Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis to DET, Cameron Maybin, Andrew Miller, and others to FLA

[TooLiveBrew]

It'd be very worthwhile at this point to look into Ryan Raburn as a potential 3Bman. Could very likely be had for Vargas/Capuano/Bush.

[adamb100]

Well I think the last marlin fan just boycotted the team. This was a slap in the face to marlin's fans.

[TooLiveBrew]

Yes & No, adamb. They re-loaded so they can remain competitive despite stingy, stingy ownership. They netted 6 young players for 2. I know they parted ways with Cabrera, but he was gone in due time anyway. Maybin is one of the best prospects in baseball, and Miller's not far away.

[Kurt]

both of them in a single trade?! good christ!

[TheCouga23]

It'd be very worthwhile at this point to look into Ryan Raburn as a potential 3Bman. Could very likely be had for Vargas/Capuano/Bush.

The Tigers are now looking to dump excess payroll. Raburn is still going to be used as a RH platoon option with Jacque Jones in LF. Raburn is also making the league minimum next year. If they are going to dump anyone, it will be Inge, who is making $6MM a year for three more years.

 

[TooLiveBrew]

Raburn is still going to be used as a RH platoon option with Jacque Jones in LF.

 

Thanks for that update, Couga. This board rulezzzz. Too bad on Raburn. The Tigers would be wise to keep him in that case.

[TheCouga23]

Thanks for that update, Couga. This board rulezzzz. Too bad on Raburn. The Tigers would be wise to keep him in that case.

No problem. I can be the Tigers correspondent on here. I have two favorite teams, one in each league -- the Tigers and the Brewers. I have to admit I am slightly more of a Tiger fan, though.

Also, I wouldn't recommend picking up Inge. He has OBP problems although his defense is superb. If Melvin wants to raise the team OBP, he should look elsewhere. Inge is the type of player that the Giants would be interested in (and already have expressed interest in), so I hope he goes there. The Brewers need to think bigger to fill their positional player hole.

[TooLiveBrew]

Inge is the type of player that the Giants would be interested in (and already have expressed interest in), so I hope he goes there.

 

[insert 'Giantz R oldd!' joke here]

[flosses like fossas]

i'm surprised no one here is talking about the possibility of detroit keeping cabrera. it is understood that after two years of arbitration he becomes a free agent following the '09 season and will likely command $25M per.

 

here's a look at detroit's contracts ending after the 2009 season:

sheffield's $14M

polanco's 4.6M

verlander's 4.5M

ordonez's $18M (with two years as club options)

 

plus, pudge and rodgers are up after this season, i see them moving inge (owed 6.2M, 6.3, and 6.6 in 2008-2010), and letting d-trian walk when he's through his arby years.

 

detroit hardly has anyone locked up beyond 2010, so i think keeping cabrera is a real possibility for them. this team still has so much young pitching in arbitration that this club could look entirely different on opening day 2010, but i think it's entirely possible that cabrera could be in that lineup.

[TheCouga23]

verlander's 4.5M

ordonez's $18M (with two years as club options)

Verlander's original contract ends in 2009 because he signed a major league deal when he was drafted, but they still have him for two more years of arbitration after that. They will likely have extended him and bought out his last two years of arbitration by then, probably for large ammounts of cash. Ordonez' club options are also vesting options that become guaranteed with a certain number of plate appearances that he will likely reach as long as he stays relatively healthy. But yes, they will have Pudge ($13MM), Rogers ($8MM) and Jones ($7MM) dropping off after this season and Sheffield ($14MM) and Polanco ($4.5MM) after 2009 (although Polanco's contract is more of a bargain than a liability). They're pretty high up there this year because a lot of players they have signed to an extension are making a bit more now. If they make no further trades before opening day, after everyone gets awarded arbitration their payroll will be north of $130MM. They probably can't sustain that for very long.

 

[TooLiveBrew]

Flf, I definitely think Det. has a great chance to retain Cabrera. The only problem there is where player salary AAVs may be after 2009. Cabrera will, in all likelihood, sign the highest-ever contract at that point.

[RobertR]

What's the over/under on Marlins opening day payroll. $11 million? Between the nation tv contract, MLB Advanced Media, their XM Radio check, shared merchandising, and luxury tax revenue sharing, they've got to be so far ahead in profitability it's sickening. There's something wrong with the revenue sharing arrangement when it so obviously goes into the owner's pockets like this.

 

Robert