The Tigers locked up closer Jose Valverde to a two year, $14 million deal and there’s a $9 million option for 2012. I’ve said this before, but I thought relief was one of the few spots where the Tigers should have just looked from within. Instead, they’re overpaying, in my opinion, for a good but not great closer and in the process, they’re giving up their first round draft pick.
One thing you’ll get with Valverde is strikeouts. He has 470 career strikeouts in 386 innings. Another thing he’s been good at is racking up saves. He led the league in 2007 with 47 when he was with the Diamondbacks and then in 2008, he once again led the NL with 44. He’s had some injury problems but those are hopefully in the past. He missed a big chunk of 2004 and decent portion of 2005.
I guess the big problem I have is the dollar figure. For that amount of money, the Tigers could have kept Placido Polanco and had some money left over. Sure you’d have Ryan Perry closing games as a sophomore but you wouldn’t be out $7 million a year for a guy who at best logs 70 innings. It just seems like an odd signing after the Tigers have been giving out signals that they’re sellers in the market.