Detroit Tigers

Thursday was the deadline for teams to negotiate exclusively with free agents who played for them in 2009.

Sizemore, a second baseman, shortstop Audy Ciriaco and outfielders Ryan Strieby and Brennan Boesch will be automatically invited to spring training.

Ronnie Bourquin, 24, who played the past year at Class-A West Michigan and Double-A Erie, must sit out the first 50 games of the 2010 season.

The Detroit Tigers set their 40-man roster today, purchasing the contracts of four minor leaguers: second baseman Scott Sizemore, shortstop Audy Ciriaco, first baseman/outfielder Ryan Strieby and outfielder Brennan Boesch.

Whether the whistle blew is irrelevant to the play. The puck went in on the initial shot, and if the on-ice officials or the boys back in Toronto were only trying to make sure that they "got the call right", that would have been a goal for Brad May.

Baseball free agency began at midnight Thursday. Over 150 players are free to sign with other clubs, and teams must set their 40-man roster today to determine which players are available for the Rule 5 draft on Dec. 10. The Tigers were listing 42 players on their 40-man roster as of Thursday evening.

The Tigers have to set their 40-man roster by Friday.

Why does this matter? Because a number of minor leaguers need to be protected from the Rule 5 draft, which is held during the Winter Meetings each year in December. This year, the Tigers have a number of players who other teams might want to take a flyer on. Second baseman Scott Sizemore is the biggest name of those, of course. But there are others.

Jason Beck wrote a discussion of the topic at MLB.com, but I thought I'd weigh in, too.

The Tigers should have at least four roster spots available to use, and possibly more if any players are removed from the roster. And judging by this roster, there's some weight to shed still.

Who the Tigers could take off the roster

• Freddy Dolsi and Alfredo Figaro -- Both have two options remaining. Dolsi is more likely to make the team in 2010 than Figaro, who still needs some work in the minors until there are any injuries.
• Dontrelle Willis -- But I don't think the Tigers will because they hold out faith he can come back in 2010, just based on quotes in stories.
• Clay Rapada -- I like him fine but he doesn't seem to have any future with the Tigers.
• Donnie Kelly -- He just seems to be without purpose. A true 4A player -- good enough to do well in the minors, but not good enough at anything to force major league teams to make room for him.

So I think we've established there are ways to make room for the Rule 5 guys. Honestly, they don't really have to make any of those moves right now. Waiting to see what players they bring in during the offseason would be fine. But if they're feeling especially protective of some of the guys listed below, they have moves they can make.

Who the Tigers should add to the roster

Listed in order of importance

For sure:

• Sizemore -- OK, that goes without saying. He's already written in as the Tigers' second baseman in 2010.
• Ryan Strieby -- The left fielder / first baseman slugger is definitely the kind of player teams would want to steal away from Detroit.

Possibly:

• Brett Jensen -- The right-handed reliever had 59 strikeouts in 53-plus innings and had an ERA of 3.19 with Double-A Erie. He needs to cut down his home runs, but he has possibilities.
• Scot Drucker -- The Tigers liked him enough to send him to the Arizona Fall League. He had a few bad games that made a total mess of his stats. But he may have too much value not to protect.
• Deik Scram -- Of the Erie outfielders, I like him more than the one who follows on this list. He plays fine defense and had a .476 slugging average to go with .342 on-base (helped by 63 walks.)

Probably not:

• Brennan Boesch -- He had a lot of power in Erie (29 home runs, .510 slugging) but I am not sold he'll translate to much of a major leaguer. The Detroit News' writer Lynn Henning thinks he'll start for the Tigers in 2011, however.

Definitely not:

• Jonah Nickerson -- He pitched in the College World Series, but hasn't done a lot professionally. With an ERA of 5.33 in Erie and 75 strikeouts in 165 innings, he's probably not going anywhere, and it's no loss if he did.
• Will Rhymes -- Toledo infielder. Meh. Unnecessary.
• Others not named.

** Credit for the research into options and for providing a list of Rule 5 eligibles goes to Eddie B of Tiger Thoughts. **

While Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi brainstorm ways for the Tigers to save money in 2010, their colleague Dayn Perry is thinking up ways for them to spend some.

He recommends the Tigers stay in the race for 2010 and add, rather than subtract. The first move? Shore up the late bullpen by picking up Billy Wagner. 

Detroit is in contending mode, so the wise play would be to resist the temptation to sell off and instead take calculated risks. Since the AL Central is so winnable (and since the Tigers came within a hairsbreadth of a division title this past season), tweaks at the margins might be enough. One tweak could be adding Wagner. Wagner, when healthy one of the best closers ever, is coming off major elbow surgery.

*snip*

In a related matter, the great Bill James tabs Wagner for 62 innings and a 2.18 ERA in 2010.

Wagner pitched just 17 games for the Met and Red Sox in 2009, after returning from Tommy John surgery late in the 2008 season.

I'm not sure that any team should expect a post-injury discount, however. There seems to be a lot of interest in him.

Morosi/Rosenthal wrote earlier in the week:

Bean Stringfellow, Wagner's agent, said Monday that eight clubs have called to express interest in Wagner, a Type A free agent.

"The best way to put it," Stringfellow said, "is that the teams that called are aware that he's a Type A free agent, and they're calling anyway."

Boston, Atlanta, Washington, Houston and Baltimore are on the list, according to Stringfellow, along with three teams that preferred to remain anonymous.

*snip*

"This is a normal offseason for him," Stringfellow said. "He's not doing any rehab. He'll begin throwing in earnest at the same time he always did. He feels wonderful now."

The agent is looking for a multi-year deal an expects to get one. And that is all contingent on whether the Red Sox offer arbitration to Wagner. And whether he chooses to accept or turn it down. If offered and rejected, it would cost a team its first-round draft pick to sign Wagner.

Given Detroit has a number of young relief pitchers in the system, might all those things slow them down on the venture? I think so.

Should it? Maybe not, given Detroit could receive a first-round pick for Placido Polanco, as the player and team do the same arbitration dance as Wagner. H

Still, I'm not sure yet what the Tigers should do.

Going for it in 2010 again would be the most fun for fans ... in 2010.

But it's going to take more than a closer to get the job done, with the glaring hole at shortstop and no low-priced alternatives waiting in the wings.

At the right cost and a two-year deal, I am completely in favor of giving Wagner a shot. But I just am not convinced he's going to be had affordably. If you can get him at $4-5M a year, then sure, maybe.

Still, shortstop remains the important position to fill right now, and any money should be spent there first -- rather than chasing after a big-name, big-cost last-inning pitcher.

People like to say the baseball writers struggle to get the winners right in these awards -- and in the past, they did -- but so far I have little to disagree with them over in the AL honors.

Kinda.

Kansas City's Zack Greinke was awarded for his stellar season with the American League Cy Young Award from the Baseball Writers Association of America on Tuesday. Seattle's Felix Hernandez, who had a nice year as well, finished as runner-up.

And Detroit's Justin Verlander finished right where he should have, third place.

Greinke's victory wasn't unanimous. Of the three first-place votes he didn't receive, two went to Hernandez and one to Verlander.

The Tiger's vote came from a hometown writer -- shades of Magglio Ordonez of 2007 come to mind -- Booth Newspapers' and MLive's Steve Kornacki.

Fortunately, Kornacki explained his vote, though I have to disagree with his reasoning.

Verlander did lead the AL in wins -- tied with CC Sabathia and Hernandez at 19. He also led the major leagues in strikeouts with 269, the highest strikeout total in the AL since 2000.

But it was the intangibles Kornacki cited the most:

Verlander received my first-place vote because nobody was tougher on the mound with the season on the line for his team.

He threw at least 120 pitches in six of his last eight outings and won his last three starts, forcing a one-game playoff against the Minnesota Twins with his final victory.

He was an inspirational "horse," using Tigers manager Jim Leyland's term for him, on a fading team.

You can't deny, Verlander has a wonderful season that defined "ace." He carried the Tigers on his back, he helped them come within inches of a division title.

But his season just cannot be compared to Greinke's: 2.16 ERA. Just above a baserunner an inning on average. A rather nice 242 strikeouts. Oh, and no runs allowed for the first 29-2/3 innings of the season. All the while playing with the Kansas City Royals' defense behind him!

And if you prefer sabermetric stats, he had the highest wins above replacement in baseball (9.4). Verlander came in second for pitchers with 8.2, by the way.

So my second disagreement with the writers? How was Verlander listed on only 10 ballots of 28? 

That is just not smart voting.

The result: While Greinke had 134 points and Hernandez 80, Verlander had just 14, one ahead of Toronto's Roy Halladay.

In the end, Kornacki's rather homer vote of first place was the reason Verlander placed third.

Cumulatively, the writers got it right. Just for the wrong reasons.