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.

[0bsessions]

I'm glad someone beat me to this non-news post with the tags. Not to sound too rude, but you should really consider the facts before posting obscure rumors and fueling the fire on crap like this

[whispercampaign]

thank god someone pointed this out.
two things that are true in baseball. rumors are rumors and boras is a douchebag.

[enderandrew]

I think you're right about Boras. That being said, the Tigers may still take Tek.

By trading Pudge they made a desperate move for pitching. Going for Farnsworth wasn't smart, but at the end of the day they got a pitcher, and by signing Tek, they haven't lost anything. Pudge's 12 million dollar salary goes away, and if there aren't other suiters, they might sign Tek on the cheap.

I think the Sox make an offer for Tek, but they aren't going to get into a bidding war to keep him.

[0bsessions]

Two big problems here

[durandal_1707]

If Boras is going to play this game with the highly overrated Tek, I'd say the FO's first move should be to offer Varitek arbitration. This makes Tek harder for other teams to sign and gives the Red Sox some very nice compensation should he go somewhere else (if Tek remains a "Type A" free-agent they get two more draft picks). The worst case scenario in my eyes is that he accepts arbitration, which gives him a one year deal at his current rate (unless the arbiter is drunk/stoned/crazy, I don't see how Tek could get a pay raise on his current career arc).

I've expressed my opinion here that I'd much rather roll the dice on Ross/Kottaras/Brown than to continue with the rather predictable decline associated with an aging catcher. But if Tek wants to come back for another year, I suppose I could cope.

[0bsessions]

Arbitration is the clear and obvious answer.
Tek has been apparently valued as a Type A by a few people out there who've been crunching the numbers (How is beyond me), see the following link for that:

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2008/10/type-ab-free-ag.html

And honestly, if he accepted, that'd be pretty optimal for the Sox. Money's not an issue for this team, it's the time commitment. His current rate is $9 million per and if he accepted that for just one year, that'd be a great help. If he falls apart completely, he can retire next offseason.

The 90% likely situation, though, is that the Sox offer him arbitration and he declines.

[0bsessions]

I will take that bet.

[awfulbliss]

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[0bsessions]

OH HAI GUYS THERE ARE 33 COMMENTS AND THAT IS TEK'S NUMBER ISN'T THAT LIKE SO WEIRD?!

OH WAIT

[enderandrew]

I think we should all wear pink Tek jerseys to commemorate this thread.

[capheine]

33 TIMES 7 (TROT NIXAN) TIMES 38 (KIRT SHILLENG) DIVIDED BY 1918 (THE FIRST TIME THE RED SOCKS WON THE WORLD SERIALS) EQUALS 4.57 WHICH IS THE NUMBER OF BEERS I DRANK DURING GAME 3 OF THE 2006 NLCS

[misfit022686]

dude heavy