Sources: Marlins, Tigers talking blockbuster

Sources: Marlins, Tigers talking blockbuster
Ken Rosenthal
FOXSports.com, Updated 57 minutes ago
The Marlins, stalled in their attempts to trade third baseman Miguel Cabrera, could be laying the groundwork for an even bigger deal.

The Marlins and Tigers are engaged in preliminary talks about a blockbuster that would send Cabrera and left-hander Dontrelle Willis to Detroit for a package of young players, according to major-league sources.

Outfielder Cameron Maybin and left-hander Andrew Miller likely are among the Marlins' targets. The Tigers already feature two veteran left-handed starters, Kenny Rogers and Nate Robertson, possibly making Miller available in a deal for Willis.

Cabrera would play third base for the Tigers. It is uncertain what would happen to the Tigers' incumbent third baseman, Brandon Inge, if a deal were completed; he possibly could be sent to another team.

The Marlins are at an impasse in their talks about Cabrera with the Angels. The teams are in agreement on three players the Marlins would receive, sources say — second baseman Howie Kendrick, catcher Jeff Mathis and minor-league pitcher Nick Adenhart. The Angels are balking at including right-hander Ervin Santana; the substitution of outfielder Reggie Willits possibly could lead to a deal.

The White Sox remain heavily interested in Cabrera, whom they would use in left field. Sox manager Ozzie Guillen is close with Cabrera and said Monday that the player already has lost 15 pounds this off-season while re-dedicating himself to baseball.

Source: Tigers enter Cabrera talks
Detroit might also try to swing trade to land Willis
By Joe Frisaro / MLB.com

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Add the Tigers to the growing list of teams coveting Miguel Cabrera.

A Major League source said on Tuesday that the Tigers are inquiring about Cabrera. In fact, Detroit has approached Florida regarding Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis.

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports reported that the Tigers are interested in a package deal that would involve both Cabrera and Willis.

A source told MLB.com that the Tigers are interested in either/or, not necessarily both. It is considered doubtful that there will be enough in return for the Marlins to swing such a mega-deal.

Interest in Cabrera has heated up at the annual Winter Meetings. On Monday, there were five teams interested in the 24-year-old slugger, who is coming off a .320 season with 34 home runs and 119 RBIs.

The White Sox also have had talks with the Marlins centering on Cabrera.

Cabrera is a close friend of Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen, who was Florida's third-base coach in 2002-03. Asked on Tuesday where Guillen would play Cabrera, the manager said, "We'd find a place for him, if we could get him."

A third baseman the past two seasons, Cabrera could be a candidate to move to left field in a place like Chicago. When Cabrera was called up by the Marlins in June 2003, he was used in left field. The Marlins kept Cabrera in the outfield, with a brief stint in right field, until 2006.

Some players the Tigers could be willing to part with for Cabrera and/or Willis are outfielder Cameron Maybin and left-hander Andrew Miller.

The Angels and Dodgers also have had numerous discussions with the Marlins regarding Cabrera.

While the Marlins have been leaning toward keeping Willis, at least until the July 31 trade deadline, it is believed that at least three teams have interest in the 25-year-old left-hander.

One source said eventually the Mets are expected to make a push for Willis.

Marlins using Tigers?

Update on the Cabrera/Willis for Miller/Maybin report
Posted by Danny Knobler December 04, 2007 12:51PM

Danny Knobler is currently away from his computer and has phoned in this report.

A team source has confirmed that the Tigers and Marlins have had talks, but classified these talks as discussions rather than negotiations. The current sentiment is that the Marlins are using the Tigers to potentially generate some better trade offers for Cabrera, possibly from the Angels.

It's also believe that Dave Dombrowski is reluctant to deal Cameron Maybin.

I don't like this. Maybin for Cabreara...fine. But DO NOT trade Miller for Willis. Willis does not impress me all that much - you could probably get Dan Haren for Andrew Miller, I'll take him instead.

Besides, Haren has THREE cheap years left on his deal....

I'd rather have Cabrera and Haren also but I suspect that in order to get Miguel, the TIGERS prolly had to include both M & M's so Willis is part of the package deal.

The guy is only 25!!

OMG....Cabrera is basically Maggs Junior!! WOW!!

Stud-and-a-half!!

Damn, why do things always happen when I'm in class?

Done Deal!

Cabrera, Willis traded to Tigers in blockbuster deal

December 4, 2007

By JON PAUL MOROSI

FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

STORY UPDATED: 7:44 p.m.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – In a move that will transform the team’s roster and expectations, the Tigers on Tuesday agreed to a trade with the Florida Marlins that will bring third baseman Miguel Cabrera and left-handed pitcher Dontrelle Willis to Detroit, in exchange for a package of six prospects headlined by outfielder Cameron Maybin and left-hander Andrew Miller.

Until Monday night, many in the industry believed Detroit would not trade Maybin under any circumstances and would be very reluctant to deal Miller. But in a whirlwind 24-hour span, the Tigers agreed to part with both of them in return for two players who immediately make them one of the favorites to win the World Series next year.

According to one club official with knowledge of the negotiations, Detroit has tentatively agreed to include catcher Mike Rabelo and right-handed pitchers Dallas Trahern, Eulogio De La Cruz and Burke Badenhop in the deal.

The trade had not been officially announced as of 7:30 p.m. Eastern time.

Team officials postponed a briefing with the local media, scheduled for 6:10 p.m., a sign that they were in the midst of serious negotiations. Shortly after that, the Free Press reported that a deal between the Marlins and Tigers had been completed.

The club also considered trading for Oakland right-hander Dan Haren and Baltimore left-hander Erik Bedard. By late afternoon on Monday, though, it was clear that the team’s first preference was to acquire Cabrera and Willis in a monumental swap.

Cabrera, 24, and Willis, 25, are both due to become free agents after the 2009 season. It’s not clear whether Detroit has made plans to pursue contract extensions with them.

The deal was remarkable in both its magnitude and unexpected nature. One night before the trade, Detroit club president/general manager Dave Dombrowski said he was “very happy” with his team’s everyday lineup. Then he added Cabrera, the most formidable young hitter in baseball since Albert Pujols.

On Monday, manager Jim Leyland pointed out that the Tigers did not arrive in Nashville with a glaring weakness, but added, “By having conversations with people, who knows if something will pop up?”

As a result of the deal, Detroit is now willing to move third baseman Brandon Inge, outfielder Marcus Thames and right-handed pitcher Chad Durbin, in order to free up money in the Tigers’ payroll.

Inge, who will be displaced at third base by Cabrera, is owed $19.1 million over the next three seasons, and Detroit may need to absorb some of that salary in order to trade him. Durbin and Thames were due to receive raises in arbitration.

The Tigers entered the week without needing to upgrade their offense, but could not resist the opportunity to land Cabrera – especially since the team’s front office has a long history with him.

Detroit assistant general manager Al Avila signed Cabrera out of Venezuela during his tenure as an executive with the Marlins, and Cabrera is a personal friend of Tigers first baseman Carlos Guillen.

He also happens to be one of the best hitters in baseball. He batted .320 with 34 home runs and 119 RBIs for the Marlins this year. According to Retrosheet.org, the player with the most comparable stats through age 24 is longtime home run king Hank Aaron.

Cabrera batted almost exclusively third and fourth for Florida this season. He provides the Tigers with yet another middle-of-the-order presence, to go along with Gary Sheffield, Magglio Ordonez, and Guillen, who batted third, fourth, and fifth, respectively, for most of the 2007 season.

Cabrera, like Sheffield, Ordonez, and new shortstop Edgar Renteria, is a right-handed hitter.

Kenny Rogers re-signed with the Tigers last week, which seemed to eliminate their need for another veteran starter. But Detroit’s interest in Willis rekindled, and a deal became possible once the club retreated from its former stance that Maybin and Miller –considered integral to the Tigers’ future as recently as Monday night – were untouchable in trade talks.

The arrival of Willis gives the Tigers one of the best rotations in baseball. Detroit’s starting staff will now include three left-handed pitchers – Willis, Rogers, and Nate Robertson – along with right-handers Justin Verlander and Jeremy Bonderman.

In addition to Maybin and Miller, the Tigers surrendered two prospects – Trahern and De La Cruz – who were among the organization’s ten best in preliminary rankings by Baseball America.

Why do I have class? Just got back from a project thing, I've got 45 minutes to discuss this...

catbox_9 wrote:

Why do I have class? Just got back from a project thing, I've got 45 minutes to discuss this...

So our farm system is now comprised of the following people:

Rick Porcello

?

Yep

bobrob2004 wrote:

catbox_9 wrote:

Why do I have class? Just got back from a project thing, I've got 45 minutes to discuss this...

So our farm system is now comprised of the following people:

Rick Porcello

?

I commented on this elsewhere. Who's our #2 prospect? That Jeff Larrish guy? He's so mediocre that I'm not even 100% I spelled his name right.

We traded the farm for WILLIS

catbox_9 wrote:

bobrob2004 wrote:

catbox_9 wrote:

Why do I have class? Just got back from a project thing, I've got 45 minutes to discuss this...

So our farm system is now comprised of the following people:

Rick Porcello

?

I commented on this elsewhere. Who's our #2 prospect? That Jeff Larrish guy? He's so mediocre that I'm not even 100% I spelled his name right.

I'm convinced it's one "r" in Larish. Did Clevlen just get upgraded without doing anything?

He's prolly gone too.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Tigers and Marlins have reached preliminary agreement on an eight-player trade that will send Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis to Detroit for a package of six players.

Both sides are in the process of reviewing medical records and finalizing details of the trade, which is not expected to be finalized on Tuesday.

Neither club has confirmed the deal.

In exchange for the two former All-Stars, the Marlins will receive left-hander Andrew Miller, center fielder Cameron Maybin and four additional players.

Cabrera, 24, hit .320 with 34 home runs and 119 RBIs in 2007, while Willis, 25, went 10-15 with a 5.17 ERA in 2007. He has a career 68-54 record with a 3.78 ERA in five Major League seasons. Cabrera has topped 25 HRs and 110 RBIs in all four of his full Major League seasons.

The Tigers swooped into the sweepstakes for Cabrera and Willis on Tuesday and put together a package of players that the Marlins felt too tempting to pass up.

Cabrera and Willis were both rookies on the Marlins '03 title team. Both are eligible for arbitration through the 2009 seasons. Cost has become a concern for Florida, making the two All-Stars expendable.

Cabrera, a four-time All-Star, made $7.4 million this past season and he is in line to earn more than $10 million in 2008.

While the D-Train, who made $6.45 million in 2007, is coming off his worst season, he compiled 205 1/3 innings, marking his third straight 200-plus season.

Maybin and Miller were both first-round Draft picks of the Tigers, Maybin in 2005 and Miller in 2006. Both have tasted the Major Leagues.

Maybin, 20, made his debut in August and appeared in 24 games, hitting .143 with one home run in 49 at-bats. However, he made a rapid rise through the Tigers system, batting .304 with 10 homers in 83 games for Class A Lakeland before making a brief stop at Double-A Erie.

Miller, 22, made 13 starts for Detroit last season, going 5-6 with a 5.69 ERA. In 78 Minor League innings in 2007, he allowed 71 hits and struck out 61 batters. He was drafted out of the University of North Carolina.

In addition to Miller and Maybin, rated the No. 3-ranked prospect by MLB.com, the Marlins will receive catcher Mike Rabelo, and right-handed
pitchers Burke Badenhop, Eulogio de la Cruz and Dallas Trahern.

Rabelo, 28, spent 2007 with the Tigers, hitting .256 with one home run and 18 RBIs in 51 games. De la Cruz, 23, pitched 6 2/3 innings for the Tigers last season with no decisions and a 6.75 ERA. He was 4-5 with a 3.41 ERA at Double-A Erie.

Trahern, 22, was 12-6 with a 3.87 ERA at Erie, while Badenhop, 24, was 10-6 with a 3.13 ERA at Single-A before going 2-0 with a 1.45 ERA at Erie.

bobrob2004 wrote:

catbox_9 wrote:

bobrob2004 wrote:

catbox_9 wrote:

Why do I have class? Just got back from a project thing, I've got 45 minutes to discuss this...

So our farm system is now comprised of the following people:

Rick Porcello

?

I commented on this elsewhere. Who's our #2 prospect? That Jeff Larrish guy? He's so mediocre that I'm not even 100% I spelled his name right.

I'm convinced it's one "r" in Larish. Did Clevlen just get upgraded without doing anything?

So Clevlen is our can't miss prospect now :pale: ?

You could build a good team with Maybin, Gorkys Hernandez, Jurrjens, Rabelo, Miller, and the rest (Dallas T., Eulogio de la Cruz, et.c).

The TIGERS have given up a TON of propects this fall.

I guess we're in WIN NOW mode for sure!!

Deal makes Tigers more of a contender

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- It's a genuine Winter Meetings blockbuster, that also makes the Detroit Tigers an even more genuine contender.

With a preliminary trade agreement, pending review of medical records, the Tigers hit the daily double in this winter's market, landing third baseman Miguel Cabrera and lefty Dontrelle Willis from the Florida Marlins. The price was steep, including two of the Tigers most prized young players, outfielder Cameron Maybin and lefty starter Andrew Miller, not to mention a backup catcher and three prospects.

If the trade holds up it would add an impact run producer to an already imposing Detroit lineup, and give the Tigers another frontline starter. Not only are Cabrera and Willis impressive talents, but they are still young talents. Cabrera will be 25 by the start of next season and Willis will be 26.

The Tigers in this offseason had already added an impressive veteran shortstop, Edgar Renteria, while planning to move the incumbent, Carlos Guillen, to first base. The addition of Cabrera could mean that Brandon Inge, a fine defensive third baseman, might have to move to left. Or the Tigers could move Cabrera to left, since he played the outfield earlier in his career with the Marlins. Or, figuring that Cabrera's long-term future is probably at first base, they could put him there and make Guillen the third baseman.

In any case, the deal would do two things. It obviously makes the Tigers immediately better. The pursuit of Cabrera, once it was known that the Marlins were making him available, was the second biggest story coming into the Winter Meetings, overshadowed only by the pursuit of Johan Santana.

Cabrera has been a consistent run producer since emerging as a rising star with the 2003 Marlins, a team that eventually won the World Series. He has driven in no fewer than 112 runs in each of the last four seasons. His on-base percentage has been over .400 the last two seasons. He services were widely sought and the Tigers can be considered winter winners for landing him.

Willis was another rookie sensation in the 2003 championship season, going 14-6. He was a 22-game winner in 2005. It is true that he is coming off his worst season -- 10-15, 5.17 ERA. But given his career track, that season looks like the aberration. And given his age it is very unlikely that he has entered an irreversible decline.

It might appear that the Tigers are becoming Marlins North, with now five former Marlins players -- Gary Sheffield, Edgar Renteria and Ivan Rodriguez the other three -- joining manager Jim Leyland, another former Marlin, in Detroit. But in fact if this trade resembles the typical operating pattern of another organization, that organization would be the New York Yankees.

Packaging every prospect in sight for the immediate help of big-name players has been a typical Yankee move. This trade puts the Tigers in a definite win-now mode. They were not far out of that mode, anyway, since they were the American League pennant-winners in 2005.( ) But this sort of trade is only made by a club that feels an urgency to win and win now.

The saving grace in this deal is that the Tigers have not traded for big-name players who are in the fading phase of their careers. They have traded for big-name players who are in their mid-20s. If this trade is completed the Tigers will be considerably thinner in the prospect department. But by getting players who were both young and established, they still have the theoretical possibility of both winning now and winning later.

Landing Miguel Cabrera in itself would have been a coup. Also landing Dontrelle Willis in a market desperately short of frontline pitching makes this a Winter Meetings landslide for the Tigers. If the deal is finalized, they will look like front-runners in the AL Central, not that they looked much worse than that before the deal. But this trade, which simultaneously improves them in both halves of the inning, makes them look like a team very capable of playing as far into October as the law allows.

On the other side of the deal, this trade would be business as usual for the Marlins. They have specialized in rebuilding by trading established players they determine they will not be able to afford for a host of young and indisputably talented players.

This is a skill the Marlins have demonstrated before, and with Maybin and Miller it is obvious that they have not lost their touch.

The problem they have is larger than what occurs on the field. For an organization still trying to find public financing for a new ballpark, the trade of two more substantial players will probably not move that process toward a happy ending. After this deal, the much happier baseball public will be the one in Michigan.

They won the pennant in 2005? Where was I?

I told you Illich wanted a World series win bad! All the news services feel Detroit is an instant contender who will be hard to beat.

I just hate to see all the farm system and two of our starting players go in this deal. With Rabello gone, Wilson better be 100%! to fill in at catcher! And D-train better get his left handed pitching back on track!

We really do have a whos on first, whats on third or outfield.

bobrob2004 wrote:

They won the pennant in 2005? Where was I?

Same place I was, where was this writer? I think 2006 comes to mind..... yep that was the year!

gogetemtigers wrote:

bobrob2004 wrote:

They won the pennant in 2005? Where was I?

Same place I was, where was this writer? I think 2006 comes to mind..... yep that was the year!

Oh yea, 2006!

And 2008!

I bet you 10 bucks that 2008 is going to be another 2004!

Not with the hunger man has for a WS!

Mafia Mike wants that WS Ring! You win for today but we have given up a lot of young talent during the offseason. Let's hope this is the team that will bring a WS title to Motown in 08!

I think that it is! GO TIGERS!

I'm not worried! We picked up 2 young guys! I mean, they're barely older than Maybin and Miller!

Neither am I! GO TIGERS!

Santa Has Come early this year!!! With Cabrera now manning 3rd, and Rabelo gone....this brings to mind MANY questions:

1. Where does Inge play? Backup catcher?
2. Does this leave Inge open as trade bait?
3. Does this make Inge Super-Sub again?

For those who don't like the fact we traded a LOT of prospects...keep in mind....the 2 players we just aquired are young and have many good years left in them. We also still have a fairly well stocked farm system. The Tigers can Win NOW AND be contenders for years to come.

Eat your heart out Steinbrenner! The Tigers are on the Prowel!