Tigers sign Victor Martinez

[ajaX82]

4 years, 50 million

A legit threat behind Cabby

Where does he play? DH? C? Is Avila screwed now?

[ajaX82]

http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/mlb/ne ... id=5842176

[chrbal]

I'm guessing he'll be mainly a DH (and Avilas' "backup"), unless Avila just does horrible.

[Liqourish]

I really like this signing. We needed an upgrade at C. Even with Avila mostly catching, Laird was horrible at the plate. Martinez is a great lefty bat with power. He should help Cabrera in the lineup. Reportedly, Martinez had offers of 4 yrs/$48 million from a couple other clubs, so the Tigers really didn't overpay for him.

Also, with all the salary that is off the books this year, Dombrowski mentioned wanting to spend in free agency. I don't think he's done making moves by any means. I hope he goes after Carl Crawford HARD!!!!!

[ajaX82]

Im also a very big fan. He protects Cabrera and give sus a lefty bat. He's a bit old, but not badly. The way he plays, he should continue to be productive. Though i think at the end of his contract he will be kind of in Guillen territory...we will be happy to see him go.

But 4 years is reasonable. I bet him and Avila split catching duties, with Martinez and someone like Raburn splitting DH duties

Now if we could sign one more guy....oh boy. Crawford would be unreal. A 1-4 of

Jackson, Crawford, Cabrera, Martinez

is the best in the bigs. nasty

[RustInPeace]

I guess it's nice to have some good protection for Miguel but 4 years/50 million for a 32 year old catcher/DH? Dave always has to overpays for stuff, I don't remember the last time he got a 'steal'. I guess that's what separates good from mediocre GMs. Still looking forward to having V-Mart in the lineup though.

The next move now should be to go after Crawford or better yet, Choo. Choo is just as good if not better than Crawford, and is going to go for much cheaper. He'd be perfect at #3. Getting Choo is a much better option than resigning Maggs, as much as I love him. Too bad we can't have both or else we'll be crowded at OF/DH.

A lineup of:
Jackson/Rhymes/Choo/Cabrera/V-Mart/Inge/Peralta/Boesch?/Avila

looks very balanced. We might finally pass the Twins!

[Liqourish]

Red Sox offered Martinez a 4 yr/$42 million deal. White Sox offered 3 yrs/$48 million, Orioles offered 4 yrs/$48 million. The Tigers didn't overpay in the least. It's not an absolute steal, but it's not bad in anyway. He's a switch hitting C/1B/DH with power. His versatility, power and protection are very much worth the extra $2 million we offered over his next best offer.

And we still have money left over for another signing or two. I expect the Tigers to go hard after Crawford and then settle for Werth if they have to. I also think they'll re-sign Maggz with a pay cut. He said he wants to stay here and the team still wants him, just not for the $14-15 million he was due.

1. Austin Jackson CF
2. Carl Crawford LF
3. Magglio Ordonez RF
4. Miguel Cabrera 1B
5. Victor Martinez DH
6. Jhonny Peralta SS
7. Brandon Inge 3B
8. Alex Avila C
9. Will Rhymes 2B

With Ramon Santiago, Ryan Raburn, Brennan Boesch, Carlos Guillen off the bench.

[RustInPeace]

4 years for a 32 year old is overpaying, what other teams were paying does not matter. Like I said I like what he brings, but with his contract and Benoit, I can sense a situation where we're tied lots of money to unproductive players in 2-3 years. Doesn't that sound familiar?

I'm all for being aggressive in the FA market, and this is the right time to do it, but DD has to play smart and show some restraint at some point. Crawford's nice, but he's probably going to get something around the 6 year/100 million range and I would be pissed if we sign him for that much. Werth is a good, cheaper option and I'd rather have him considering his price. Crawford's speed would be wasted here since Leyland is too cautious with the running game. A 3-4-5 of Cabrera/Werth/V-Mart is straight up deadly.

The real gem though is Choo. If we could get him I would be ecstatic. He has power, good speed, is great at getting on base. Pairing him with Jackson at OF makes me feel a lot better in case Raburn plays the last OF position.

[parsons130]

Great pick up for the Tigers, but not to hate I think the Tigers always have a better lineup than the Twins, but the Twins end up on top. It's all about staying healthy, something the TIgers have trouble doing.

[ajaX82]

Well to confirm what most of us have said, DD says VMart will do some catching but will mostly be the DH

Victor Martinez will get a good portion of the catching duties, but the plan remains for Alex Avila to be the Detroit Tigers’ primary catcher in 2011.

On Friday, Martinez officially became a member of the club, and Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski noted that his primary role will be designated hitter.

http://www.mlive.com/tigers/index.ssf/2 ... s_off.html


Excellent news

[Piston Pete]

We need to add Crawford.

I like the VMart signing, just thought Dunn was the better fit - better "Miggy protector." But now that VMart is here, adding Dunn would be redundant.

Crawford's my pick.....Werth would be ok.

[kellmellus50]

He is being dropped to make room on the 40-man roster for Victor Martinez, who Detroit agreed to terms with last week. In four seasons with the Tigers, Miner has gone 25-20 with a 4.24 ERA in 157 appearances, including 35...


http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-tigers-miner

[ajaX82]

this could very easily go in the VMart thread.

Please dont start threads everytime someone gets designated for assignment, promoted or demoted. It happens a ton during a baseball season.

I merged the two topics to show you how seemless it could have been

[Liqourish]

Zach Miner has never really caught on. He's had good stretches, but they have been few and far between. I have no problem with this move.

[RustInPeace]

Zach Miner... DFA'd!?!?!? This can't be true! If it is, then its great news, our bullpen should now improve tenfold.

[ajaX82]

Well Jayson Werth aint coming here after an absurd contract by the Nats. The Nats!

go figure

[TSE]

I'd rather have Wells, Boesch and Raburn and their non-gazillion dollar contracts.

[kellmellus50]

I an not a fan of unproven jayson werth .Dom with make a trade to shore up the tigers at the meetings he always does we just have to wait.

[Piston Pete]

I'll take one order of Cliff Lee with a side of Rick Ankiel please!!

[ajaX82]

I'd rather have Wells, Boesch and Raburn and their non-gazillion dollar contracts.

Absolutely. The Werth deal is awful and in 3 years is going to be laughable.