Tigers non-tender Chad Durbin

Tigers non-tender Chad Durbin
Posted by Danny Knobler December 12, 2007 17:13PM

DETROIT -- The Tigers won't tender a contract to Chad Durbin today, meaning Durbin will become a free agent.

Baseball teams faced a midnight deadline to offer contracts to all arbritration-eligible players on their roster. The Tigers signed Tim Byrdak to a one-year contract today, and they offered contracts to their other arbitration-eligible players: Miguel Cabrera, Dontrelle Willis, Nate Robertson, Marcus Thames and Bobby Seay.

The Tigers will continue to negotiate with those five players, and any who don't sign between now and Jan. 5 can then file for salary arbitration. Eventually, unsigned players would go through the arbitration process, in which a panel picks either the salary submitted by the player or the one submitted by the team. Most cases never get to that point, with the team and player negotiating a salary.

Durbin lost his chance to remain with the Tigers when the team acquired Willis in last week's trade with Florida. Before then, Durbin was a candidate to be the fifth starter. Now that the Tigers have filled their five-man rotation, there was no place for Durbin, who is out of options and couldn't have been sent to the minor leagues without being exposed him to irrevocable waivers.

Since acquiring Willis, the Tigers have attempted to trade Durbin, but couldn't find an interested team. Other teams knew that Durbin had no role on the Tigers, and they could wait and see if he was non-tendered (likely allowing them to sign him for less money than he would get in arbitration).

The Tigers have also tried to trade Thames, and they still could deal him now. By offering him a contract, they are committed to paying him if they don't trade him.

What! That sucks! Durbin is gone!

cdurb won't like this at all.

I don't either!

catbox_9 wrote:

cdurb won't like this at all.

Oh my gosh, you think!

I am..............well. I'm sure you can guess.

Hang in there!

I'm actually doing a lot better, when I first read that I was pretty upset.

So, that's good.

The Astros need help, that would be GREAT if they picked him up.

Astros should get Durbin!

Astros just traded for Miguel Tejada. Maybe Chad will be the next stro.....??

That is my feeling EXACTLY.

He would be FANTASTIC in Houston.

cdurbfan22 wrote:

catbox_9 wrote:

cdurb won't like this at all.

Oh my gosh, you think!

I am..............well. I'm sure you can guess.

I'm sorry

I like Chad....it'd be a shame to see him leave the Tigers. Even if he wasn't going to be a starter, we sure could use him in long relief. I wish him well if he leaves...but I'd like to see him stick around in the pen.

Non-tendered today.

He gone.....

How much money would Durbin have cost the Tigers?

For a one year contract!

gs78 wrote:

How much money would Durbin have cost the Tigers?

I would say around $2.5 Million.

Not that much if they would have dumped Grilli and any money HE would have cost.....but NOOOOOO!!

Durbin shops for new team; Tigers say starter's asking price too high

December 13, 2007
BY JON PAUL MOROSI
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

Chad Durbin is a free agent after the Tigers did not offer him salary arbitration Wednesday. He and his agent, Dan Horwits, will gauge interest from teams in the coming days to see which clubs would offer him a job in their rotation.

Durbin would like to start -- preferably for a team that will not face the Tigers' fearsome lineup 18 times next year.

"If I had a choice," the right-hander said Wednesday, laughing, "it wouldn't be in the AL Central."

Durbin's departure was the only change to the Tigers' 40-man roster at Wednesday's deadline to tender contracts.

The club retained rights to its other arbitration-eligible players, signing left-handed reliever Tim Byrdak to a one-year, $712,500 contract and offering contracts to five others: third baseman Miguel Cabrera; left-handed starters Dontrelle Willis and Nate Robertson; left-handed reliever Bobby Seay; and outfielder/first baseman/DH Marcus Thames.

The team will exchange salary figures with representatives of those players next month, but the parties could agree to terms before or after that.

After trading for Willis and signing free agents Todd Jones and Francisco Cruceta, the Tigers were unable to offer Durbin a guaranteed spot on their pitching staff.

The team viewed him as insurance, and Durbin's projected salary through arbitration -- about $1.2 million -- was too expensive for that role.

Detroit did make a pre-tender contract offer to Durbin on Wednesday for roughly $500,000. Durbin declined, since he should be able to receive substantially more on the open market. Pittsburgh and Houston are among the teams interested in him.

"He was a longshot to make the club, and we offered him a deal that was consistent with what other people would be making in that situation," president/general manager Dave Dombrowski said. "He said he would rather have the opportunity to go out there and see what's available."

When asked about his time in Detroit, Durbin said, "It was a tremendous opportunity. ... The people who made up the team were guys of integrity, and it showed on the field."

The Tigers' major league roster stands at 38, so the club has room to sign players who are non-tendered by other clubs. The Tigers may use one of those roster spots to upgrade their catching depth at Triple-A.

Byrdak, 34, came up from Triple-A Toledo in mid-May and was an effective member of the Tigers' bullpen over the remainder of the season. He held left-handed batters to a .176 batting average and finished with a 3-0 record and 3.20 ERA in 39 appearances.

Byrdak's contract includes a $12,500 bonus if he appears in 55 games.

The team's decision to bring him back is further evidence of how far Byrdak's career has come. He spent the 2003 season pitching for independent teams in Gary, Ind., and Joliet, Ill., where the manager was former Tigers catcher Matt Nokes.

Several years ago, Byrdak spent his off-season stocking shelves at a Chicago-area Target.

"Timmy has bounced around enough," Byrdak's agent, Mike Mosa, said Wednesday night. "He's happy. Christmas isn't here yet, and he has a job.

"This is one of those circumstances where, instead of going to spring training to win a job, he's going to spring training to keep a job."

The Tigers have attempted to trade Thames during the past week and may ultimately succeed in doing so before Opening Day. Thames likely will make $1.25 million through arbitration, and the team already has signed Mike Hessman for $390,000.

Thames is the more accomplished hitter of the two, but Hessman is the better defensive player.

"The Tigers' major league roster stands at 38, so the club has room to sign players who are non-tendered by other clubs. The Tigers may use one of those roster spots to upgrade their catching depth at Triple-A."

Speaking of this.....The Cubs non-tendered Mark Proir as well. He is injured and not expected back untill the All-Star break (or thereabouts). Any takers if there's a clause in reference to his health? Just throwing it out there for discussion.....

Ohios#1TigerFan wrote:

"The Tigers' major league roster stands at 38, so the club has room to sign players who are non-tendered by other clubs. The Tigers may use one of those roster spots to upgrade their catching depth at Triple-A."

Speaking of this.....The Cubs non-tendered Mark Proir as well. He is injured and not expected back untill the All-Star break (or thereabouts). Any takers if there's a clause in reference to his health? Just throwing it out there for discussion.....

If he's willing to sign a Minor League contract, than I'm all for it. But with the lack of pitchers available and as many teams that need pitching, he'll probably get offered a Major League contract for around $3.5 million. Too much for me.

A couple of other interesting injury-prone names are Kiko Calero and Akinori Otsuka. I think one of those would come cheaper and provide the same low-risk, high-reward option.

I agree...that would be too much to risk on Prior...I'd rather stand pat than to shell out that kind of money. Prior mentioned playing for Iowa again....so maybe a minor league deal wouldn't be out of the question.

Prior will spend more time on the DL than playing.

bobrob2004 wrote:

A couple of other interesting injury-prone names are Kiko Calero and Akinori Otsuka. I think one of those would come cheaper and provide the same low-risk, high-reward option.

Kiko Calero resigned with the Athletics...
Akinori Otsuka was almost traded to the White Sox before looking at his medical records and declined. Looks like he won't be pitching any more innings than Prior will next year...

How many innings will Prior Pitch this season? I say about 10

So glad he is not a Tiger