The Tigers inked 4 of the 5 arbitration eligible players today. Gerald Laird ($2.8), Edwin Jackson ($2.2), Bobby Seay ($1.1) and Joel Zumaya ($733,000) are all in the fold. Missing from that list is Justin Verlander.
Verlander is the only one of the group likely to be in the mix for a long term deal. It’s also something he may not be eager to sign in the worst offseason for contracts in recent memory, and coming off a season when his numbers were down.
Verlander and the Tigers exchanged numbers and Detroit is offering $3.2 while Verlander is asking for $4.15. It’s a very manageable difference and I’ll guess they settle somewhere around $3.8.
I have updated the salary chart and the team looks to be at about $117 million at the moment.
I will be very suprised if Verlander doesn’t bounce back from 2008. He just has too good of stuff…maybe that over use issue will become a factor but he is young and should be able to condition himself to prepare for the big singing of the next contract after this year. 3.2 or 3.8 or 4.1 isn’t that much in today’s money.
Jackson and Seay are good deals. Remember how much Jamie Walker got from the Orioles?