A lot of strange transactions occur during Major League Baseball's off-season, but the acquisition of Magglio Ordonez from the Chicago White Sox by the Detroit Tigers has to win the award for stupidest off-season move this year.
"Inside the American League" has been hard on Ordonez's agent, Scott Boras, but whatever magical spell he uses to make owners go temporarily insane certainly works wonders.
The Tigers, for reasons unknown, decided to offer the 31-year-old outfielder a five year, $75 million dollar contract. Ordonez's OPS numbers for the past three seasons have declined to the form of .978, .926, .836. In addition to his waning production, Ordonez hasn't played in a game since June of last season thanks to knee injuries. He had two surgeries in the off-season.
Sounds like a good investment.
There is a provision in the contract that will allow the Tigers to escape from the contract if Ordonez spends more than 25 days this season on the disabled list, but the deal still doesn't make sense.
When you start to compare Ordonez's annual salary (about $15 million) with that of far superior players like Carlos Beltran (about $17 million), it looks even worse.
There were clues earlier in the off-season that the folks running the Tigers might be a bit off their rocker. One of the first off-season free agent signings occurred when the Tigers inked closer Troy Percival from the Anaheim Angels for two years at $12 million. Again, this contract just made no sense.
Percival is 35 years old and in 2003 he was plagued with a degenerative hip condition, and in 2004 he missed an entire month with shoulder stiffness. In addition, his strikeout rate dropped steeply in '04. Add to all this the fact that the last thing a mediocre team needs is an expensive closer. So what's going on here?
The strategy of spending tons of money on free agents is rarely productive, but there are certain times where it can make at least some sense.
The New York Mets may have spent money like drunken sailors this winter, but they do have a small hope of winning the World Series. That's not to say they made all the right moves this off-season, but if Pedro Martinez dominates, if Mike Piazza is healthy, if Beltran is at the top of his game, etc., then maybe the Mets can pull it off.
What about the Tigers? There are no ifs; it's just not happening. Sorry Tigers fans, but Detroit isn't winning the World Series this year, or next year. You need something called starting pitching, and Detroit doesn't have nearly enough.
One has to wonder what the Tigers are trying to do, because Inside the AL certainly cannot figure it out. The Tigers do have an outside shot at winning the Central Division. But who cares? If they do win the division, people will say to them the same thing people will tell whoever wins the Atlantic Division in the NBA: "Congratulations, you still stink."
Detroit's off-season transactions are especially bizarre considering the Tigers' President, Dave Dombrowski, is highly regarded. Dombrowski had a lot to do with the Florida Marlins winning the World Series in 2003 right after he left for the Tigers job. Perhaps their owner, Mike Ilitch, is pulling a Steinbrenner and taking over the team? Maybe the Tigers' management is delusional and really thinks the team has a chance to win this season? If you look at what their owner says, apparently this is the answer!
"After our disastrous season [43-119 in 2003], I made up my mind, we've got to build a championship team," owner Mike Ilitch told the Detroit News. "The farm system still isn't developed, but I can't wait around. The city doesn't want to wait around, either. I've got to do everything in my power - I have to extend myself, and keep extending myself."
"Inside the AL" will offer a little free advice to teams like the Tigers. If you want to win, build up your farm system as much as possible, make a few shrewd waiver claims, and then when you have a strong group of young players, then spend the money on free agent players to fill in a few needs. It doesn't work the other way around - Isiah Thomas might be able to tell you something about that.
