Winter Meetings Update - Tuesday

The big tale of the day was a rumored trade reported by ESPN between the Tigers and Diamondbacks. Supposedly, the two teams had agreed to a swap of Curtis Granderson and Joel Zumaya for Javier Vazquez but then Vazquez voided the deal. Dave Dombrowski was ripped all over the internet and apparently on the radio all day long for agreeing to such a deal. However, it turned out that the rumor was false.

Later in the day, both Dombrowski and Diamondbacks GM Josh Byrnes denied that any such deal was in place. They also said that there have been no Vazquez discussions since he put the Tigers on his no trade list. The story can be found near the bottom of Jason Beck's column. The key quote is:

"That is totally not accurate," said Dombrowski. "And I don't mean to downplay [Vazquez] at all, but that is not an appealing situation for us."

It's good to see that Dombrowski considers that to be an unfavorable trade proposal.

Another report on radio 1270 said the trade was Granderson and Zumaya for Vazquez and Troy Glaus. This would be more believable except for Vazquez's no trade list.

Beck also reports that Dombrowski has not revealed whether or not he will offer arbitration to Jason Johnson or Rondell White. Johnson is a type B free agent who would bring the Tigers a first round pick in the June draft if they offer him arbitration and another team signs him. As a Type A free agent, White would bring back a first round pick and also a supplemtal pick after the first round.

Offering arbitration to Johnson would be a no brainer since he's likely to reject it and sign a multi-year dealwith another team. The worse thing that could happen is they get another year of Johnson which would not be a terrible thing. White is more complicated because he is more likely to accept an arbitration offer. I don't see that as a bad thing either although he doesn't fit their needs all that well given their current roster. Still, I hope they offer arbitration to both of them because they could really use the picks. Tomorrow is the deadline for offering arbitration.

Beck's artcle also discusses Jim Leyland. I like Leyland's philosophy ont leadership:

Jim Leyland has heard enough about the need for players to step up and provide leadership. He has a better idea.

"I don't buy that," he told reporters Tuesday at baseball's Winter Meetings. "I'm supposed to be the leader. That's why they hired me. I can tell you who the leaders are on the team. They're the guys who hit .330, hit 30 home runs and knock in 140 runs.

"I've never seen a guy hit .200 who was a leader yet...

I do believe that is the right approach. Now they just need to find a guy who can bat .330 and hit 140 homeruns.

Finally, in case you missed it, the Tigers assigned Ryan Raburn to Toledo yesterday which means that their 40 man roster is down to 39 players. This may be an indication that they are ready to sign a free agent or make a trade or it could mean that they plan to participate in Thursday's Rule 5 draft.