The Tigers shored up their starting rotation and bullpen by signing Kenny Rogers and Fancisco Cruceta. Both pitchers were signed to one year deals. I don’t have terms yet of either deal.
Rogers we know about, but Cruceta appears to be signed largely on his performance in the Dominican Republic. It sounds similar to last year’s trade for Yorman Bazardo who was impressing in the winter leagues.
Cruceta, 26, spent the 2007 season with Triple A Oklahoma in the Texas Rangers organization. In 25 outings (five starts), he compiled a 3-0 record, 3.02 ERA (65.2IP/22ER) and 70 strikeouts. Cruceta has appeared in 13 games with Cibao in the Dominican Winter League, posting a 1-1 record, 1.08 ERA (16.2IP/2ER) and 25 strikeouts. He is fourth in the league with 25 strikeouts.
“Cruceta has pitched very well this winter in the Dominican Republic,” Dombrowski said. “He is a quality prospect and we expect him to compete for a spot in our bullpen in 2008.”
Cruceta has compiled a 63-49 record and 3.77 ERA (943.2IP/395ER) in 214 appearances (145 starts) during his career at the minor league level. He briefly saw action at the major league level with the Cleveland Indians in 2004 and Seattle Mariners in 2006.
It certainly doesn’t hurt to take a flyer on the guy, and maybe the Tigers have latched on to some cheap talent.
To make room Chris Shelton and Timo Perez were DFA’d. Neither was a surprise as neither were likely to make the Tigers roster next year. Chris Shelton was out of options and was destined to be moved anyways. You often hear of meteoric rises, but meteors are subject to gravitational forces and come crashing to earth as well. That was the Shelton meteor ride.
I’ll have more later
Conference Call Notes
- Kenny’s negotiation process: There was never a lot of change in his position. He wanted to make sure that he represented what was done best for himself and his family. The change in representation had more to do with Rogers intent to stay in Detroit than anything to do with Boras. He was trying to simplify the process so he could communicate directly with the team. If Rogers had decided to become a free agent in the true sense, Boras would still be his agent.
- There are performance incentives in the contract.
- Going to the winter meetings they will still look at opportunities to get better, but they are comfortable with the roster and they don’t see any “gaping” needs.
- Cruceta throws in the mid 90’s and the Tigers look at him as some who can help the team.
- The team is aware of Cruceta’s suspension but the team is confident that Cruceta learned from the experience and that Cruceta can help the team.
- The Tigers were never close to signing any other starting pitchers while the Rogers negotiations were on-going.
Comments
70 responses to “Tigers sign Kenny Rogers and Francisco Cruceta”
Finally!!!
yes, very happy to see kenny back…hopefully he can pitch a full season.
The starting rotation will be fine as long as Rogers stays healthy and pitches reasonably well. I’m more concerned about the bullpen. Unless I’m forgetting a move, we have done nothing to upgrade it … and I’m sorry this guy they just signed doesn’t qualify as an upgrade. If he was any prospect at all, Texas (not exactly pitching-rich) wouldn’t have let him go. At least for now, we’re heading in 2008 with basically the same pitching staff that proved it wasn’t good enough to win in 2007. I like what we have done with the lineup, but the pen needs a shot in the arm. Come on Dombrowski!
Good signings. Does anybody know what type of park (hitters/pitchers) is at AAA Oklahoma? This might give us an indication on the true quality of those stats.
Also, why are we holding onto Tony G. over a guy like Shelton? Tony G. has shown nothing at the MLB level unlike Shelton. Tony is known for his defense but what kind of defense can he bring now with all his injuries?
I hope nobody claims Shelton
I really think if someone does that will come back to bite us.
I hope that isn’t all they plan on doing to shore up the bullpen. I also hope they go in another direction than LaTroy Hawkins. I’m PUMPED the Winter Meetings are in my city this week. I might have to head to the hotel where it’s being held to see who I see….hopefully DD.
rotoworld.com: “Cruceta was suspended 50 games for violating MLB’s performance-enhancing substance policy last season and was let go by the Rangers. Still just 25 years old, he converted to the bullpen last season and could emerge with a middle-relief role after posting a 3.02 ERA and 70/40 K/BB ratio while allowing just 38 hits in 65 2/3 innings at Triple-A.”
I don’t know about Oklahoma specifically, but the PCL was most hitter friendly league in the minors last season by a fairly wide margin.
I’m curious to see if Cruceta’s stuff from a few years ago (92-94 sinking fastball, slider, changeup according to BA) holds up today, because if he can keep his walks down – no small feat for him apparently – he could be good.
Well, how about that? An early Christmas present!
Another guy I’ll throw out there because I think he could address a couple needs of ours.
Corey Patterson
He is very very fast an average of 41 steals over the last 2 seasons with the O’s.
And Leyland has said multiple times that he could use a burner.
I’m thinking it wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect
20 from Grandy
10 from Guillen, Sheffield, Inge, Jones and Rentaria (and Raburn if he plays enough)
and around 5 from the rest – Pudge, Polanco, Maggs
Another few reasons to add him besides the ability to pinch run late and close are
Defensive replacement in the late innings for either Magglio or Jacque
– IN 2006, 2005 and 2004 he had THE HIGHEST Zone Rating in the league he was in (AL in 2006 and NL in ’05 and ’04 – Wrigley) and has a good throwing arm.
He also hits well against Javier Vazquez, Mark Buehrle, Fausto Carmona, CC Sabathia (with limited AB), Gil Meche and Johan Santana (with limited AB)
With the speed and the great defense (something our outfield lacks except for Granderson) plus the fact that he wouldn’t cost very much he would have more value over a guys like Marcus, Clevlen or Maybin.
Something to think about…
I’d be interested to know which of the pitchers on the 40 man roster have options and which don’t. Offhand, you’d imagine that 11 of the 12 spots would go to:
Rogers
Verlander
Bonderman
Robertson
Durbin
Jones
Grilli
Rodney
Seay
Byrdak
Miner
If Zumaya were healthy, he’d be the 12th.
Can any of these guys go down to the minors? Are any of:
Bazardo
Capellan
Cruceta
De La Cruz
McBride
Miller
Lapata
Tata
Vasquez
out of options?
Calvin –
Bazardo and Cruceta are out of options for sure. Tata, Vasquez, and Miller have options for sure. I’ll check on the rest.
Cruceta is hard to get too excited about…
Tigers signed RHP reliever Francisco Cruceta today with GM Dave Dombrowski stating:
“Cruceta has pitched very well this winter in the Dominican Republic,” Dombrowski said. “He is a quality prospect and we expect him to compete for a …
ALL YOU GUYS GETTING DOWN ON DOMBROWSKI NEED TO EDUCATE YOURSELF – HE KNOWS WAY MORE THAN ME AND ALL OF YOU GUYS COMBINED! SO MANY MISINFORMED FANS LIKE TO SPOUT OFF B.S. AS IF THEY KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON BEHIND THE SCENES. THE RANGERS LEFT CRUCETA UNPROTECTED (AS IF THAT MEANS ANYTHING) – THEY ARE ALSO THE TEAM THAT LET DAVE STEWART, KEVIN BROWN, KENNY ROGERS, CHRIS YOUNG, AND MANY OTHER GOOD PLAYERS GO IN THEIR HISTORY!! I’VE LIVED IN DALLAS SINCE 1985, SO I KNOW WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT! DOMBROWSKI IS GETTING THE BEST PLAYERS HE CAN GET AT THE TIME – WHICH DEPENDS ON MONEY, ROSTER LIMITS, MIKE ILITCH’S ORDERS, AND NOT OVERPAYING PLAYERS THAT OTHER TEAMS WILL SURELY OVERPAY! DO YOU THINK DOMBROWSKI, LEYLAND, (PROBABLY SOME INPUT FROM CHUCK HERNANDEZ), AND ILITCH WOULD BRING IN A GUY THAT DIDN’T HAVE GREAT POTENTIAL TO DO WELL (THESE ARE NOT THE RANDY SMITH YEARS, OK?!). AND WHO THE HELL SAID THAT DOMBROWSKI IS EVEN CLOSE TO BEING DONE???!!! FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO SAY THAT OUR PITCHING STAFF WASN’T GOOD ENOUGH TO WIN IT ALL IN 2007 DON’T KNOW MUCH ABOUT BASEBALL – FIRST OF ALL, KENNY ROGERS WAS HURT ALMOST THE WHOLE YEAR, JOEL ZUMAYA A BIG CHUNK OF THE YEAR, BONDERMAN FOR HALF THE YEAR, RODNEY FOR QUITE A WHILE, AND A FEW OTHER INJURIES. SHEFFIELD BEING HURT WAS HUGE, AS WELL AS GUILLEN’S SHAKY KNEES!! IF NOT FOR ALL OF THIS, WE EASILY COULD’VE BEAT CLEVELAND FOR THE DIVISION. AND BOBBY SEAY SHOWED GREAT STUFF, JOSE CAPELLAN SHOWED FLASHES, YORMAN BARZADO COULD BE REALLY SOLID, ANDREW MILLER NEEDS TO MAKE A FEW ADJUSTMENTS IN DELIVERY, RODNEY WILL BE FINE, AND DALLAS TRAHERN AND A FEW OTHER PROSPECTS ARE NOT FAR OFF!! LOTS OF YOU POSTING COMMENTS NEED TO BE MORE INFORMED BEFORE MAKING COMMENTS THAT ARE JUST PLAIN STUPID!!
I look at Cruceta as an early Rule V draftee and expect as much from him.
Shame about Shelton. I really hoped he’d have gotten one more shot with the Tigers. He looked like such a pure hitter for the second half of 2005. And I’ll always remember the bomb I saw him hit to deep left-center during that amazing 2006 start.
Bottom line is that I don’t think he ever did enough at Toledo to merit that second chance. .269/.381/.420 in 2007.
Anthony, take a Valium or seven
Stephen:
Kiss my a**
LOL nice to have you back Stepehen you cynic you
Oklahoma’s in the Pacific Coast League which is the best hitters league in the minors.
That said, Oklahoma suppressed doubles and HR’s and was middle of the road on everything else. So he was in a solid pitchers park last year in a terrible pitcher’s league.
That said, he’s still young, has a good arm (unless he’s had a major injury i’m unaware about, he’s got good, hard sinking fastball), but he is not a solution to anything in the bullpen and in my mind is more of a piece for Toledo. Can’t hurt taking a flyer though, that’s for sure.
I’m curious to see how much Kenny signed for. I’m guess somewhere between $8-9 mil.
Hey Stephen,
Does it bother you that I tell the truth so strongly? I guess it’s too much for you to handle. . .I like typing ALL CAPS – if someone doesn’t like it, they can go to hell. . .
Hey, don’t mess with Anthony. Any guy who blogs with all capitals means business. He can kick all our a****. Anthony’s the man. Hail Anthony. Maybe he can explain to me how we lost the World Series the previous year to the Cardinals when we had most players healthy and seemed to be hitting on all cylinders going in with Mr. Dombrowski and Mr. Leyland leading the way. And if that Valium doesn’t do the job Anthony, try Zoloft .
Hey Ron,
What are you – Stephen’s lover? I guess you had to come to his rescue because he couldn’t stand on his own. Maybe you forgot that the Tigers sat around all week while waiting for the Mets and Cardinals to finish up. And do you even know what jitters are? Obviously not. Ever play baseball yourself? Things happen and the best team doesn’t always win. So you don’t want Leyland and Dombrowski leading the way? Let’s bring back Buddy Bell and Randy Smith. And speaking of meds, you may want to try Seroquel, Risperdal, and Zyprexa. Your brain is so fu**** up! Later, I’m done with you and Stephen.
Caps Lock ON:
NOW, NO CYBER FIGHTING PULEASE
Anthony – this isn’t a huge knock on you but don’t overreact and start calling anyone out who doesn’t like your all-caps style and you should know by now (if you have regularly checked this blog) to take everything Stephen takes with a barrel of salt.
And Ron yea I agree don’t put everything in DD and Leyland.
Didn’t DD go after Aurilia? Pavano? Neifi? Mesa? etc.
Leyland looked well pretty good much of 2006. I believe he had something to do with it but alot of it wasn’t him.
And in quite a few games last year he looked downright awful in how he used the pen, how he stuck with guys for too long who were struggling, how he refused to pinch-hit many times close and late, how he neglected small-ball are some that come to mind, not quite as bad as Tram but…
But Ron, I can explain to you how we lost to the Cards
Our long layoff – only Brandon Inge, Sean Casey and Carlos Guillen hit well…
Their game 7 win momentum – there is that word again…
Our pitching errors – momentum…
The Cardinals redemtion for 2004
Jeff Weaver’s redemtion for his time in Detroit
You could go on and on, but the first three are the biggies IMO
Heck the playoffs in themselves are a crapshoot as John Shurholtz has said over and over again.
Anyways again please no fighting or complaining. If your a Tigers fan add your constructive opinion. If your a fan of another team add your constructive opinion. This isn’t elementary school or some roudy bar, it is an online forum.
The one thing I do request is do not say anything bad about Brandon Inge.
Thanks
=-P
Bye Anthony. You’re suspended until you can learn to play nice.
e-thuggin, i’m just sittin here e-thuuuuuggin.
OK David, won’t talk about Brandon Inge…..oh darn, where’d I put my xanax.
My favorite part of the ALL-CAPS post is SO MANY MISINFORMED FANS LIKE TO SPOUT OFF B.S. AS IF THEY KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON BEHIND THE SCENES.
This is followed shortly thereafter by I’VE LIVED IN DALLAS SINCE 1985, SO I KNOW WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT!
Priceless.
David, but I’m the cynic with a heart of gold.
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR, ANTHONY.
Uh, oh, looks like Santa is bringing a sack full of coal down to Dallas.
Could be ‘roid rage.
I’m glad to see Kenny Roger coming back!Hopefully his eagerness to stay and play in Detroit will rub off on other ‘big names’ in baseball.
Gary
Speaking of options, does Miner still have one?
Gary, I second the motion. Good for Kenny and good for the fans. It’s not all about the money all of the time.
Vince – Miner has one option left.
I just recently moved from Detroit to Des Moines and I’m thankful for the Detroit Tigers Weblog. Just as it was last season, the DTW will be my major source for all things Tigers. How great is it that I can sit here on a Saturday afternoon in December, look out my windows and see the freezing rain pelt the city, all while talking about Detroit baseball?
Signing Rogers is a huge move for the continued development of our young staff. In that alone, he is worth the money. If we can get 10-12 wins out of his arm, I think his tutelage might add around 10-12 from Nate, Jeremy, and Justin. Keeping him means much to the morale of that staff, especially to Bondo.
Huge thanks to bilfer for such a great site, and many thanks to all of you who continue to keep me up to speed on the Tigers. I’m looking forward to another great season from the Tigers and from the DTW!
Keith
P.S. Any Tigers fans on this site from Iowa? Let me know and maybe we can catch an I Cubs game.
Thank’s billfer – that’s kind of what I thought but wasn’t sure. It gives Leyland more flexibility in setting the staff, in the event that Cruceta and Bazardo are so lights out coming out of ST that they both make the team.
EVERYONE CHECK THIS OUT
5 DAYS AGO
What an idiot, if I had his arm I would never ever even consider going back and doing this
http://www.ganges.com/joel_zumaya_guitar_hero_sweet_child_o_mine_v3457396/
At least he lost to the kid so hopefully that means he doesn’t practice a lot
My goodness. Enough with the caps.
That video is more than 5 days old because I remember seeing it before the box injury. It was probably just posted 5 days ago on that site – but it’s not new. He’s not out doing Guitar Hero competitions.
So much hostility. What ever happened to the days where we used to just argue about Brandon Inge and Cameron Maybin in a peaceful manner?
I bet ANTHONY’S a riot behind the wheel.Maybe you could let HIM back for limited engagements.HE obviously entertains the regulars here.
Drew Sharp, again, proves his ignorance of the Tigers and baseball in general.
Says the Tigers should trade Bonderman and some “low minor prospects” for Johan Santana.
Who are these low minor prospects? Doesn’t say. But he called trading Maybin or Porcello “idiocy”. Who he then projects to trade? He doesn’t say.
So basically don’t trade either of the kids with Bonderman that would make the Tigers package even remotely near the Red Sox or Yankees pacakge(s), and rely on our weak low-minors prospects to deal for the best pitcher in the game from a Division rival.
Outstanding work. Just pure brilliance. Bravo, Mr. Sharp.
Apparently Mr. Sharp had to come up with something quick to meet the deadline.
OH sorry my bad, I just assumed because it was posted 5 days ago it was somewhat recent.
I didn’t know ALL CAPS bothered you or anyone – I don’t normally do it
w3n pp1 t1p3 1yk3 th15 d15 if it excessive – it bothers me slightly and is hard to read
Oh yea and if you enjoy traffic to you site I’d consider letting Anthony back, every time there would be some poster who would stir up controversy on the Detroit tiger’s site or people even on this site there is not many lulls as evidence by the 45 responses in a couple days
No caps, please. Thanks billfer.
/raises hand to support any ban billfer deems correct.
Cruceta seems to have good enough numbers that a team like the Rangers would want to hang on to him. Has anyone seen any info why they let him go? Were they turned off by the drug test, or any personality issues? I apologize if anything like this was elsewhere in the thread, but it was a bit difficult to read.
Sharp’s next column: “U.S. can stop Iraqi sectarian violence with deep breathing exercises, fresh apple pie, and Three’s Company reruns.”
Hey – I completely agree with Sharp on this one. I’m a big Bonderman fan, but you have to make that trade. And then if you pull off the Rob Parker proposed Scott Kazmir for Thames/Raburn trade the Tigers should be pretty good.
I’d make the trade as well but my issue with the article was that it was just a completely non-realistic suggestion.
I’ll be honest, I didn’t even read the whole article. It was that ridiculous.
I wouldn’t make that trade. I’d hold out for a vintage, mint-condition Honus Wagner card and some of Ted Williams hair.
The problem wasn’t the idea of trading Bonderman, it’s the fact that calling the trade proposal ‘unrealistic’ is complimenting the article. “Bonderman and some low minors prospects, but not Porcello or Maybin”. Uhh, our best low minor prospects are guys we drafted in 2007, one of which is having Tommy John surgery.
I sent him an email asking who he thinks we should kick in in that trade mentioning the fact that trading Santana intra-division means we’d have to: (1) Beat the Yankees offer, which if we don’t kick in Maybin or Porcello, we can’t do. (2) Beat the Red Sox offer, which if we don’t kick in Maybin or Porcello we can’t do. (3) Overpay because trading the best pitcher of the last decade to a division opponent for Bonderman and some beans would be an insta-fire situation in Minnesota.
Could we schedule Anthony every Friday nite between 12:00 A.M. and 1 A.M. after his suspension is lifted?
Haha, how did I miss this? I love it when someone tries stirring up dissension among the blog readers. Especially when they USE ALL CAPS. Those kind are the best.
What about Timo and Shelton? Maybe the Twins would go for that?
Drew don’t know baseball.
hi
Man,
This guy Anthony sure has a lot of power over you guys. It really makes you guys look foolish that you can’t get him out of your heads. Don’t you see that that is PROBABLY what he wants – TO GET TO YOU? sorry, couldn’t resist ALL CAPS. Anyway, any thoughts on Santana going to New York or Boston and what impact that would have on the Tigers possibly facing them in the playoffs? Sure looks like the Yanks are willing to give up more than Boston, which increases the chances of Santana taking Hughes’ spot in the rotation.
roy –
Are we not supposed to know that you’re Anthony? I just want to make sure I understand the game.
<blockquote cite=”Adam:
December 2nd, 2007 at 1:38 am
Haha, how did I miss this? I love it when someone tries stirring up dissension among the blog readers. Especially when they USE ALL CAPS. Those kind are the best.”
Trolls are what is wrong with the internet. I like this site specifically for its absence of trolls.
<blockquote cite=”Man,
This guy Anthony sure has a lot of power over you guys. It really makes you guys look foolish that you can’t get him out of your heads. Don’t you see that that is PROBABLY what he wants – TO GET TO YOU? ”
Don’t flatter yourself, there is a big difference between being annoyng and getting to people.
<blockquote cite=”Dave:
December 2nd, 2007 at 5:27 pm
roy –
Are we not supposed to know that you’re Anthony? I just want to make sure I understand the game.”
He even lists the same nonfunctional link under the website entry of the post.
Wow, I sure screwed up those tags.
So…
How about the Tigers resigning Kenny Rogers?
I have to admit I am a little worried after he only pitched 60 innings last year and was hoping the Tigers would be able to sign him cheaper with more of an incentive laden contract. Still, I think he will work fine and suck up innings if he avoids injury.
Also, I am very excited to see what Francisco Cruceta can do. Sure it is tough to determine too much from 6 or so major league appearances, but it seems the Tigers brass is high on him. We will find out during spring training.
One more reliever and possibly a fifth starter (if he is really cheap) ought to do it for the off season, right?
My guess is Santana is going to Boston. They really want to put a nail in the Yankee’s coffin. A Rod already did that when he re-signed with them. Maybe they’ll beat each other up and neither will make the playoffs. It’s a beautiful thing when the rich fall from grace.
Resigning the best player of this generation is putting the nail in the coffin of the Yankees? I don’t follow that logic, ron.
Wanna make bets? I think he’ll go to NY.
The guy hasn’t won anything. He’s bad karma. The Yankees will not win a World Series with A-Rod. The city is not interested in winning 110 games a year or having A Rod hit 900 home runs unless it comes with a championship. The stadium is filled nitely with monied fans and tourists. The real fans sit out in the boroughs because they cannot afford to go to a game because of the Steinbrenners and A Rods. So far he hasn’t shown he can lead this team to the promised land. The fans will always point their finger at him because he’s the main star in a bad play. Your sitting their waiting for the climax and it never develops. Bad Karma, no chemistry, player jealousies, whatever.The Yankees will not win with this guy. If your interested in stats, he’s the king. Go for it.
Kathy, if Santana goes to N.Y., they will probably have committed a half a Bbbillion dollars in future salaries. Couldn’t happen to a better team.
Isn’t the real bad karma the fact that the Yankees pitching staff has been bad the last, oh, 6 years? And that’s what wins in the postseason.
I just have a hard time pinning the failures of the Yankees on A-Rod. What about 01-03, before he was there? Is he responsible for those failures? Or for Mark Bellhorn hitting 2 HR’s (i think) in the blown 3-0 series lead to the Red Sox? Or for David Ortiz and his walk off hits that year? Or for Curt Schillings once-in-a-lifetime performance? Or for the fact that Brian Cashman and the Yankees toiled for a few years and are JUST NOW being smart about adding pitching depth and now Joe Torre isn’t around to abuse his relief pitchers game in, game out?
Also, here is a very good article on A-Rod’s contract and value to the team.
All fine and good. Everybody is making money head over heals. He is a valuable commodity to the Steinbrenner family and associates. Ask the guy who has been a Yankee fan all his life what he thinks of A Rod. Anyway, he’s got ten years. We’ll see.
Everybody is making money that is in line with the growth of the sport that has doubled it’s revenue since 2003.