11:53pm: Knobler indicates that Oswalt has turned the Tigers down even though they were very interested in signing him (Twitter links). They even had Justin Verlander make a recruiting call. He says the Tigers are likely to leave the fifth starter's job up for grabs in Spring Training.
9:01am: The Tigers have some interest in Hideki Matsui and Raul Ibanez, Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com reports on Twitter. Victor Martinez will likely miss the entire season with a torn ACL, so Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski is in the market for a designated hitter.
The Tigers are considering free agents Johnny Damon and Juan Pierre, but might rely on internal options at DH. Matsui, Ibanez, Pierre and Damon all bat from the left side, but club could consider right-handed bats such as Vladimir Guerrero, Magglio Ordonez and Derrek Lee. Both Matsui and Ibanez have been linked to the Yankees, another club that may add a designated hitter.
The Tigers have also shown interest in Roy Oswalt, according to Knobler. While Jacob Turner and others are candidates to start for Detroit, the team is considering ways of adding starting pitching depth before Opening Day. Knobler says it appears unlikely that the Tigers will sign Oswalt, which matches up with what Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports reported yesterday.
Meh.
I’d rather they try to trade for Carlos Lee or Chase Headly and Orlando Hudson.
Headly, I agree. I wouldn’t really care for Hudson or Lee #washedup
I don’t think I’d call Carlos Lee washed up. 18 HRs, 94 RBIs, 3+ WAR last year. Has played less than 153 games just once in the past decade. I wouldn’t be upset if the Tigers made the right deal for him.
If you take on the bad contract of Hudson, then you might be able to save Turner and Castellanos.
Yes, please.
Id rather trade for Carlos Lee or Abreu. Doesnt seem to be in the cards. Seems like Dave wants to play the patient game. Dont blame him. It would be nice to make a splash though.
I would rather get a speedy LF and use DY as DH. Pierre might work.
I honestly can’t think of a worse signing than Pierre. I’d gladly suffer through delmon in LF if it meant no Pierre.
I think he’s going to try to make a splash by signing Cespedes. But this doesn’t solve the V-Mart problem. Keith Law and Kevin Goldstein both think he will need time in the minors.
He will but he won’t need too much time. He could be up by May.
Red Sox should have let Ortiz walk and signed one of these guys for 1/3 of the cost. The Tigers’ DH won’t outproduce VMart, but they’ll get a steal of a deal by waiting for these guys to get desperate to sign.
No they shouldn’t have
Trade for Carlos Lee!
I can’t see the Cepedes thing happening for Detroit … I’d put them 3rd on the list behind Miami’s Cultural edge, and the Cubs’ deep pockets.
Carlos Lee would be a great get – but if we are going to add 18.5 M in payroll- why not go after David Wright?
I don’t see a big payroll spike to solve this problem
It’s looking more and more that the Tigers will be stuck with someone from this over 35 DH crowd …
Of this bunch, Damon has been the most productive over the last year or two. Although I wasn’t a huge fan of his 2 years ago when he first wore the Ole English D – his stat line wasn’t terrible when I look back at it
Damon still gets on base, and can slide in perfectly to the #2 hole in the lineup.
Pierre would be my 2nd choice – a top of the lineup guy that doesn’t strike out.
I a huge Vladdy honk – so if we are going to sign an old slugger – I’d take Vladdy over Matsui … please DD don’t get Ibanez, it’s kind of scary when someone drops off so quickly, and at 39 I don’t see a resurrgence for Raul in 2012
Houston would be eating a big chunk of Lee’s salary to facilitate a deal
Lee wouldn’t be adding 18.5M to the payroll… the Astros would eat a large chunk of that contract just to move him.
and when we say a huge chunk we are talking about over half of that 18.5… and I’m being on the lo side by saying that.
Ok – so Houston eats some $$ – The more $$ Houston pays, the more prospects the Tigers have to part with. Houston won’t take a financial bath just to dump Lee without getting some return. Who are you willing to deal for a mid 30s slugger with only 1 year left on his deal?
If DD is willing to go the trade route – why not Wright (younger and under contract longer) Sent wirelessly from my BlackBerry device on the Bell network.
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Wright can opt out of his contract after ’12 if he’s traded.
“Cultural edge” lol… He’s going to go where the $$$ are, give me a break… The Tigers have as good of a chance as anyone of signing him.
Yep like I said – Tigers have the 3rd best chance –
Well behind the two teams I mentioned – both of which have deeper pockets than Detroit.
Detroit can’t hang with Miami and Chicago in a bidding war
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I take it you live in Canada…
I take it you live in Canada…
precisely. Detroit can offer as much money as anybody. The only thing they can’t offer is a market like Chicago or Miami
Money will not play a factor. Detroit will offer as much as anybody. It’s all a matter of whether Cespedes is willing to play in Detroit
Not sure if Ibanez could hold down a DH role with Detroit. I’d love to see him have one last good year with a contender, though.
If the Tigers can play Ibanez during his hot months, they would be getting a major bargain.
People keep forgetting about Carlos Lee’s no-trade clause. No way he leaves his ranch and one of the best food-serving places in America for Detroit. I’m glad because I don’t want him. The guy I want the Tigers to get is Marlon Byrd. Won’t cost any good prospects and in LF his defense should be above average. His plate approach is very similar to VMart’s and its a 6MM one year gamble. Playing on a better offense in Detroit could improve his numbers. They can then shift Delmon Young to DH and finally figure out if he’s a valuable player just offensively, which is what they claim. Obviously, it’s not perfect but there’s no feasible way for them to completely replace VMart.
I’d love to see Cespedes signed, but being a realistic Detroit fan, I know it’s a long-shot. It’s not because of money; Illytch has plenty and is not afraid to spend it. It’s more about the Chicago and Miami markets being more desirable.
Derrek Lee is sitting at home…lol
Derrek Lee is sitting at home…lol
WOW even after JV’s call, Oswalt did not sign up with Tigers? I think Roy would have survived AL Central on one year deal.
It’ll take 4-6 weeks for this all to play out, as with injuries happening, who knows who’ll want more hitting insurance?
“Oswalt has turned the Tigers down even though they were very interested in signing him”
That doesn’t bode well for the Red Sox if that’s true. Tigers probably got off lucky in my opinion. For him to turn down the Tigers and sign with the Sox would make negative 100% sense, so…
Not surprised that Oswalt said this. Maybe they should look at bringing Zjackson back.
Oswalt to SD on a 1yr 7mil deal and Clayton Richard and Chase Headley to Detroit for Turner.
Meh.
The shorter list is hitters the Tiger ARENT interested in right now…