Detroit Tigers pursuing Carl Crawford
The might be the dumbest headline I have ever written in my sports writing career. Currently the Detroit Tigers have only one legitimate outfielder on their roster, CF Austin Jackson. They have a hole in right, and it looks like the plan might be to platoon a couple of younger players in left. They also have 45-55 million dollars coming off the books so of course they would be interested in one of the hottest free agent to be prospects out there.
The simple fact here is Crawford is a perfect fit for what the Tigers need most. Far beyond an everyday right fielder, Crawford has enough power to hit third in front of 1B Miguel Cabrera, and is fast enough speed to leg out a number of triples in the spacious confines of Comerica Park. Think about it Crawford is already a guy who has legged out double digit triples in five of his 8 MLB seasons. He is fast, and the Tigers could use an injection of speed into their lineup.
It is really too bad that the Tigers let 2B Placido Polanco walk away last winter. Besides being an excellent everyday second baseman, Polanco played a key role as the 2nd batter in the Tigers lineup. Could you imagine a Tigers lineup of Jackson, Polanco, Crawford, Cabrera, and possible Brennan Boesch or another high power free agent hitting fifth? That is the kind of stuff Tiger fans dream of and it would make the Brandon Inge resigning and attempted resigning of Jhonny Peralta much easier to swallow.
So what will it take for the Tigers to sign Crawford? Well he is coming off a 10 million dollar salary year, and the Tigers will likely have to overpay for him a touch. My best guess right now would be 15-20 million a year, and four to six years in length. The financial commitment would likely be right around 100 million dollars. Tigers owner Mike Illitch will have to dig deep into his pockets for that kind of money, but Crawford is about as much of a can’t miss free agent as their is ever likely to be.
Related Links:
•The Business of Major League Baseball
•Joshua Lobdell.com
•MTR baseball
•Pride of the Tigers
