with that ridiculous contract makes no sense
January 15th, 2010 at 12:32 AM ^
why does everyone act as if they know more then a GM of a major league baseball team. its obvious they had (and still do) too much money invested in players and had too make some tough moves. thats part of the game. i like it, atleast they are not sticking zumaya or perry out there this year who are NOT proven closers.
January 15th, 2010 at 2:14 AM ^
when the GM's moves are absolutely schizophrenic.
My biggest concern is:
Having a closer on the wrong side of 30 jumping to the AL after spending his entire career in the NL.
And the loss of a draft pick is killer.
January 15th, 2010 at 7:13 AM ^
Short term:
Money is tight this year, but the Tigers should still be able to contend for the division. Take the Tigers roster as of 1/13 (no Valverde, no EJack and no Granderson), adding which one player of those three back to the team gives them the best chance to win the division this year? It may be Valverde. Afterall, he is an established closer who most experts seem to believe is still in the prime of his career. Now take into account that by not having Granderson we recieved a younger, cheaper, and by all likelihood, capable CF with tons of upside, and by trading EJack we recieved a studly young starter and a decent RP with very high upside. (I didn't mention Phil Coke, because I'm not excited about him.)
I understand that people have an unflinching yearning to complain, but this helps the team contend this year.
Long Term:
They will have money to spend next year, so it isn't really an issue of cash for next season. It is an issue of "will he be any good," and he probably will. That doesn't mean he definitely will. GM's make mistakes, no doubt Dave Dombrowski makes his share, but he's good. He's really good. Our previous GM only made mistakes. I like this move, and I like the other moves.
I love Grandy as much as the next guy, but we got market value for him, saved money, filled organizational holes, and got younger.
Go TIGERS! We all remember when they were terrible, so it's nice to have a chance. DD (and the trust from Mr. Ilitch) is the main reason we have that chance.
January 15th, 2010 at 9:45 AM ^
Short Term: The player who gives the team the best chance of winning is Granderson. He adds the most wins to the team, by any statistical measure, he is left handed and plays a premium defensive position. Given that Valverde will make MORE than Granderson would have made this year, I wouldn't hesitate to take Granderson back.
Long Term: The loss of the 1st rd. Draft Pick is a handicap, and Valverde is already 30. It is possible that DD looked at the closer market this year and next and thought: I can get a very good closer cheaper this year than next year, and next year I'll have some extra money to spend on some more Free Agents. That seems like questionable decision making though.
My thought is this: Valverde just got overpaid, but he is a good pitcher and a good addition to the team. He's just not a SMART addition to the team, and his signing flies in the face of what we all perceived to be the Tigers mission this season: get younger and cheaper. This move does neither, and the loss of the draft pick overtly sabotages the former.
January 15th, 2010 at 10:47 AM ^
I think that we're putting too much emphasis on a first round draft pick. Baseball is not football and in baseball, first-round picks are busts more often than not. This is not to say that the pick isn't important, but I think that the success of more recent first round picks (Porcello and Perry) is clouding our judgment when it comes to their importance. Furthermore, we do get to picks in the compensation round this year, so we still definitely have the ability to draft well.
Now, as far as the Valverde signing goes, I am annoyed about the value of the deal. But at the same time, I can see the financial considerations that we made. First of all, because we lose a first-round draft pick, we do not have to spend the ever-increasing signing bonus or salary to pick one up. Second of all, the move solidified the bullpen, which would have been rather chaotic without a closer. We have a bunch of decent middle relievers, a couple prospects with high potential, and Joel Zumaya. The addition of a closer provided us with someone who we can count on in high pressure situations, making the move more palatable. Personally, I would have rather just tried to sign Rodney, but I can see how this move makes Detroit better and makes the $14 million seem more acceptable.
January 15th, 2010 at 9:44 AM ^
Steve Phillips' trade of Kazmir for Zambrano, Brian Sabean's quest to have the oldest team in the history of the MLB, Walt Jocketty hiring Dusty Baker, J.P. Ricciardi saying Adam Dunn doesn't enjoy baseball, Bill Basavi's every move, Dave Littlefield trading for Matt Morris, Ned Coletti signing Juan Pierre and Andruw Jones to huge deals and Eric Byrnes getting a 3 year/$30 million dollar deal suggest otherwise.
January 15th, 2010 at 12:42 AM ^
I think let’s give their team a chance.Maybe this one could work out.Who knows it could be the right move.It will evaluate itself when they’re on the situation.Anyway,that wasn’t really a bad news;on the other hand,this one’s really a dire information.For Jim Leavitt fired,but not for losing records,for losing it in general – as he has allegedly struck one of his players.Leavitt probably won't need payday loans,as he was paid a lot of money,but he will need some good references if it's true he grabbed Joel Miller by the throat and struck him across the face – which is patently unacceptable.
January 15th, 2010 at 1:20 AM ^
This is the Gitmo of sentence structure.
January 15th, 2010 at 8:21 AM ^
Valverde is an established closer, there's no doubt. I am a little concerned that he did all his work in the NL and what the Tigers paid to get him ($7 a year, 2 draft picks).
On a note unrelated to stats or salary, I really don't like his antics on the mound.
January 15th, 2010 at 9:52 AM ^
sorry to burst your bubble about granderson but he's really not as good as advertised...
i'm surprised they didnt go younger with the closer role, but they will be competitive this year and beyond (especially when mags leaves and frees up pay role)
January 15th, 2010 at 11:22 AM ^
I'm hoping this move is intended to get Ryan Perry some more experience so when this two-year deal with Valverde is up he will be ready to step into the closer's role.
This year the team should be fun to watch with all of the young players but it could also be a 70 win team.