What Do Tigers Do About Guillen?

It has been a busy offseason for the AL Champs. They traded for that big bat in the middle of the lineup (Gary Sheffield) they solved the first base question (Sean Casey) and locked down some guys who have been around a while (Inge and Bonderman).

First of all, I love the Bonderman signing. The Tigers and Bonderman agreed to a four year deal worth $38 million. Just to show you how good of a deal the Tigers got with Bonderman, let's take a quick look at some of the pitchers this offseason who got more than he did in free agency:

Gil Meche $55 over 5 years.
Daisuke Matsuzaka $52 over 6 years.
Jason Schmidt $47 over 3 years.
Ted Lilly $40 over 4 years.
Vicente Padilla $33.7 over 3 years.


I think of the above players Bonderman's game is quite similar to that of Schmidt's. Both are hard throwers who can easily pick up 200 strike outs in a season. The main difference (aside from the Tiger's getting an extra year for the same amount paid to Schmidt) is age. Schmidt will be 34, 35, 36 for the length of his deal while Bonderman will be 24,25,26,27 for the length of his deal. Last year Schmidt through 213 innings while Bonderman checked in at 214. Any guy pitching over 200 innings qualifies a player as "durable." Good news for both teams. Anyway, Bonderman won 14 games to Schmidt's 11. Bonderman struck out 202 batters while Schmidt managed to fan 180 last year. Bonderman's youth should provide the Tiger's with 4 more years of quality pitching. I don't know if I see Bonderman becoming a Cy Young candidate but you wouldn't be able to find a team in all of baseball that wouldn't have room for him in their rotation. In four year Bonderman could command $100 million, but I'll put that out of my mind for at least the next two years.

That leaves the Tigers only Guillen eligible for free agency next winter. Guillen is entering the last year of a four year deal with the Tiger's. Guillen was arguable the Tiger's best and most consistent hitter in 2006 and 2007 promises to be just as productive. However, Guillen is 31 years old. If he resigns it will probably be a four year deal. That would make Guillen 33, 34,35, 36 for his next contract. Risky business when talking about a shortstop. There are a few options here. The Tigers could just put the Guillen situation off until next winter and deal with it then, risking the chance he may walk away for more money. They could also just suck it up and sign him now. The obvious problem here is that the Tiger's will not want a 35 year old shortstop in a few seasons. Guillen is already slowing down and a move to first base seem inevitable. In that case they still need to find another shortstop. Also, if that's the case and the Tiger's find another SS, couldn't they find a "heavier hitter" to play first base than Guillen whose career high in home runs is 20?

I honestly don't know what the Tiger's should do here and I could understand going either route. With the addition of Sheffield (38) to Ordonez (33) and Pudge (35) the Tiger's offensive core isn't looking built for the future. However, with a team fresh off a World Series appearance, the future could be now. Despite my indecision on this matter I am confident I could be the General Manager of a MLB team and not be the worst GM in sports.

-Blake-