Tigers agree to a one-year contract with Sean Casey

The Detroit Tigers announced today the club has agreed to terms on a one-year contract with first baseman Sean Casey.

"Sean did a good job after joining the club and he was tremendous during the World Series," Tigers President, Chief Executive Officer and General Manager David Dombrowski said. "We're happy to have Sean back and look forward to having him for an entire season. A true professional, he brings a solid lefthanded bat to our lineup."

Casey combined to hit .272 (108x397) with 22 doubles, eight home runs and 59 RBI in 112 games for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Tigers in 2006. Acquired by the Tigers in a two-player deal on July 31, he batted .432 (16x37) with five doubles, two home runs and nine RBI in 10 games during the post-season. Casey hit .529 (9x17) in five games against the St. Louis Cardinals during the World Series, collecting two doubles, two home runs and five RBI.

"I think that Sean Casey will be a big part of our team in 2007," Tigers Manager Jim Leyland said. "He is a tremendous teammate and had an outstanding performance in the World Series. You couldn't ask for a better combination of a person and player to retain in the Tigers organization."

The 32-year old has hit .302 (1333x4414) in 1,193 games during his 10 year major league career with the Cleveland Indians (1997), Cincinnati Reds (1998-2005), Pirates (2006) and Tigers (2006). A three-time National League all-star selection (1999, 2001 and 2004), Casey has posted a .995 fielding percentage at first base during his career.
http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20061116&content_id=1741648&vkey=pr_det&fext=.jsp&c_id=det

Don't like this move at all.

I love the move as long as it doesn't mean we're done this offseason, still need to add a very good infielder. Casey should be DH/1B off the bench as a super-sub. We still desperately need to make a move to shore up our infield and offense. Casey's great in the clubhouse and would be great off the bench as well. So, yeah, we still need to be aggressive, IMO or else it is a bad move.

How can you not like the move? Casey is insurance in case they can't find a better option at 3B or SS (with guillen moving to 1B), or 1B itself. I don't think they are looking at Casey to be the full time 1B. They'll want him to backup 1B and DH.

I'm hoping they did this to pave the way for Texeria next year.

No. I think that the Tigers re-signed Casey with the intention of him being the fulltime 1B.

With all the errors that Guillen made at SS this year, moving him to 1B makes so much sense.

That would allow Casey to still get spot starts at 1B (Guillen could rest or DH those days) and be our #1 LH PH.

They just need that SS replacement now. Lugo? God, I hope that isn't what they have in mind for Neifi.

Maybe I'm just not seeing it, but how much did Casey get?

I am not sure on the contract details. But I would guess something in the $6 Million neighborhood, as he can't be offered a paycut more than 20 percent.

I am not sure on the contract details. But I would guess something in the $6 Million neighborhood, as he can't be offered a paycut more than 20 percent.

Wow, if that is the case then this sucks.

The Mets just gave Jose Valentin $3mil, that sounds about right for Casey.

$6mil is WAY too much.

doesn't matter in MLB anyway. it only matters if Illitch is cheap and won't spend any more. Especially for a 1 year deal.

He made 7.5 mil last year? Geez

if we payed him 6 million for one year this move sucks. if its a reasonable 1-3 range, then its great. even though there is no cap, tigers have to operate under a budget. they cant just spend willy nilly (which is why i assumed adding sheffield was the end of major adding).

i dont have a problem going into next year with 1st still being a ?. we'd have about 100 games to figure it out, and im positive we'll make the move when the time is right.

ESPN is reporting it was a 4 mil deal.

hopefully this move allows us to persue a better LF like Lee and not worry about 1B for a year. i'm guessing Monroe will want a big extension soon, so it wouldn't be a bad idea to add the big bat in LF now.

And goddamn I hate this move. I hope that Sean Casey is our backup 1b. He's not that good of a hitter.

Sorry guys, looks like we are done (besides replacing Walker):

http://www.mlive.com/tigers/stories/index.ssf?/base/sports-2/116372220859310.xml&coll=1

"We're not going to look to make any moves with our position players,'' general manager Dave Dombrowski said. "You always listen, but we like our lineup. I think our positional players are probably pretty well set. We're very happy to take those positional players and open the season with them come April.''

Seems like a stop gap to me. I'm expecting a larger move before opening day and it gives DD another year to look at Shelty.

Seems like a stop gap to me. I'm expecting a larger move before opening day and it gives DD another year to look at Shelty.

I personally think that Shelton is done.

They will give him a chance in ST to make the team either as a starter or as a backup. But I predict he will end up starting in Toledo.

In looking at how they could possibly address 1B during the season I'm left scratching my head.
Usually the names that surface for trades during the season are based around guys in their last year of a deal, potential free agents.
In looking at the next free agent class, there isn't a 1B whose name pops up. Basically you're looking at Mike Sweeney who should be a DH or Adam Dunn, who is listed as LF (and strikes out more than Cecil Fielder and Rob Deer).
By the way, that list reminds me that our staff ace, closer, catcher, 3B, SS and current 1B are all free agents after this season. It will be very interesting to see how our teams changes 12-13 months from now. By the way, that is a strong free agent class, with pitchers like Carpenter, Buerle, Zambrano, Colon, Livan, Freddy Garcia, and closers like Rivera and Joe Nathan. In the outfield you have Abreu, Andruw Jones, Ichiro, Dye, Vernon Wells and Corey Patterson. Infield includes Michael Young, Marcus Giles, and David Eckstein and catcher gives you a chance at Jason Kendall, Jorge Posada, Paul LoDuca and Michael Barrett.
There are other big names out there as well, like Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling, but I'm anticipating retirement for a lot of those guys so I didn't include many people that were too old.