Tigers re-open negotiations with Rogers

Tigers re-open negotiations with Rogers; Pudge says he'll play past 40

November 19, 2007

By JON PAUL MOROSI

FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

The Tigers have resumed negotiating with the agent for free agent pitcher Kenny Rogers.

The agent, of course, is Rogers himself.

Detroit club president/general manager Dave Dombrowski confirmed Monday that he spoke with Rogers during the day. He declined to elaborate on the substance of their discussion.

Rogers, 43, fired agent Scott Boras last week. In an e-mail to the Free Press on Friday, he wrote, “I hope to be with the Tigers in 2008.”

“We want him back,” Tigers catcher Pudge Rodriguez said in a telephone interview on Monday. “The pitchers all talk to him. He’s big for us. He helps us out a lot. I would love to see him come back.”

The Tigers offered Rogers a one-year, $8-million contract during negotiations with Boras. It’s not clear if that deal is still available to Rogers, but that appears to be the going rate for a veteran left-handed starter. Tom Glavine, 41, signed with the Atlanta Braves for that amount on Monday.

Glavine made 34 starts this year for the New York Mets. Rogers made 11 for Detroit.

PUDGE TO PLAY PAST 40: Rodriguez, who will turn 36 later this month, was asked on Monday if he intends to play past the age of 40.

His answer: “Absolutely.”

Spoiler:

YES!

The TIGERS should sign Rogers now, plus he will keep his Agent Fees!!

Still need another quality starter and one or two relievers....

...to be GREAT in 2008!!

DON"T WORRY TIGERSAINT! WE GONNA DO IT! GO TIGERS! YEAH!

I'm not worried. I'm "feelin" it this year.....

ME TOO! JUST LIKE I AM FEELING A HUGE WIN FOR THE LIONS ON THURSDAY! GO LIONS! BEAT THEM PACKERS!

yeah, well.....let's not get carried away there!!

I'm not feeling THAT!!

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Tigers talking with Rogers

Communication remains open with left-hander after he fires Boras as his agent.

Lynn Henning / The Detroit News

Although the negotiating parties were offering no details, it was a virtual certainty the Tigers and Kenny Rogers talked seriously Monday about a contract that would keep the left-hander in Detroit for the 2008 season.

Dave Dombrowski, the Tigers president and general manager, said Monday that "nothing has changed" from his weekend words that made clear Detroit's intentions. Dombrowski said then he anticipated contract talks would begin at the beginning of this week.

"We continue to have interest in bringing Kenny back," Dombrowski said after Rogers on Friday fired his agent, Scott Boras. "We think the world of him."

Rogers did not respond Monday to a Detroit News e-mail inquiring about the status of negotiations from his perspective.

Rogers, 43, remains the Tigers' top option for filling the veteran starter's role in manager Jim Leyland's rotation.

Boras' firing suggested Rogers and the Tigers might have had at least identified the general contours of an agreement before Boras decided last week to make Rogers available to the open free-agent market.

The Tigers have not disputed reports that they made a substantial offer to Rogers, probably in the vicinity of $8 million, which was Rogers' salary the past two seasons. It is highly probable that performance incentives could take the figure higher, based upon conventional one-year contracts for players of Rogers' status and past achievement.

Both the Tigers and Rogers have said repeatedly during the past season, and autumn, that they hope to work together again in 2008. The Tigers' options apart from Rogers are not clear.

They have an obvious soft spot for a pitcher such as Livan Hernandez, a free agent who pitched last season for Arizona, but who came up with Florida when Dombrowski and Leyland were with the Marlins.

Hernandez, however, in tandem with another free-agent pitcher, Carlos Silva, will likely want a longer contract than the Tigers would prefer to offer.

It makes Rogers particularly attractive to a Tigers team that hopes to nurture its younger pitchers for another year alongside a veteran who can nail down innings and provide a beachhead for Leyland's young rotation. The Tigers prospered in 2006 from having Rogers and his guile at the top of a rotation reeking of youth. Rogers won 17 games during the regular season and three more in the postseason. Last year, he missed the first two months of the season because of arterial surgery.

He then encountered late-season soreness that kept him on the shelf and held him to a combined 11 starts compared with 34 in 2006. His record was 3-4 with a 4.43 ERA.

The Tigers are also hoping to add a relief pitcher at some point before spring training.

There you are!!
Working today?? Not me. Just playing on the boards!!

Methinks they might sign him before Thursday.....

Hurry up and sign him!

Pudge at age 40? I hope it isn't here!

I'm not feeling the Lions winning either...

Its gs78 by himself I'm afraid!!

Favre is hot!!

DAMMIT!!!!!

tigersaint wrote:

Its gs78 by himself I'm afraid!!

Yep! I'll jump on the bandwagon if they start winning again...

That didn't come out right! I"m a fan, but not a believer!

I was the same way with the 2006 Tigers until they clinched the playoffs.

LIONS RULE

GET ON THAT BANDWAGON

gs78 wrote:

GET ON THAT BANDWAGON

LIONS RULE!

BUCS WILL FINISH 8-8 WHILE THE LIONS GO 11-5!

PLAYOFFS HERE WE COME!

Daffy is the PERFECT icon for you.....