Mesa, Tigers reach agreement on one-year deal

Veteran reliever Jose Mesa has reached preliminary agreement on a one-year contract with the Detroit Tigers that will pay him about $2.5 million, two baseball sources said Sunday.

The deal will be completed when Mesa passes a physical exam this week, the sources said.

Mesa, a 40-year-old right-hander, ranks 13th on baseball's career list with 320 saves. He went 1-5 with a 3.86 ERA last year for the Colorado Rockies in his 18th major-league season.

The Tigers, who have Todd Jones as their closer and the hard-throwing Joel Zumaya and Fernando Rodney in setup roles, were looking to add a veteran arm to their bullpen. They're also interested in acquiring a left-handed reliever after losing Jamie Walker to Baltimore through free agency.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2693447

Wow. Not really sure how I feel about this. Maybe we could get Lee Smith to come out of retirement too.

The only way this signing makes any sense is if we trade one of Grilli, Colon, Miner for a LHed OF or lefty RP.

I just checked out Mesa's profile and I've learned a bit more about his career. He originally came up as a starter and made 95 starts his first years in the league. He was then converted to middle relief before closing, but has gone back and forth between closing and middle a couple times. He was a set-up guy last season in Colorado. He was credited with 19 held leads, one more than Fernando Rodney last season. Looks like he can still chuck the ball a bit, especially considering he pitched in Coors. He might do well in Comerica and provide more veteran influence for what is still a relatively young staff. We saw the influence Jones and Rogers had, this should add to it. But isn't he a bit of an asshole? Maybe I'me confusing him with someone else, but I thought he had a long running feud with Omar Vizquel or someone and he's been an ass before.
So he'll be a 7th or 8th inning guy with closing ability if necessary. I'm fine with that. But he throws right-handed, so that didn't exactly fill that particular need.

They must be thinking of moving Rodney Grilli, or a starter because right now the deal is a nice one but it doesn't make sense in the current context. We have enough RHPs, we have two guys who can close and be 7th and 8th inning guys.

If we wanted the best reliever we could have gone after Gagne who I know was injured but still is considered a valuable player.

I bet the Tigers are close to so bigger deal and this is just insurance.

Maybe Todd Jones will be dealt?

I can see Mesa setting up for Zumaya.

Good old Joe Table was actually pretty solid for the Pirates a few years ago.

Maybe DD is using the NY Mets philosophy from a few years back for building a bullpen? I think the Mets had like six former closers in their bullpen at one time.

EDIT: He was on the Rockies last year, the Pirates before that.

ESPN.com reported Sunday night that the Tigers and right-handed relief pitcher Jose Mesa have agreed to a one-year, $2.5-million contract, pending a physical exam. Mesa, a 40-year-old closer, went 1-5 with a 3.86 ERA for the Colorado Rockies in 2006.

Detroit sought to acquire Mesa at this year's trade deadline and now appears prepared to guarantee him a place in the team's seven-man bullpen.

The fact that we tried to trade for him last year concerns me. I hope this isn't a case of one of our coaches wanting a guy that played for them previously (ala Neifi).

Wow. Not really sure how I feel about this. Maybe we could get Lee Smith to come out of retirement too.

Give Eck a call, see what he's up to.

H1, I'm almost positive that's what it is. Jose Mesa's never even been that good of a pitcher. Thank your lucky stars this is a one-year deal.

Could be another great veteran presence. I think it was in the Free Press that I read that he's been great with helping out younger pitchers. Other than Jones and Rogers we have an extremely young pitching staff. If the guy still has something in the tank I'll gladly take him. Worst case scenario, he sticks around for a year, doesn't get used a whole lot, and is gone next year.