Trouble Brewing in Motor City

mlbtraderumors.com reports that Magglio Ordonez has been “indefinitely” benched by the Tigers.

Magglio Ordonez isn’t playing well this year, but he isn’t playing that badly either.  He’s hitting .273 with a .347 OBP but has hit with no power at all this season.  His slugging percentage is currently only .343.

One wonders what is wrong with Ordonez.  It’s hard to imagine him hitting as high as .273 with no power 216 AB’s into the season unless something is physically wrong with him.

However, the big issue and most likely the reason he has been “indefinitely” benched, is that if he gets 215 more plate appearances this year, his $18M option for 2010 vests.  You can see where this is going: if the Tigers don’t play him in order to keep the option from vesting, Ordonez and the Players’ Association will almost certainly file a grievance.

Ordonez will have a good case.  It’s hard to argue that given his past performance and his current .273 average, he won’t eventually start hitting for power again if he continues to play regularly.  By the same token, it’s clear why the Tigers don’t want that $18M option to vest: at age 35 Ordonez is surely looking like his best years are behind him.

There was some talk a few weeks ago that the Tigers’ best option might be to release Ordonez this season before the option vests and simply eat the remaining portion of his $18M+ 2009 salary.  The thinking being that if the Tigers simply release Ordonez, they’d be in a better position to defend against a grievance than if they kept him on the roster but refused to play him enough for the option to vest.

Of course, if the Tigers release Ordonez, that raises the question of what happens if another team signs him for the major league minimum, and he gets enough plate appearances for the option to vest.  Would either the Tigers or the team that signed him after release be on the hook for the $18M in 2010?  There may be a provision in Ordonez’s contract that would prevent the option from vesting if he is released, but it’s just as likely that the contract is silent on this point.  It’s possible the Tigers could get stuck for the $18M, less the $400,000+ his new team plays him for 2010.

A lot of money is at stake, so I anticipate a fight.