Tek Going to the Tigers?

[enderandrew]

ESPN is reporting that Tek may be going to the Tigers

Comments

[groovinmahoovin]

The problem is that there aren't any good catchers available on the FA market, and mediocre to average free agents always seem to be overpaid (see Lugo, Julio). I'd prefer the Sox either use Cash as the start, or go with a very cheap option and wait until a better catcher becomes available via FA. Barring that, perhaps try a trade with the Rangers, who have a bunch of catchers, or as was suggested by a Baseball Prospectus writer, perhaps try a trade with the Indians for Victor Martinez. Martinez had an unusually bad year last year but he'll only be 30 next year, which is a bit young for a catcher to enter his decline phase, and the Indians have Shoppach so they may be willing to deal Martinez

[groovinmahoovin]

Also, I agree that another starter or two would be a good use of free agent money but I'm not sure of the best available option. I'm concerned that Sabathia's size and workload might cause him to break down sooner than later. Perhaps Lowe would want to return to Boston?

[enderandrew]

I've heard Lowe suggest as such, and I think he would be cheap. Lowe used to work out of the bullpen. Honestly, I'd love to sign a quality starter, and maybe even see if we could get Lowe to do setup.

Part of me wants to be evil and suggest that Manny, Nomar, Pedro and Lowe are all free-agents, but I don't want to be beaten severely.

[groovinmahoovin]

I'd be pleasantly surprised if Lowe was cheap, since the only bad year he ever had was 2004 and above-average pitchers tend to command quite a bit, but on the other hand he will be 36 next year. I saw a few different places say Lowe would be asking for around $15m/per year, which sounds way too expensive.

[enderandrew]

I think Lowe wants to come back to Boston though. And Lowe's numbers are skewed by playing in the NL. That being said, I always thought he was a pretty good pitcher and I was said to see him go after he helped win that first ring. All he did was win the deciding game in each round of the playoffs, nothing big or anything.

[0bsessions]

Burnett. If A.J. Burnett opts out of his contract, he will have the potential of being the best pitching value this offseason. His injury history and the fact his name isn't Sabbathia will drive his price down.

Burnett's had consistently good numbers for his entire career and excels in the AL East (Baltimore is the only AL East team he has an ERA over 3 against for his career). My one and only concern is that, for every two hundred inning season he has pitched so far, he has followed it with two injury plagued seasons. He seems to be trending up on that, though. Each regression he's had has been incrementally smaller and each big year has been bigger than the last. I think a four year deal worth twelve million per could be safe and probably a better bet than Lowe.

[enderandrew]

Agreed. I'd really like to go after Burnett.

[groovinmahoovin]

I wouldn't mind signing Burnett for 4/48, but most of the sources I saw said that he'd be asking for more like 16m per year. But if you're right and he does go for less, I wouldn't have a problem with 4/48. Given equal contracts I would probably agree Burnett's a better option, if nothing else because he's 4 years younger. I'm inclined to think Burnett will command a bit more than Lowe will, but I could be wrong.

[groovinmahoovin]

In all fairness, Varitek was still pretty good when Shoppach was traded, and Shoppach's excellent year kind of came out of nowhere. I'm just glad Andy Marte hasn't amounted to anything.