Ordonez nears number that will pay him 18 million

Detroit Tigers outfielder Magglio Ordonez is about 30 at bats away from a plateau that will activate a clause in his contract guaranteeing him an 18 million dollar salary for next year. Now the Tigers have an important decision on their hands, do they continue to hit Ordonez and pay him the 18 million? Or should this team sit him since they have the Division title virtually locked up? Since Ordonez doesn’t figure into the Tigers long range plans, having to pay him 18 million dollars next year may impede this team’s ability to go out and sign other free agents.

Magglio is at the end of his career and so far through the 2009 his power numbers are way off. He was sat earlier in the season fro what Tigers manager Jim Leyland said was poor performance and what Ordonez’s agent said was tampering. Boras accused the Tigers of sitting Ordonez to keep him from getting enough at bats to reach the guaranteed money for 2010.

Actually the Tigers are in a precarious situation. Lately Ordonez has been helping this team. In the last ten games Ordonez is hitting .343, and is .287 for the year. However in the last ten games he has not hit a home run, and has only driven in two runs. For the Season Ordonez has hit just 7 home runs and driven in just 40 runs.

However, if the tigers are to win their division, and that look likelier every day, they may need Ordonez not only know but in the playoffs. 18 million is a small price to pay for a World Series championship. On top of that maybe the club could negotiate some kind of buy out for him.