The longest tenured Tiger is staying in Detroit. The Tigers announced that they signed Brandon Inge to a two-year extension with a club option for 2013. Inge's deal is worth $11.5MM, according to MLB.com's Jason Beck (on Twitter). The third baseman earns $5.5MM in 2011 and 2012 and will either earn $6MM or a $500K buyout in 2013. Inge's four-year $24MM deal expired after the season, and he soon began discussing a multi-year extension with the Tigers.
Inge, 33, batted .247/.321/.397 last year with 13 homers. As usual, the ten-year veteran showed some power, struck out frequently and hit for a low average. According to UZR, Inge also played above-average defense for the sixth consecutive season. Though he no longer contributes behind the plate or in the outfield, Inge gives the Tigers excellent defense at the hot corner.
Early in the season, I suggested the 2009 All-Star was headed for a $4-6MM guarantee, but Inge did considerably better than that. The extension gives Scott Boras one less potential destination for Adrian Beltre, the best player on this year's free agent third base market.
From what I’ve heard, Tigers fans were ready for a fresh face at third base. Maybe there will be one in 2 years…
There will be… Nick Castellanos.
Agreed, a 2 year deal with an option for a third is the ideal timing for Nick Castellanos to get seasoned and get ready to make the show. at 5.5 mill a year, this is a very good move by DD. After Beltre (who would end up being WAY WAY overpaid in the bidding war that is coming) and Inge, there is a HUGE falloff for 3B on the FA market this year. Bring back Peralta, or maybe DD has an ace up his sleeve to land a good hitting SS in a trade, and then go hard after Vmart and Dunn, … the pieces could be falling into place for the Tigers to be serious contenders for several years.
I agree with pretty much everything you said. I do think DD will try to make a surprise splash in the trade market, and I’d love to see Dunn’s bat in that lineup with Miggy.
Bring back Ordonez (he’ll probably sign for less that 15 million if you give him more than 1 year) and bring in Dunn to DH
Dunn Cabrera Ordonez and then possibly VMart after that. That is a scary 3-6.
Scary like zombies, slowest 3-6 in all of MLB they’d have. Tigers will lead all of MLB in GIDP with those 4 in a row in the lineup.
you can run pretty slow when you hit it over the fence.
But you can’t when you’re on defense (unless you’re bj upton!), which 3 of those 4 must be. I like your confidence in the bats compensating for the defense but 4 dh’s on one team is ridiculous, 5 if you count guillen (with his injury history I would ONLY consider him at DH). Werth or Crawford alone would do Detroit better than ordonez and martinez. Dunn is a lefty power bat they need though.
Martinez can play catcher decent enough to be the starter. Ordonez can still play very well in RF. He was doing great last year till he broke his ankle. If he feels fine, by all means, bring him back. Get Raburn or Wells or Boesch to play Left, or move Ordonez to left so he dosen’t have to cover as much ground if you are worried about his range. Between one of those 3 and Jackson, they can shade enough one way to take some pressure off Maggs. Guillen is the odd man out though. I think the Tigers will try to trade him, or they might buy out his contract.
Let’s get this straight. VMart cannot play decent enough defense at catcher and that’s one position where I wouldn’t feel comfortable sacrificing defense for offense.
Martinez can play catcher decent enough to be the starter. Ordonez can still play very well in RF. He was doing great last year till he broke his ankle. If he feels fine, by all means, bring him back. Get Raburn or Wells or Boesch to play Left, or move Ordonez to left so he dosen’t have to cover as much ground if you are worried about his range. Between one of those 3 and Jackson, they can shade enough one way to take some pressure off Maggs. Guillen is the odd man out though. I think the Tigers will try to trade him, or they might buy out his contract.
you can run pretty slow when you hit it over the fence.
Scary like zombies, slowest 3-6 in all of MLB they’d have. Tigers will lead all of MLB in GIDP with those 4 in a row in the lineup.
Guess that means they’re out on Beltre?
I know there is a huge shortage of talent at third base this offseason, but a multi-year contract to a man who has averaged a .719 OPS over the last two years? I am sure they could have gotten him for one year. Of course we havn’t seen the money part of it yet but still…two years?
I call 2/15 plus 10 million option.
Not likely
Need I remind you, this is the same team that gave Damon double what anyone else offered him after he turned down the Yankees offer, and a no-trade clause.
No, I am aware of what they have done I just really doubt that they would give him a 10million option. I also doubt that they would pay him 7.5m per season, then again, Illitch is loyal, to much at times.
Very, very reasonable considering how well he plays at 3B. Yeah, he K’s a TON but saves so many runs with his D, he’s worth $7M or so a year. Not to mention he’s able to catch and play the OF if there’s an injury.
He’ll make Jhonny Peralta look so much better at SS too (if they bring him back).
Inge’s range has fallen off tremendously (-5.0) . So he won’t be helping Peralta much, rather, Peralta will be helping him.
The rumor mill says 6 million over 2 years with incentives based on performance.
They didn’t spend to much on him is what I’m hearing considering he is a gold glove third basemen
inge is actually not a gold glove third basemen. his only accolade is his 1 all star appearance, in which he entered the hr derby and hit 0 home runs
Why so soon? His value would have dropped the longer he went unsigned in free agency.
Not necessarily. I think there will be a pretty intense bidding war for Beltre which probably would have driven up the price for Inge if he was still available at that time. That’s probably why Dombrowski made this signing early.
He is a Tiger fan favorite. Bottom line. .247 hitter. not good
Being a .247 hitter does not make you a ‘not good’ hitter as the bottom line. You can be a .247/.350/.600/.950 hitter with 50HRs and be an obviously good hitter. Thats not that farr off from what Jose Bautista did this year (hit .260).
Inge is not a great hitter for other reasons, but its not soley from his batting average.
Could you be talking about his career .701 OPS for a corner infielder?
inge was only a .247 hitter this past year…his career average is .237
.237 career, he bumped it up to .247 this season as it was a contract year.
As long as the price is right…I’m okay with this. I was hoping the extension was going to be a short one. As long as the price is around $4-7 million per and they don’t pick up his option for 2013, I’m a content Tiger’s fan. Not happy, because well, let’s face it, Inge’s bat isn’t exactly what I wanted to see as a fixture for the Tigers the next couple seasons, but if they get some support in the lineup this year, this is an okay move for me.
Twins and White Sox also love it.
i bet it’s less than $10MM for the two years combined with the option being like $5.5MM.
Mets were the easy choice here.
People will be celebrating this today on the South side of Chicago and in Minnesota.
No they’re not. It means the Tigers will likely be a better team in 2011.
how do you think the 2011 tigers are better because of this signing? with inge in the lineup, the tigers have never won the division.
The Tigers have never won the division with Cabrera in the line-up either.
cabrera is the tigers offense though…that is where the difference is…but that being said, if the team is going to keep finishing 2nd and 3rd, then they need to do whatever it takes to get to first…and if it were required to move cabrera to do so, then so be it.
How does signing a soon to be 34 year old with a career .700 OPS and rapidly deteriorating defensive skills make any team better? I’ll hang up and wait for your answer.
How does signing a soon to be 34 year old with a career .700 OPS and rapidly deteriorating defensive skills make any team better? I’ll hang up and wait for your answer.
I guess the front office liked the defense of Inge combined with Peralta. I don’t mind his bat if they sign two other .300 bats to compensate.
Agreed 100% on this one. This is a great move IF they bring in 2 solid hitters. HEck, bringing in Dunn, Werth, and MArtinez would give them a scary good lineup
Jackson CF
Sizemore/Rhymes/Guillen 2B
Dunn DH
Cabrera 1B
Werth RF
Martinez C
Raburn/Boesch LF
Peralta SS
Inge 3B
Add another lefty to the rotation (De La Rosa) and a couple of arms in the BP (Downs, Putz) and this is a scary good team…IF those moves happen.
That lineup sure looks good in text but who knows if that group would mesh as a team. At least one of them is bound to regress next season, maybe all three offensive players considering Comerica. Besides, even with the $$$ it will be tough to have a monopoly on a FA class (except for NYY). That said, I would take any of those FA over our in-house options and would be stoked to have that lineup going into the season.
EDIT:before any confusion happens I didn’t miss your IF statement.
i can go with this thought
Dombrowski was pretty much told to give Inge new paper by Pizza Pizza guy. Dombrowski hates Inge.
In the next two years, it is certainly possible Inge will perform so poorly the Tigers will have to release him and eat the remainder of this contract. If that happens, it’s only money and Peralta is a younger replacement.
Inge at his best, hitting homers and making plays, is worth a modest investment, which I assume this is.
Inge will have to fall off a TON for the Tigers to even think about releasing him.
His WAR has been over 2 each of the past 2 seasons, and according to his “value’ he was worth $8.5M this year.
People vastly underrate his defensive value and overreact to his K’s and low batting average.
considering that a regular position players war is between 3 and 5, that make inge less than regular…
Uhm… if your regular position players happen to be stars, yah. Otherwise, I don’t know who is consistently putting up an average WAR of 4. Maybe you aren’t that familiar with WAR, but your median player puts up a WAR of about 2 annually. Putting up an average of 3 WAR would still be a markedly above average player, probably under arb or getting paid over 10m annually. For guys who play 3B regularly, over the last 3 years, here are the ones who had a WAR that averaged 3:
Chone Figgins, Michael Young, Kevin Kouzmanoff (Closer to 2.75, but we’ll give it to him)
There aren’t “regular players.” These guys are well above average. Every one of them is fantasy baseball relevant. Inge isn’t one of those guys, but you’re talking about guys like Wigginton and Felipe Lopez when you dip lower.
Teams typically look to under team control prospects over free agents when signing players with a max WAR of 2.0. At least the prospects have the prospect of getting better. Inge will only get worse.
I disagree about the overreactions. The low batting average is fine for an 8 or 9 hitter that can get productive outs, but Inge doesn’t get productive outs. Strikeouts kill rallies.
pmc765, that is part of the problem with the perception of inge. people see him as a home run hitter, but the truth of the matter is that he only has 2 seasons with over 20 home runs. his average season, according to baseball reference only would yield 17 homers to go along with that .237 hitting average and .256 strike out average.
love inge.
I scrolled down looking for this…
Every other team’s fan base loves Inge. Heck, if they love him so much , they shold sign him to play on their team.
Tough to evaluate this without knowing what other moves are made. I like Inge, like his glove and can put up with his bat(lack of) if they add some other bats to the lineup.I doubt his option gets picked up if it is a team option, better be, as his knees are close to done.
Picking up his option will also depend on the development of Castellanos, who will have two years to develop in the minors without being blocked by a long term signing at third base.
He takes up a roster spot and 600 at-bats. It’s not like MLB is going to like the Tigers run a 10 man lineup out there with a 26 man roster because they have Inge.
The tigers signing Inge and possibly Peralta are them saying that they are going to go hard after some big hitters. Inge may not be the best hitter but his fielding is amazing and will help Peralta with his range, and will still help a bit with some offense. Peralta may not have the best average but he is a solid RBI guy and proved that in Detroit. With the boat load of money coming off the books for Detroit don’t be surprised to see a couple big name players come to Detroit either from FA or a trade. Dombrowski has already said he’s looking for big RBI guy to help protect Cabrera and a good outfielder to fill that void. Bullpen is after that and then a decent starter.
Actually it says the free agent market is very thin and that they are the best options available. Especially if the Tigers are unwilling to deal prospects.
I like the signing in the sense that it keeps them out of the Beltre sweepstakes. Beltre is doomed to disappoint after his big year and I think Detroit would be the worse possible match for Beltre besides going back to the Mariners.
Hopefully the Twins aren’t dumb enough to do this with Punto. I hear he’s gone, but who knows…
They would be very dumb to do so. Inge is a starter…..Punto a utility infielder. Inge > Punto.
Unless Punto accepts a deal for $2M a year tops, he won’t be back in Minny.
I worry because they already did it once. I can see them being stupid again. I agree that he’s not worth more than 2 million. If his option is picked up, he’ll be making the same money, I believe….which is what I was trying to refer to.
I think Inge is a little overpaid though. I think he should have had Punto’s old contract (2/8.5 with a 5 million option). And Punto should have never been anywhere near those numbers, but his contract was kind of like a market value bar that Inge needed to be at or above.
2 years 11.5 million per beck’s twitter. No idea on option.
Far cry from 15mil
Very good deal for the Tigers. Inge is a younger, more versatile, and better defensive version of Casey Blake who got a 3yr/$18+M deal not long ago. Blake has a bit more power, but the trade off of defense is worth it IMO.
As much as I hate the Tigers, well done and good deal with Inge.
Now time to get some protection for Miggy.
“better defensive version of Casey Blake”?
AYRTS, IA?
Blake 7.3 RngR 7.7 UZR
Inge -3.8 RngR 3.5 UZR
inge wasn’t anywhere near the defensive 3B Blake was in 2010.
Option for 6million with a 500k buyout.
Numbers aren’t bad at all.
So, DD not only signed him b/c of his defensive value, but because he thinks Inge can also chip in double-digit homeruns? Interesting…
You don’t think Inge could get 10-14 HR’s?
If Inge plays all year with no injuries a 245/20/80 season is not out of question. Not bad for a #7 or #8 hitter with excellent defense.
not out of the question, except for the fact that his career averages are 237/17/70 so he would have to have an above average year to make that happen
and then you call him a 7/8 hitter…since when do 7/8 hitters get paid 5.5 to 6 mill a year?
I don’t see your agrument? It’s a fair wage for a veteran, the Tigers aren’t the Marlins. Have a look around the league at the bigger market teams and educate your-self.
Just because it is a bigger market team doesnt mean that he deserves those dollars. 2yr/9M seemed like closer to a fair deal for Inge.
Just because its Detroit and not Pittsburgh doesnt mean he deserves it, just that they are willing to overpay by a couple million.
Most hitters of his caliber wouldn’t be worth this type of contract. I think the reason that Inge is worth close to this contract is because he’s a fan favorite in the Detroit area, not my favorite, but chicks love him. He gets people to go to games and thus brings more money into the organization than a typical hitter like him would.
Winning and going to the post-season would bring in a tsunami of cash that’d crush the trickle of Inge jersey dollars.
Just because it is a bigger market team doesnt mean that he deserves those dollars. 2yr/9M seemed like closer to a fair deal for Inge.
Just because its Detroit and not Pittsburgh doesnt mean he deserves it, just that they are willing to overpay by a couple million.
it a fair wage for a veteran? not a veteran of inge’s offensive stature.
in 2009 pedro feliz with his career .250/17/74 received a 4.5 million contract, melvin mora with his career .278/18/79 received a 1.3 million contract, and then there is this guy, polanco, .303/10/64 he got a 3yr 18 million contract.
i would like to see the veterans you are talking about though, it could be interesting…
You must think MLB runs on monopoly money. Melvin Mora was a washed up hack and platooned half the year before he signed with the rockies. Feliz signed a million less then Inge, Polanco is an equal defensive player to inge, but a contact hitter and signed a 3 year deal? You make no sense, I don’t think the tigers are going to lose the world series on this move. Time to move on bud.
I don’t see your agrument? It’s a fair wage for a veteran, the Tigers aren’t the Marlins. Have a look around the league at the bigger market teams and educate your-self.
This is a solid signing. Detroit’s defense remains good at 3b and has good pop for a 7/8 hitter.
Except Inge is at best a middle of the pack defensive 3B and likely to get worse as he enters his mid 30’s.
inge has a negative range, -3.8, which cancels out hit 3.5 UZR.
The Tigers will most likely end up with the 2nd best SS this winter (Peralta, after Jeter) and the 2nd best 3b (Inge, after Beltre). It is pretty stunning that those 2 C- players are probably the best the Tigers can do. But giving up players in trades to acquire someone who may be only marginally better, is not the best way to go, considering you can lock up a decent player for an acceptable amount.
This is a good start to free agency for the Tigers. I thought that this would be done sooner but the numbers seem about for Inge. I think he could have made a little more in free agency maybe to the runner up in the Beltre sweepstakes but good for both sides. The Tigers will look to lock up Peralta at around the same price and years. I think he Peralta going to want more because he is younger and a SS and might leave Tigers no option but pick up his opion. Would like to see the Tigers now resign Magglio maybe at 2 years 16 million, sign Victor Martinez 4 years/44 million and add JJ Putz 2 years/9 mill. I love the flexibility of having Martinexz who can DH, catch when they face a lefty and play some first with Cabrera DHing. Also doesn’t eat up a roster spot as backup catcher and carry both Rhymes and Sizemore with Santiago, Kelly and Wells on bench. This would also make sure Magglio doesn’t play the field everyday as he could DH against lefties with Wells in right. Lineup would have Inge batting ninth and 3 to 5 of Ordonez, Cabrera and Martinez. Then Dombrowski can look to acquire a pitcher through trade either one of Shields, Garza and my surprise pick Wandy Rodriguez. Coke should stay in bullpen but looks like he will start so might have to add a lefty also. I think we will see only one big free agent signed not Dunn and Martinez or Dunn and Crawford as im seeingon here. Payroll will not be over 100 mill like past years and don’t think it should be in that market.
No Martinez…please.
I’m still hoping the tigers somehow make a deal for Jose Reyes, not sure if the mets are shopping him, but since they’re getting a new gm, new coach, if they can’t come to an extension they could start trying to rebuild a bit.
No one is going to want Reyes until he shows he is healthy.
Ya right. It would be a great idea for just about any team to take a chance on him. Bring him in and sign him to an extension. If he can stay healthy a team just traded for the second best shortstop in major league baseball. A team might be able to get a discount extension on him as well, gambling that he can stay healthy. If the tigers got Reyes I would be thrilled. My wish list is trading for Reyes and signing dunn and ordonez. Cap that off with a couple of bullpen arms and the tigers offseason would be a complete success.
Dunn or Crawford. Dunn more likely.
Also, I have an inkling that the tigers are finding out about Reyes before they decide what to do with Peralta.
I know it seems to be off the radar, but I believe that if the Tigers make a good run at Crawford it would solve quite a few problems. I am from Detroit and now live in the Tampa area, and in my eyes CC is the best player in the game. .300 plus lifetime avg, 15-20 HR/yr, 45-60 sb/season and a gold glove leftfielder. Oh, and not to mention a stand-up guy who is all team and no prima-donna. I realize the Yankmees and the Red Sux will bid very high for him, but I would back up the Brinks truck for him.
From what I can tell, Detroit will not even attempt to go after CC. Love the guy as a player, but when you have numerous holes to fill, you can’t put all your eggs into one basket when there will be lots of teams already going after him. Even if Detroit went after him hardcore, it wouldn’t happen when more attractive teams are out there for him.
Also, about Adrian Beltre, Detroit papers are reporting he didn’t even give Detroit the time of day when he was in free agency before. Some players are more location conscious of where they want to go and Beltre sounds like he belongs in that same class. And considering after Beltre, there is a huge drop off at 3B, Inge was Detroit’s best bet. He isn’t anyone’s favorite option, but he would have made more money if he went into free agency. No doubt about that.
Jayson Werth had one of the worst hitting averages in the National League with runners in scoring position. Detroit was actually a good hitting team last year, but never with scoring the runners. Werth is not what we need. Dunn is our better bet and Martinez is a good secondary player to go after. Dunn can be convinced to do a DH-like role with some play at 1st base and outfield, especially when Detroit will be willing to give him more money than any other team.
I also think there may be a trade this offseason. Considering the field is small for good free agents, they may not want to over pay for second tier talent and instead favor a trade. Last year they were backed into over paying for Damon when Illitch was uncertain what kind of offseason plan he had in mind. When everyone in the front office is saying they will be aggressive this year, you know things will be different.
you can have him as a fan favorite all you want. he’s a terrible hitter and his defense isn’t nearly enough to make up for it. Tigers for dead last next year.
Dead last? One bat has THAT much difference? LOL!