The Tigers announced that they agreed to a two-year deal with Ryan Raburn, avoiding arbitration. The 29-year-old will earn $3.4MM for 2011-12, according to the AP (on CBSSports.com). The deal pays him $1.3MM in 2011 and $2.1MM in 2012, according to Tom Gage of the Detroit News (on Twitter). Raburn was arbitration eligible for the first time this offseason, so the Tigers will control his rights for a year after the extension expires.
Raburn established career highs in runs scored (54), hits (104) and doubles (25) last year. He added 15 homers and posted a .280/.340/.474 line in 410 plate appearances. Raburn did a bit of everything last year, playing all three outfield positions, logging 18 games at second base and appearing at first and third.
The right-handed hitter figures to pick up regular at bats in left field next year, and he's a candidate to sub in at other positions. That flexibility should give manager Jim Leyland some options. Meanwhile, GM Dave Dombrowski must come to terms with Armando Galarraga and Joel Zumaya, the team's unsigned arbitraiton eligible players. Keep track of the developments with our Arbitration Tracker.
RR will be starting in LF next year. Excited to see what he can do with a full year of AB’s
I’m not. Not at all.
why because u are a white sox or twins fan??
Translate his numbers into a full season of starting… if he can hit .280 with 20-25 home runs from the 2, 6, or 7th spot in the lineup, that’s all we need. No doubt he won’t ever be an all-star or a great fielder, but he doesn’t need to be.
I hear you, but you can’t really translate a part-timer’s numbers over a full season of starting. Raburn had a great final 6 weeks of the season, sure, but it’s easier to stay hot for short stretches of time. I don’t doubt that he’ll get his 20-25 homers if he gets 500+ ABs — but it seems pretty likely to me that he’ll hit under .250 and essentially be a Brandon Inge clone, only without the defense. Hard to get too excited. Hope he proves me wrong, though.
I hope so too, as I share the same concerns. Only way to know for sure is to let him take his cuts.
Translate his numbers into a full season of starting… if he can hit .280 with 20-25 home runs from the 2, 6, or 7th spot in the lineup, that’s all we need. No doubt he won’t ever be an all-star or a great fielder, but he doesn’t need to be.
Rayburn and Boesch are two guys who seem to be flying just below-the-radar of breaking out into household names…
Not Boesch, and for obvious reasons.
1.) He hit .292 at home as opposed to .219 on the road.
2.) The awful defense.
3.) And maybe because his first half was a fluke and he hit under .200 in the second half.
I don’t get Boesch, he runs so well on the bathpaths, but he takes really asinine routes in the outfield.
tigers stadium is far from a hitter’s park, so that first stat might not be that much of a concern, just a strange coincidence.
I would say it’s a hitters park, or at least a middle-of-the-road park there is lots of ground for outfielders to cover. It may not be as much of a home run hitting park as a lot of others but it’s definitely a gap driving park.
According to that statement AT&T Park is a hitters park too.
I’m embarassed I missed this earlier but it’s Comerica Park. Tiger Stadium doesn’t exist anymore T.T
This is nice. I feel like this guy is one of the more underrated players on the staff. With a full season of ABs he’s gonna open some eyes this year. It’s a good week to be a Tigers fan.
Hopefully he learns how to play the outfield and shows consistency with the stick. Not a great week yet.
Why the heck is it NOT a great week?
Hopefully he learns how to play the outfield and shows consistency with the stick. Not a great week yet.
Raburn has earned a starting spot-when given an every day role has has batted over 290 and he should see really good pitches to hit batting behind mags, cabbie, and Vmart. He should be prettydangerous at the back end of the order…now him in the field is the other side of the coin. Let’s hope his defense doesn’t kill them in LF or they decide boesch would be a better fit in the OF…
He may end up batting 2nd. I like Raburn and I’m excited to see what he can do at the plate as a regular. He’s earned it, IMO.
I think guillen should bat second when healthy.
I agree. You think he’ll start at 2nd base??
Raburn strikes out way too much for leyland to bat him in the 2 spot.
I can’t imagine anyone but guillen playing second if he’s healthy-plus that will give Sizemore one more year to heal up that foot and keep developing in Toledo.
“When healthy” is the operating term there. The Tigers could have used a guy like Orlando Hudson this year — switch hitting 2B who is also a guy used to batting second.
What do you know-his name is Ramon Santiago.
Give him 400 ABs and he might hit 20 HR, with at least a .260 average and a solid on base. His defense is far from perfect, but he usually gets the job done out there.
I don;t know why people knock his defense so much. He is a little above average. He makes errors but they usually come from him missing on a dive or crashing through the bullpen gate. He usually gets to the ball and he has a heck of an arm. I’d go as far as to say he should be in right, and Ordonez in left next year.
Hahahahah i was actually at the game in Cleveland when that happened. As painful as that game was to watch (as was that whole series), I found Raburn crashing through the bullpen fence a little humorous. Couldn’t help but feel for the guy though because it cost his team an inside-the-park home run.
But I do agree, his defense isn’t as bad as most people think it is. Although he is occasionally painful to watch out there in left.
Like in Game 163 of 2009, you mean.
Oh god! That awful sliding attempt!!!
Awful. Not the worst ever, but not a good defender, nobody can really argue otherwise.
That too. Although he did also gun down Alexi Casilla at home as well.
If I remember right though he threw out the winning run at home plate in game 163 as well.
True. But if he’d just caught the Cuddyer ball, he wouldn’t have needed to.
apparently he saves his terrible defense for trips to oakland. his routes are bad and he doesn’t seem sure of himself out there. Of course, getting regular time in one spot may help him fix both of these, as opposed to sporadic time everywhere. I think his defense will improve enough so that it doesn’t hurt the team.
Hahahahah i was actually at the game in Cleveland when that happened. As painful as that game was to watch (as was that whole series), I found Raburn crashing through the bullpen fence a little humorous. Couldn’t help but feel for the guy though because it cost his team an inside-the-park home run.
But I do agree, his defense isn’t as bad as most people think it is. Although he is occasionally painful to watch out there in left.
The Tigers would have won the Central in ’09 if he had even competent defense. I remember a game, it’s extra innings against the Royals. The Tigers have a lead, and have gotten KC to their last out. A grounder to 3rd base (where Raburn was playing), and he airmails it over the first basemens head. A run scores, and they go on to lose that game. Along with the division eventually.
Mets nearly got him for Brian Stokes a few years back. Thank you Omar for getting cold feet. You may have left us, but your legacy will live forever.
Mets nearly got him for Brian Stokes a few years back. Thank you Omar for getting cold feet. You may have left us, but your legacy will live forever.
Raburn’s a fine role-player, but giving an everyday spot to him seems risky, especially considering the Tigers’ plan at 2B and C. Raburn’s numbers prior to August 10 the past two seasons have been BRUTAL, so it’s just hard to trust that he’ll produce over a full season.
Now, if they’d have signed a real LF (Crawford *cough* *cough*) and their idea had been to platoon Raburn vs. LHP with Martinez at DH and occasionally spot Ordonez in RF and maybe get 300 ABs, then I’d be totally on board.
And of course if Raburn proves me wrong and he has 10 homers by June 1, I’m on board.
Who is going to DH for the Tigers vs. LHP when Martinez catches anyway?
Guillen if he’s healthy, which is a big if.
If that’s the case why not bring back willie horton?
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Casper Wells get some ABs, provided he makes the team out of camp, with a lefty on the mound and Martinez behind the plate.
I would have LOVED to see Crawford in left in Detroit, but not at what he signed for. About half of that and he would be a great fit. He is going to have about the WORST contract in MLB in 2-3 years. Crawford is a career 105 OPS+. His game relies on speed and defense. He is already 30, and is going to make $20 million a season with slightly above replacement level offensive production. His speed will not age as well as a power bat will. At least it’s Boston that has to deal with the soon to be albatross of a contract.
He hasn’t hit much from the right side for the past few years, and has been terrible when he has. But yeah, I guess that’s the plan. Relying on Guillen at all is a terrible idea, though.