When you live in Rumorville, you're all about the offseason.
The Detroit News has high hopes that Jinxie will be headed to the Motor City, though, hey, watch out for Minnesota. (I don't care where he goes, so long that he gets a lonng contract.)
At that point, the Tigers can get busy courting a left-handed hitter who has the power and the glove manager Jim Leyland would find acceptable in left field.
Jenkins has hit as many as 34 homers in a season (2000). He also plays defense well enough to work in right field as easily as in left.
The Tigers, of course, are in need of a transition left fielder ahead of Cameron Maybin 's presumed arrival as a regular there, probably in 2009. Jenkins fills the bill on multiple fronts. Signing him as a free agent means no existing major or minor league talent must be forfeited. And because Milwaukee will have also declined to offer him arbitration for 2009, Detroit runs no risk of losing a draft pick.
They also can expect to sign Jenkins to a healthy, two-year deal, which is the sort of low-risk package the Tigers are known to favor.
The Tigers will by no means be Jenkins' only pursuer. The Twins will be chasing him, as will a host of others pining for outfield versatility. The Tigers, however, likely will be tough to beat, and not only because they will almost certainly satisfy Jenkins' financial needs. It is known Jenkins wants to play for a contender and that he regards Leyland as his kind of manager.
And as for CoCo...well, they're not so optimistic:
He has had a glorious career: 49 saves for the Rangers in 2004, 37 saves in 2005, and, this past -- and best -- season, 86 strikeouts in 63 1/3 innings. He is hitting the market at prime time. But the Tigers will pass.Could not the Tigers consider Joel Zumaya their set-up man and sign someone such as Cordero, or Mariano Rivera ? And isn't it possible Todd Jones, the team's presumed transition closer ahead of Zumaya, will end up elsewhere, leaving the Tigers scrambling?
Sure. But to get Cordero you would need to tack another $10 million to $15 million onto a payroll that already is moving north in a hurry. And the only entity not particularly bothered by deficit spending is the United States government.
When it comes to CoCo, it's worth mentioning that he was cheap but not cheap. Sure, we were getting a bargain for his services, especially when he's paid $10 million plus on his next big contract, but wiping more than $5 million off the board is nothing to sneeze at.