Tigers, Granderson agree to five-year deal

Monday, February 4, 2008
Tigers, Granderson agree to five-year deal
Tom Gage / The Detroit News

The Tigers have agreed to terms with center fielder Curtis Granderson on a five-year contract, with an option for the 2013 season.

Financial terms were not announced. Granderson, 26, made $410,000 in 2007.

Granderson has fewer than three full years of experience at the major-league level, so he wasn't even arbitration-eligible this winter. But his breakout season -- in which he hit .302 with 23 triples, 23 home runs and stole 26 bases -- convinced the Tigers that a long-term commitment would be wise.

Granderson finished 10th in voting for the American League Most Valuable Player award.

"We are excited to have Curtis signed to a long-term contract," Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski said in a statement. "Curtis is one of the best young players in the game and a quality individual that represents the Tigers well both on and off the field."

oooooooooo It's about damn time!!

Official Detroit Tiger press release


02/04/2008 1:19 PM ET
Tigers agree to terms on five-year contract with Curtis Granderson

• Granderson's career stats

DETROIT -- The Detroit Tigers today announced the club has agreed to terms on a five-year contract, with a club option for the 2013 season, with outfielder Curtis Granderson.

Granderson hit .302 (185-for-612) with 122 runs scored, 38 doubles, 23 triples, 23 home runs, 74 RBI and 26 stolen bases in 158 games for the Tigers in 2007. He led the American League with 23 triples, while he finished third with 122 runs scored and 84 extra-base hits, fourth with 338 total bases and sixth with a .552 slugging percentage.

"We are excited to have Curtis signed to a long-term contract with the Tigers organization," Tigers President, Chief Executive Officer and General Manager David Dombrowski said. "Curtis is one of the best young players in the game and a quality individual that represents the Tigers well both on and off the field."

He became just the second player in major league history to collect at least 30 doubles, 20 triples, 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases in a single season, joining Wildfire Schulte (1911). Philadelphia's Jimmy Rollins accomplished the feat in 2007 as well to become the third player in major league history.

Granderson leads all American League players with 32 triples since the beginning of the 2006 season, while he is sixth with 212 runs scored and seventh with 599 total bases during the two-year stretch.

In 373 games during his major league career with the Tigers, Granderson is hitting .280 (390-for-1395) with 232 runs scored, 76 doubles, 36 triples, 50 home runs and 162 RBI.

Yay for Curtis and Yay for the Tigers!!!!!!!

Yes! This is great news!

SWEET!

In 6 years lets lock him up for 6 more!

Looks like he is gettin a pay raise!

GoGetEmTigers wrote:

WWJ Radio reports contract worth around 30 million.

Lucky Curtis!!!!!
I'm glad they signed him long-term!!!!

Exactly the kind of deal I thought he was going to get.

Now lets sign Cabrera!!!

The agreement, announced by the Tigers on Monday, did not list
financial terms. ESPN reported the package, which includes a club
option for the 2013 season, was worth $30.25 million.

YES!

YES!!!! YAY GRANDY!

Hooray!

Now he's got lots of money to tip those dancers with

Tigers lock up outfielder Granderson with five-year, $30.25M deal

DETROIT -- The Detroit Tigers could have kept Curtis Granderson around for a while, retaining his talents with one-year deals until he became eligible for free agency after the 2011 season.

The Tigers, though, don't just wait around to make moves these days.

Granderson and baseball's busiest team agreed Monday to a $30.25 million, five-year contract that includes a club option for 2013 that could make the deal worth up to $43.25 million.

The deal was first reported by ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney.

"The Tigers held all the chips and didn't have to do anything," Granderson said. "I'm very happy with the way everything happened."

Tigers president Dave Dombrowski is not known to give long-term deals to players before they are even eligible for arbitration, but Granderson merited an exception.

"What makes it different is the quality of player we're talking about and his makeup as a person," Dombrowski said.

Manager Jim Leyland said it was "a great deal" for Granderson and the Tigers.

"He's the kind of player we want, not only in terms of ability but as a quality person," Leyland told The Associated Press. "He's as good as it gets on and off the field."

Granderson had a breakout season last year, hitting .302 with 23 homers and 74 RBIs along with 38 doubles, 23 triples and 26 stolen bases. He led the majors in triples with the highest total since Ty Cobb had one more in 1917.

He joined Willie Mays and Frank "Wildfire" Schulte as the only players in major league history with 20 steals, 20 homers, 20 triples and 20 doubles. Philadelphia shortstop Jimmy Rollins became a part of the 20-20-20-20 club later in the season.

Schulte was the first to accomplish the feat in 1911 while playing for the Chicago Cubs, and Mays did it in 1957 with the New York Giants.

Granderson, who earned two degrees at the University of Illinois at Chicago, has represented Major League Baseball as an ambassador during the past two offseasons in Europe and Africa. The Chicago-area native turns 27 on March 16.

In 373 games with the Tigers, he is hitting .280 with 50 homers, 162 RBIs, 232 runs, 76 doubles and 36 triples.

"Curtis is one of the top young players in the game," Dombrowski said.

Granderson is part of what has become an impressive team, which is trying to go from good to great with an array of moves this winter after assembling a strong franchise.

The Tigers traded for All-Stars Miguel Cabrera, Dontrelle Willis, Edgar Renteria along with Jacque Jones this winter. They also re-signed Kenny Rogers, Todd Jones and Nate Robertson after exercising their option Ivan Rodriguez's contract.

Detroit has improved dramatically in a short time, playing in the 2006 World Series and contending for a spot in the playoffs deep into last season not long after losing an AL-record 119 games in 2003.

Granderson gets $1 million this year, $3.5 million in 2009, $5.5 million in 2010, $8.25 million in 2011 and $10 million in 2012. The Tigers have a $13 million option for 2013 with a $2 million buyout.

Depending on criteria such as All-Star selection and postseason awards, the price of the option could escalate to $15 million.

The Tigers used to rank in the middle of the pack in payroll, but are now among the second-tier spenders trailing the New York Yankees.

"It's amazing from where we are from a few years ago in that regard," Dombrowski said. "It all starts with the owner [Mike Ilitch] and then, fan support allows you to increase your expenditures. All the sudden, we're in a position to put together a team like this.

"Now, we have to take care of business on the field."

Buster Olney is a senior writer at ESPN The Magazine. Information from The Associated Press contributed to this story.

GoGetEmTigers wrote:

He [Granderson] led the majors in triples with the highest total since Ty Cobb had one more in 1917.

That's not true at all

Dale Mitchell had 23 in 1949.
Adam Comorosky had 23 in 1930.
Earle Combs had 23 in 1927.
Kiki Cuyler had 26 in 1925.

Thanks Catbox!

I AM SO HAPPY GRANDERSON IS SIGNED

catbox_9 wrote:

GoGetEmTigers wrote:

He [Granderson] led the majors in triples with the highest total since Ty Cobb had one more in 1917.

That's not true at all

Dale Mitchell had 23 in 1949.
Adam Comorosky had 23 in 1930.
Earle Combs had 23 in 1927.
Kiki Cuyler had 26 in 1925.

Good going ESPN and Associated Press! Don't blame me...

I find more errors in these articles....

Why can't I be their researcher? I mean I didn't even have to look that up (today at least). I've know Kiki Cuyler in 1925 since last July when I started my triples tracker over at tigers.com (now erased...thanks tigers.com mods!)

catbox_9 wrote:

Now he's got lots of money to tip those dancers with

bobrob2004 wrote:

catbox_9 wrote:

Now he's got lots of money to tip those dancers with

Maybe even some Jeffersons instead of Washingtons.

Speaking of Jeffersons, two dollar bills are NOT rare! Spend them. The only reason they're rare is because morons think they're rare because they never see them so they hoard them causing the mint to print fewer - when banks run out they ask the federal reserve bank for more. When the federal reserve banks are out they print more.

The same thing can be said of $1 coins and 50 cent pieces.

If you go to your bank and ask for any of those items they will give them to you at face value. If they say they don't have any, make them order some. If you order enough ($500 for 50 cent pieces, $200 for $2 bills) they will order them for you.

What ever happened to editors and proof readers! They rely on spell check too much and do NOT check facts any more. I also blame the consolidation of newspapers. Both Free Press and Det News owned by same company is bad.

We have three papers in this area of ohio and ALL THREE are owned by the same company now. Articles in one paper end up in one of the other two, a few days later. What a waste. They all follow the same political views and do not check their facts either!!!!

GoGetEmTigers wrote:

What ever happened to editors and proof readers! They rely on spell check too much and do NOT check facts any more. I also blame the consolidation of newspapers. Both Free Press and Det News owned by same company is bad.

We have three papers in this area of ohio and ALL THREE are owned by the same company now. Articles in one paper end up in one of the other two, a few days later. What a waste. They all follow the same political views and do not check their facts either!!!!

I'm not sure, but I think they're separate again.

From Det news site:
http://www.detroitmedia.com/employment.php

"Detroit Media Partnership, an Equal Opportunity Employer, conducts the
business operations (advertising, circulation, finance, human
resources, marketing and production) of The Detroit News and Detroit
Free Press."

All part of Gannett, directly (Free Press) and indirectly (Det News)

"Detroit Media Partnership manages the business operations of the
Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News, including production,
advertising and circulation. Gannett Co, Inc., owner of the Detroit Free Press, is the general partner in the Detroit Media Partnership and MediaNews Group,
owner of The Detroit News, is the limited partner. The two newspapers
publish separate editions Monday through Saturday, with the Detroit
Free Press publishing the Sunday newspaper."

Let's lock up Cabrerra and Verlander and I will be Really, Really Happy!!!!!!!!! Way to go DD, one down two to go.

JON PAUL MOROSI: Inside Curtis Granderson's new contract with the Tigers

February 7, 2008

JON PAUL MOROSI

INSIDE THE TIGERS

Some final notes on Curtis Granderson’s new five-year, $30.25-million contract with the Tigers:

-- The $12-million club option for 2013 would increase in the following scenarios:

It becomes $13.5 million if he is an All-Star selection in 2011 or 2012.

It becomes $14 million if he is elected as an All-Star starter in 2011 or 2012.

It becomes $15 million if he finishes among the top five in balloting for the American League Most Valuable Player Award in 2011 or 2012.

So, the deal’s total value could climb to a grand total of $43.25 million over six years.

-- The deal includes annual award bonuses but does not offer no-trade protection.

-- The contract is worth more than Grady Sizemore’s long-term deal with the Cleveland Indians and is remarkably similar to the contract Colorado shortstop Troy Tulowitzki signed earlier this off-season.

For five consecutive years, in fact, Tulowitzki will earn the same salary that Granderson did during the previous season. (Granderson has one more year of experience, so the deals are identical – but staggered – over that span.)

-- As long as Granderson remains healthy and productive, the Tigers should get great value from their investment.

Even if they pay Granderson the maximum $43.25 million over the next six years, they will spend less than it took to employ Carlos Beltran ($52.93 million) during a similar phase of his career (2001 to 2006). And that doesn’t include an adjustment for inflation on Beltran’s earnings.

Still, the contract is beneficial for Granderson, as well. It allows him to stay with an organization he loves and provides him with great financial security.

VegasTigersFan wrote:

Let's lock up Cabrerra and Verlander and I will be Really, Really Happy!!!!!!!!! Way to go DD, one down two to go.

Cabrera First, Please!!