OT: Sanchez to stay with Tigers

Submitted by Everyone Murders on

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20121214/SPORTS0104/212140423/Report-Tigers-sign-Sanchez-5-years-80M?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Sports

Well, it looks like Dombrowski signed Anibel Sanchez for a 5 year hitch at $80M.  I'm very curious to see what happens with Porcello now that Sanchez is wrapped up for the foreseeable future.

I thought Sanchez was (imagine Ernie Harwell voice here) long gone.  Looks like more evidence to support the theory that Mike Ilitch is in "win now" mode.  I wonder if this is a deal the Tigers will regret at their leisure - Sanchez is below .500 in W/L for his career, although sabremetricians will quickly point out there are better measures of a pitcher's worth than W-L.  In any event, Ilitch gets a lot of credit for investing in his club and giving Dombrowski the ability to do deals like this.

JonSnow54

December 14th, 2012 at 12:48 PM ^

Thank you, couldn't agree more.  It truly doesn't matter how much they spend.  If Illitch wants to spend a ton and get into luxury tax territory, more power to him!  I'd much rather have an owner like that than a frugal guy who doesn't like spending his own money, like the Twins owner from some years back....Kohler maybe was his name?  My boss is a Twins fan and that always drove him nuts - an owner who refuses to spend money would lead to an unhappy fan base. 

We should all be very happy about this, it shows his committment to winning.  I hope he tells Dombrowski to go out and sign several more players. 

jethro34

December 14th, 2012 at 11:26 AM ^

Please tell me the next move is shipping one of the contenders for our #5 spot in the rotation, along with Peralta and Boesch to the Rangers for Elvis Andrus.

It makes sense.  The Rangers lost Hamilton and Napoli and with that a lot of pop from their lineup.  The change of scenery for Boesch, and in that park, could turn him back into a legit power threat, plus he's not advanced in age or terribly expensive if it doesn't work out. 

Andrus is too young to justify keeping him at SS if they really want to bring up Profar, though they don't necessarily want it to be all about Profar right away.  Peralta also can give them some pop in that park and be a good replacement in the infield, and then ultimately to the spot Michael Young had if necessary.

Porcello could pitch in that park because he doesn't give up many deep balls.  He's more of a ground ball guy and that infield, especially when Profar is there, has the range to make a lot more outs than the Tigers did when Rick was pitching.

ppudge

December 14th, 2012 at 11:47 AM ^

That's exactly what I just said at the "water cooler." The only way this makes sense is if they package Porcello (Rangers always need pitching), Boesch (Rangers now need an outfielder and he has upside) and Peralta (insurance if their young star isn't ready for prime time yet) to get Andrus. Paying $16m for our #4 starter doesn't thrill me, because we have to think about Fister and Scherzer down the line.

TyrannousLex

December 14th, 2012 at 12:09 PM ^

I'm sure they'll try to sign both, and JV will get a new contract before he's a FA in two years. But what if you can't keep all three? You've now got Sanchez under contract for 5 years, so if either Fister of Scherzer push for outrageous sums of money or simply want to leave, DD isn't scrambling to fill a spot.

Nick

December 14th, 2012 at 12:55 PM ^

If you think its a no-brainer for the Tigers, its usually a shitty trade for the other team.

Just because Texas has a surplus at SS (Andrus + Profar) and 3B (Beltre + Mike Olt) doesn't mean they're going to take mediocre deals for them as if their usefullness is going to expire.

Maize_Nation

December 14th, 2012 at 1:04 PM ^

The reason this scenario doesn't work is because Boesch sucks and has no trade value, Peralta is a mediocre player, decent stop gap, but also have little trade value.

Porcello has some trade value, he could net you a decent return, but nowhere near Andrus.

Texas could get a helluva lot more for Andrus than Porcello, Peralta, and Boesch.

Jack Daniels

December 14th, 2012 at 11:30 AM ^

I really like this a lot. Sanchez compares closely to James Shields and pretty close to Grienke. However, this sets a bar for Scherzer and Fister. If we give Sanchez $80 million thru 5, then imagine how much they could ask for. I think they'll have to trade one of those guys if they make JV and Miggy part of the 30 million club, which might need to happen for them to sign. Then again, who knows, because the new TV contract could be monstrous

TyrannousLex

December 14th, 2012 at 12:15 PM ^

Given the movement this off season, it may be that the old conceptions of "just right" and "too much" in terms of spending are out the window. The shit going down in LA is distorting things massively.

As Mr. I sees it (i'm sure), he now has a perrenial playoff contender. That shows in television ratings and attendance at Comerica. He'll keep spending to win as many WS rings as he can before he dies. The Tigers may not keep every one of their current stars for the next 5 years, but they'll keep most because Mr. I will pony up for them to stay. He didn't bat an eye doing it with the Wings until he couldn't anymore. And we may be reaching the point similar to the Wings where players will take perhaps a little less than they could make on the open market to stay in the organization.

Maize_Nation

December 14th, 2012 at 12:41 PM ^

The Tigers will easily be able to support a payroll of 175 million starting in 2014.

These big contracts the Tigers are handing out, it isn't just because Illitch is opening up his wallet, it's because they can afford it.

rainingmaize

December 14th, 2012 at 2:19 PM ^

Yea Porcello could help us fill some problems (like SS and bullpen), but here's why we can't trade him: 



1.) We don't have enough pitching depth to trade him. Yea we have a solid 1-5, however if any of them get hurt (which will happen) then we would be throwing Casey Crosby in there, and I don't even want to know what's behind him. Our pitching depth in our farm system is bad, real bad.



2.) Smyly could have value in the bullpen. I though Smyly looked great coming out of the pen during the playoffs. We would need another arm if Rondon doesn't work out and we have to move Coke or Dotel to closer.



3.) Porcello is only 24 years old. Most pitchers won't hit their primes until ages 28-32. I think Porcello has a lot of room for improvement. Each year we see flashes of brilliance from him at times. A lot of times Porcello pitched pretty good for a No. 5, however Leyland left him in the game to long.

bronxblue

December 14th, 2012 at 3:26 PM ^

Good signing.  He's a better pitcher than his record, and as a 3rd or 4th starter he'll be great in tight series.  I'm more worried about Hunter than Sanchez, but it looks like the Tigers have a workable plan, at least in the short term.