Tigers Reach Agreement with Todd Jones

According to Lynn Henning, the Tigers have agreed to a two year contract with Todd Jones. If the Florida Marlins offer Jones arbitration before the midnight deadline, then the Tigers will lose next year's second round pick in the amateur draft. It's surprising that the usually guarded Tiger front office allowed the agreement to leak to the media prior to the deadline as it allows the Marlins to offer Jones arbitration without fear of having him accept. My hope is that the Marlins are in such a cost cutting mode that they won't even bother to offer him arbitration because they don't want to add another draft pick. That does not seem likely but it has happened with other teams in the past.

Other than the draft pick, I think it's an ok move. If he pitches anywhere close to how he pitched last year, then he'll help the team. If not, it's only a two year deal so it wouldn't hurt that much. He will most likely open the season as the closer with Fernando Rodney setting up.

Dmitri Young

Jason Beck says that Dmitri Young is hoping to lose 20 pounds this winter. He was asked by Jim Leyland to lose weight and apparently he is taking it to heart. He is hoping that he can be more versatile next year. Dave Dombrowski is now saying that Dmitri Young and Carlos Pena might both make the 25 man roster this year. This may just be a signal to other teams that they don't plan to just give Pena away at the deadline. However, if Young were able to play in the outfield a little next year, there may actually be room for both on the roster. I'm skeptical that Young will able to play much outfield but we'll see.

Rondell White and Jason Johnson

John Lowe of the Free Press also has a story about the Jones signing. Near the bottom of the article, he also mentions that Jason Johnson and Rondell White will not be offered arbitration. This means the Tigers will not be signing these players but it also means they will not receive compensatory draft picks when they sign with other teams. I'm a little surprised that they did not offer arbitration to Johnson because I don't think there is much chance that he would have accepted it (since I think he'll get multi-year offers elsewhere). I also wanted them to offer arbitration to White but there is a good chance he would have accepted it so not offering to him is more understandable.