3 year, $29 million contract extension per WDFN.

Might as well, we traded for him.

Less than $10m a year on average isn't terrible as long as his arm is sound.

ESPN says its true.


Pitcher Dontrelle Willis has reached an agreement in principle on a three-year, $29 million contract extension with the Detroit Tigers, a source told ESPN.com.

The deal includes incentives that could push the total value to more than $30 million, the source said. An announcement was expected after Willis took a physical exam Thursday in Detroit.

The Tigers acquired Willis and star third baseman Miguel Cabrera from the Florida Marlins in an eight-player trade at the winter meetings two weeks ago in Nashville. Willis will join a Detroit rotation that also includes Justin Verlander, Jeremy Bonderman, Nate Robertson and Kenny Rogers.

Willis, 25, has a 68-54 record an a 3.78 ERA in parts of five seasons with the Marlins. He went 10-15 with a 5.17 ERA last season.

Willis earned a base salary of $6.45 million for the Marlins last year. He would have been eligible for free agency after the 2009 season, but is now locked up through 2010.



I'd have to think that's about what he would have earned on the open market even if he had the same stats this season as last season. And if he can get back his old self from a few years ago for us this could turn into a steal. Now we just need to work on the same thing for the other half of that trade.

An announcement was expected after Willis took a physical exam Thursday in Detroit.

Little late for that, eh?

Considering the fact that Carlos Silva got 4 years, $44 million, I think this is a good deal. So we're paying less for a 25 year old with 68 wins than Seattle is for a 28 year old with 55 wins. I like it. Seems like our days of having to overpay are certainly over. How quickly things can change.

Cabrera's deal could be ARodish

Dusty Baker just stopped by with a Christmas gift and after the usual greetings, the first thing he said was..."Those Tigers are gonna be tough"

Seems like WDFN has become the new source of choice.

Cabrera's deal could be ARodish
God, I hope not.

Excited Willis signed through 2010

by Danny Knobler Thursday December 20, 2007, 11:22 PM


DETROIT -- Dontrelle Willis looked out at the Comerica Park field, covered in a thick layer of snow.
"That's wonderful,'' Willis said. "It's Detroit.''
If you need to know how excited the Detroit Tigers' newest left-hander was Thursday, when he signed a three-year, $29 million contract that will bind him to the team through 2010, you have it right there. And if you still need a reminder of how things have changed for the Tigers, you have it there, too.

Winter cold is no longer a problem. Now it's wonderful, even for a 25-year-old who said he'd never before seen a real coating of snow.
The Tigers got Willis signed to a long-term contract, buying out a year of free agency, two weeks after acquiring him in their huge winter meetings trade with Florida. They'd still like to get a deal done this winter with Miguel Cabrera, the bigger fish they got in the trade with the Marlins, and, while it may not happen fast, no one should be shocked if they get that one done, too.
"I hope so,'' Willis said. "It'll be for a lot more than what I got, that's for sure. He's a sure-fire Hall of Famer, a genius in the game.''
But is Cabrera as excited to be a Tiger as Willis so obviously is?
"He was the one who called told me and told me we got traded together,'' Willis said. "And right when we were traded, he said this is a great opportunity for us.''
In the two weeks since the trade, the Tigers have sold nearly 3,000 new full-season tickets, so it's obvious what their fans think of the move. What was just as obvious Thursday was how excited Willis was about it.
He's coming off the worst of his five big-league seasons, so he easily could have waited to see if he'd be in a better negotiating position next winter. But agent Matt Sosnick said that the moment the Tigers proposed doing a multi-year contract, Willis was determined to get the deal done.
Even before the talks began, Willis showed a commitment to his new home. He's long been a supporter of the Children's Home Society, a charity that helps children in need. He flew to Detroit on Wednesday night to distribute 450 Christmas gifts, not knowing at the time that he'd follow that appearance with one to announce the new contract.
In fact, the only disappointment Willis had all day was that he didn't bring a coat and tie to wear to the news conference.
"Sorry, Mama,'' he said from the podium.
Later, Willis said Thursday ranked right up with winning the 2003 World Series with Florida and winning National League rookie of the year honors that same year.
"As cheesy as it sounds, that's the truth,'' he said.
The Tigers were equally thrilled, and while they admitted the new deal carried some risk -- what if Willis's 5.17 ERA in 2007 is a sign of things to come? -- they showed no hesitation in making the commitment.
"We think last year was an aberration,'' general manager Dave Dombrowski said. "If Dontrelle pitches the way he did last year there's a little risk, but with what starting pitchers are earning today, it's a risk worth taking.''
Besides, a team that for so long had to beg players to come to Detroit now has to feel great about a pitcher so thrilled to stay here.
"Hopefully the city embraces me,'' Willis said. Then, thinking about the Tigers cap that still sat atop his head, he added: "I'm very happy to rock the D. I think it looks good on me.''
Willis will wear No. 21, which he likes because it was Deion Sanders' number. He wore 35 in Florida, but Justin Verlander already has claim to 35 with the Tigers.

I hope we can get Cabrera locked up soon as well, the longer we wait, the higher his price tag is going to go...

He might command a "Juan Gonzalez" type contract, but given his age, and his potential, I think it's worth the risk

Maggs, and Sheff aren't going to be here much longer, and if we can lock up our .300/35/100+ player for the future right now, it's going to benefit us for the longrun

5-7 years, and anything between 95-135 million

If Miggy can give us 85% of ARod's production, you may have to give him 85% of ARod's salary.

If Miggy can give us 85% of ARod's production, you may have to give him 85% of ARod's salary.


I know, thats why I'd rather lock him up now before the season starts or even before the start of next year which is his contract year...

sooner the better, I think DD will eventually get it done, he knows the value of what he brought in, and he wouldn't give up both Maybin & Miller for just a 2 year rental...

Speak of the Devil, Cabrera's contract extension is next...


http://detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071221/SPORTS0104/712210386/1129


Now, if third baseman Miguel Cabrera proves to be as amenable to signing a long-term contract as Willis was, the Tigers' blockbuster deal with the Florida Marlins could pay dividends for more years than anyone initially imagined.

"We hope to sign (Cabrera)," general manager Dave Dombrowski said. "That doesn't mean it's going to happen, but we hope."

Yeah, pay the man. You're losing Pudge, Maggs and Sheff all in the next 1-3 years anyway. That's a lot of money off the books, not to mention Kenny retiring and Inge will be traded too.

Not to mention once guys like Granderson, Verlander, and Zumaya all hit free agency collectively, it's going to be tough...

Get it done now, and you won't have to worry about it in the future.

I was reading about PP that the Tigs could save some money by using one of their up and comers, like Holliman.

If we were the Yankees and their bank account, we don't have to do that but we aint, so we might have too.

I was like no way at first on PP, but it started to make some sense.

Are you saying get rid of Polanco?!

I'm saying its an option.

The Tiges are a small market club and they will be looking to save money where they can. Instead of paying PP a huge contract, along with Cabrera, Mags, Verlander, Zoom, Bondy, Willis, they could consider using Holliman at 2nd, who is a much cheaper option. Not this year but when PP's contract comes up.

I thought you meant now. I was appalled. Maybe down the road that would be a nice option, but as of right now he's the perfect #2 hitter in the lineup and he's a gold glove second basemen (and unlike a lot of GGers, he actually DESERVES the award, he's outstanding!). I don't want to give that up anytime soon.

Absolutely. I can't wait to see the lineup JL puts together. Dusty Baker was drooling over the Tigers and what they've done. Not trying to be a name dropper but he is a mgr and an analyst.

I can't wait to see the lineupS JL puts together.
You know he'll try about 500.

I think my cat could put together a lineup that will win.

Wtf, Tigers got Dontrelle? If you tell me they landed Cabrera too, I just might go streaking.

You know he'll try about 500.


I'm just glad we won't have to toss all those Sunday games, when JL would have Casey batting Clean-Up

Those frustrated the hell out of me. It was like he was just trying it for the sake of trying it, knowing it would fail.

Karl, get ready to streak, I have some amazing news for you.......

tigers are far from a small market club. theyre pretty much second tier, and ilitch isnt exactly hurting for money. concider that if the nhl didnt stop him, he'd probably be spending 40 or more million more on the wings.

i think cabrera's next contract, or extention, will probably be somewhere around 5 years and 70 - 80 million. hes not signing some 250 million contract just yet. maybe after this one, he will.

Tigers are a small market club.

How does the NHL stop him in baseball? Do the NHL have a cap that he can spend elsewhere? Not following.

Revenues for the Tigers, iirc, are normally in the 125-150million range which is the bottom tier. Yanks and BoSox in the 280million range with other clubs between.

The hockey reference was meant to show that Illitch is doing fine money wise, nothing to do with the Tigers, just their owner.

So much of the revenue base is centralized now with the TV contracts that the Tigers are doing quite alright. If they're putting 35,000 a night in the seats, they can afford some decent contracts. I'd put us second tier for sure, right under the Yanks/Red Sox/Mets/Dodgers.

I don't think the Tigs are "small-market" they are in the second group of clubs


1st group- Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs, Angels, Dodgers, Mets

2nd group- Tigers, White Sox, Rangers, Giants, Phillies, Braves, Cardinals, Astros, Padres

3rd group- Indians, Pirates, Mariners, Blue Jays, Orioles, Rockies, D'Backs, Reds

4th group- Marlins, Nationals, Twins, Athletics, Brewers, Royals, Rays

Gotta put the Pirates in the bottom group

The Marlins would not be in the last tier if they could just put a product on the field. Miami should be a great place for baseball.

I think the problem with Miami is that so much of the population is old. Of course, so much is not and Latin America loves baseball, but they may not like what teams like the Marlins do to baseball. As a fan, I would love to know there would be some continuity and not World Series - fire sale - 5 years of sucking - World Series - fire sale - 5 years of sucking - W....

There really isn't a lot of guess work in this. If you go by income than the Tigers are a small market club or if you go by 4 tiers, then they'd be 3rd tier.

Yanks, Bosox, Dodgers, etc

Cubs, Cards, Phillies, etc

Tigers, Rangers, CWS

Rays, Pirates, Marlins.

Gotta put the Pirates in the bottom group


True. It's been awhile since they were relavant.

I'm not sure how much goes into income, but I would imagine the Tigers are on the rise.
Example, I'm not sure if they get a bigger piece of the TV pie by appearing on national TV more often, but that's almost certain to happen as much as possible this season.
Crowds at the CoPa have increased, and again, are almost certain to this year. I think we sell out the park more often with the current lineup.
Sales of Tiger apparel will probably reach a new level this year as well.
Last year and the previous year should have been telling years in terms of what market we truly are, and if those put us in the third tier then that's kind-of sad. But in spite of those, I still expect an increase. I'm not sure how much we can increase, but there should be something.
Also, fans should really expect a decent bump in ticket prices for 09. Ilitch really has no choice in the matter.

how many clubs make more $$$ than the marlins though? it must be nice going into the season knowing your pulling in close to 9 figures even if no one comes to the games.

i suspect billy D would trade a couple years for a baseball team.

I don't really care if we are a small market club. Oakland and Minni have done pretty darn good and they aren't in the Yanks category.

It helps having a DD

Yes, driving under the influence (of Randy Smith) is dangerous.

By the way, sometime somebody will have to explain to me why LA and NY can support two teams as big market teams, but Chicago can't. Why are the Cubs a draw regardless of their record, and the White Sox not nearly the draw, sometimes in spite of their record?
Example - Sox won the Series in 2005 and the Cubs had 10,000 more fans per home game, 38,700 to 28,900. Now, the next season as the Sox tried to repeat, they actually averaged 36,500 (Cubs had 39,000) which was the 9th best average home crowd that season, but then they dropped back to 33,100 this season.

I ran some numbers over the past three seasons to determine which clubs had the best attendance (3 year average of home crowds).
Here's what I found -
Yankees - 51,699
Dodgers - 46,168
Cardinals - 43,363 (this surprised me)
Mets - 42,041
Angels - 41,881
Cubs - 39,315
Giants - 39,232 (also surprised me)
Astros - 36,379
Red Sox - 36,008 (surprised they only ranked 9th, but their park is smallest)
Phillies - 35,297
Padres - 34,227
White Sox - 32,858
Braves - 32,426
Tigers - 31,657

So we ranked 14th, but those 2005 numbers really pulled us down. We averaged 12,300 MORE last year than we did in 05.
The Yankees are in a category their own.

Few teams are selling out their parks every game.
So I guess the question is, what would it take to make Detroit big market? Or legit 2nd tier behind the Yankees and perhaps the Dodgers?
Well, the main thing is Ilitch would have to piss off a lot of people. Raise ticket prices by 10%, add 5,000 seats, hold out for a better TV deal, etc.
I guess the REAL question here is, if he keeps the payroll rolling to support the things we've seen the past couple years, would it be worth it?

Its some combination of things that I'm not sure of.

Detroit doesn't even have a million residents anymore, right? New York is 7-8 million, so they don't have any problem selling tix and can make some dough on other ancillary income.

But the Bay Area as a whole has a ton of peeps but Oakland isn't raking it in, and doesn't have the diehard fans like the Giants do. So its not just the size of the city.

Cub vs WS...Going to Wrigley is nice. Its in the neighborhood, etc, but the south side of Chicago isn't the same thing.

Apparel sales are another thing I'm not sure of. It might be huge. It seems everyone in NY has a Yankee hat, and out here I see more Yankee hats than any other team.

Ok, I'm done rambling now.

detroit has something like 5 million people in the metro area.

when computing fan attendance, consider its cold as shit in detroit in april sometimes, you really cant consider attendance until june, when schools get out.

Ok, let's go with that point diddy. Based on that, the Marlins, Rays, Rangers, Astros, Braves, D-Backs, Padres, Dodgers and Angels should all benefit a great deal from April, May, and sometimes late Sept, October, right? But the D-Backs aren't anywhere to be seen in spite of some decent teams. The Rangers don't show up either. The Braves have had great teams, but don't seem to be getting much benefit.
Meanwhile, is it colder in Detroit than it is in New York, Chicago, Boston, or Philly? It can be pretty dang cold in San Fran as well during that time (I know from experience).

Bottom line for me as to why Detroit is NOT big market (besides the fact that really only NYC, LA and Chicago are truly huge cities) is the fact that Comerica Park is in a crappy location. Seriously, a consistent effort to clean up an area of Detroit, paired with a waterfront location, would have been much better for attendance. Ilitch getting his head out of his butt a decade sooner would have been nice as well.

Thing is, attendance and all that matter to a degree, but the key is that the owner has to be willing to settle for little or no profit, which Ilitch seemingly is.

Every Major League team is pulling in tons of revenue right now, that's why you're seeing the KC's and the Brewers of the world spending a little bit here and there.

None of that matters if all they're doing is watching the bottom line. What pushes Detroit into that second tier -- regardless of any attendance, population, etc numbers -- is that Ilitch seems willing to take little or no profit in exchange for a winner.

He loves Detroit and he loves the Tigers. He's a millionaire many times over and now he just wants a winner.

But I would contend there is a difference between some markets and others. Detroit embraces the current Ilitch thinking and will show up for a winner. Other markets show up regardless, and then there's a third group that won't show up at all.

Detroit's universe for selling fan apparel won't ever be as large as the Yanks. imo, there is a ceiling for some of these clubs for revenue. So they will never be big market clubs.

diddy...if we expand to the NY area then its way over 7 mil. I was just comparing apples to apples with city population.

Jethro good post I'm still digesting it. What would be interesting is to see the % of fans attendence vs seat capacity. That would be a lot of work, but I bet Detroit would be right up there at the top.


"I'm so confused I'm not sure anymore what exactly constitutes a large and a small market. I used to hear that the Philadelphia Phillies were the largest potential single-market team in baseball, but the Phillies' management has spent year after year whining about poverty and how they need a new stadium in order to compete. (Compete, exactly, with who? The only other team in their market area was the A's, and they moved nearly half a century ago.) Now, the proposed new stadium will make the Phillies a big-market team again. But what if they continue to win without it? Does that mean they were simply a big-market team all along that was poorly managed? Is that what makes a big-market team big? A new stadium? Or good management?"


http://home.nycap.rr.com/nickandaj/marketsize.html

The Marlins would not be in the last tier if they could just put a product on the field. Miami should be a great place for baseball.
Maybe if they went after Latino players they could draw more interest. If you have a bunch of latin-american stars on your team, latin-americans will be more likely to feel a connection with them, no? I guess that's from more of a sociological standpoint, but it seems to make sense.

By the way, this gets me into my whole thing about how Detroit should be pumping its investments into the "square" created by the river, 75, 94 and 96. I think that's the area that most needs to be cleaned up, have investment pumped into, etc. Every spare dollar (I realize there are none) should go into destroying buildings with no historical value. Renovate those that do. Tax breaks for companies that agree to long term investment opportunities in the area. That's the corridor that should attract tourism. Just outside that area should be innovative solutions for homelessness and hunger management - feeding, housing and training those who aren't making it right now.

Do that, and Detroit makes a major comeback nationally and leads the state back into growth. It's like building a solid O-Line (see NFL forum, draft thread). I mention this hear, because it would be in Ilitch's best interest to be one of the top investors in that area (he already is to some extent) but the return on investment could be huge.

Not only would it be a good investment for him in the business sense, but it would bring more people to view his teams.

They should have built a new Joe where Comerica is and put Comerica along the waterfront somewhere. Oh well.

diddy...if we expand to the NY area then its way over 7 mil. I was just comparing apples to apples with city population.

the difference being people want to live in new york and dont want to live in detroit.

when people discuss detroit, they almost always mean metro detroit. if you ever meet someone who claims to be from detroit, a little probing will almost always lead you to farmington hills, et al. people actually do live in big cities, just not in detroit. so i think it would be unfair to say detroit has x amount of people and ignore the suburbs, which is what people really mean anyway.

I agree Diddy. That's why I always said I was from Royal Oak. Why lie about it? If they have no idea where Royal Oak is, then I'd say it's about 20 minutes outside Detroit.

discussing the city of detroit only by whats in the city boarders is like discussing the politics of the UK and only referencing the monarchy.

discussing the city of detroit only by whats in the city boarders is like discussing the politics of the UK and only referencing the monarchy.

Same with Sacramento, San Francisco and most other cities. To think that a large percentage of peeps at a Tigers game are from Detroit city limits is prolly not correct, but its prolly that way in a lot of places.

its fine if you want to bring up metro areas for other cities, but not discussing it for detroit is almost meaningless, imo. if you really wanted to discuss detroit statistics accurately re: the market, it would be more accurate to discuss the suburbs and not the city than the city without the suburbs.

The combination of being in flyover country Detroit is being Detroit with its myriad problems and dysfunctions pretty much clinches second-tier market status.

This is pretty much true for baseball, sports in general, the entertainment industry, media and just about anything mass-market driven. The coasts are where its at.

When peeps call Detroit second-tier are y'all saying 2nd of 2 tiers or second of 4 tiers?

Cuz I still don't think Detroit is in the next tier of sports markets.

^ I say we kill him

I say we let him go!

When peeps call Detroit second-tier are y'all saying 2nd of 2 tiers or second of 4 tiers?

Cuz I still don't think Detroit is in the next tier of sports markets.

When I say it I'm thinking maybe four or so.

I'd put Detroit in the next tier down from the top for a few reasons. Being able to support a healthy, deep-rooted franchise in every major sport. Three out of four teams being in nice modern venues. Consistently filling seats whenever a team is halfway decent (and in the case of the Lions even when they aren't).

Detroit sure has a big city feel when I go back there. I live in Sac and its a big town or small city, imo. San Francisco doesn't feel that big either.

Yeah, Frisco is interesting. Didn't seem that big to me either. It seemed like as long as I wasn't trying to get anywhere on either bridge, I could get around very easily. Maybe I simply felt too safe for it to seem like a big city.

Bump.

I just want to shove the entire organization!

Its funny looking back how much praise DD got for this deal. I guess thats why they say it takes a year or 2 to evaluate deals.

That's not surprising. Most of the board was talking about how good a move signing Jarvis was.

Some even liked Flip Murray signing.

Jarvis was not a bad idea considering the market. When he proved to be wildly inconsistent, it proved to be a bad idea.

Now Willis, on the other hand... I was worried about this... I was happy about the Cabrera deal, but skeptical about this.

At this point, might as well send him to the minors and see if you can convert him to a reliever.

He can hit.

I'm just saying.

He's certainly capable of giving walks, but would he take them?

sent back to Lakeland per 1270

Can he use a broom?

We can always use back up models for our photo shoots.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3436274


DETROIT -- The Tigers sent struggling Dontrelle Willis down to Class A on Tuesday, hoping the former star lefty can find his control.

Josh Phelps

Willis

Detroit optioned Willis to Lakeland of the Florida State League -- and home to the Tigers' spring training camp -- a day after he matched a career high by giving eight earned runs on five walks and three hits in 1 1/3 innings against Cleveland.

"He was for trying to do anything necessary to getting him back to being the guy he can be," Tigers president and general manager Dave Dombrowski told the Detroit Free Press. "He also knew he wasn't doing well and didn't want to hurt his team."

Willis (0-1) has walked 21 batters in 11 1/3 innings. The 8-2 loss to the Indians came in his second start since going on the disabled list with a hyperextended right knee.

Manager Jim Leyland told the Detroit Free Press that righty Eddie Bonine is the leading the candidate to take Willis' spot in the rotation.

"My heart is broken for the kid," Leyland told the newspaper of Willis.

Detroit signed Willis to a $29 million, three-year deal after getting him in a trade last winter with the Florida Marlins.

The former NL Rookie of the Year and runner-up for the NL's Cy Young won 22 games during the previous two seasons combined in Florida after winning 22 in 2005.

http://wtfdetroit.com/forums/showthread.php?p=257315#post257315


I agree with Vinny. If you're going to bring anyone up, bring up Bonine. He's won more games the past two years at Erie and Toledo than anyone and he's 27 years old. If he's going to get his shot it needs to be pretty soon. Porcello needs to continue his development. Calling him up this season might be the difference between a career as an above average #2 or #3 starter and All-Star.

There's a reason it says "Super Cogent" under my name.

I'm glad it won't be Porcello.

Tigers LHP Dontrelle Willis fell to 0-3 Sunday at Single-A Lakeland, where he gave up four runs, six hits and two walks over 7 1/3 innings.

Yikes. Well at least he'll be collecting a good paycheck when he's forced out of baseball.

I think he should be forced to sell peanuts at the CoPa for his paycheck.

I'd buy a Super Rope from him.

What is the rule on dead players?

Realistically, even for single A ball, 4 hits and two walks in 7+ innins is pretty solid. Considering the hits/walks had to be lumped together to make 4 runs he might be puttin gtogether some solid innings. I have a feeling that if he can get his touch and his confidence back, he could still be a good major league pitcher. I haven't given up on him..........yet.

I haven't given up on him either. I just don't think he'll be worth his contract.

If he can give us 12 wins, 4.50 ERA, and 190 innings for each of the last 2 years of his deal, I'll be very pleased.

HANDLED WITH CARE: Matt Sosnick, the agent for Willis, praised the team's front office for the way the left-hander has been treated this year. Willis was sent to Class A Lakeland in early June to work on his control and recently earned a promotion to Toledo.

"A lot of organizations would have just let him battle through it, but they did not want him to get to a point of no return," Sosnick said during a telephone interview. "They did their best to get him into a pressure-free environment where he could get a lot of specialized attention."

Sosnick said Willis has lost 15 pounds since he reported to the minors.

"He's got a lot of pride," Sosnick said. "I think he's going to be great for Detroit. I think he will have two great seasons in a row."

Good - I honestly believe that's Dontrelle's biggest problem - he just seems out of shape.

Leyland says Dontrelle and Freddy Garcia will both get starts for the Tigers next week.

This looks like a real bust, but it won't be a huge deal. Every team has a few bad contracts they just dust under the rug(like the Yankees).

Starting tonight for the Reds.