Detroit Tigers: What They Make

It seems like you can never escape the talk of money in baseball.  It’s one of the real constants with the national pastime.  Back in the early 20th century, guys like Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth threatened to quit baseball if they weren’t paid a fair amount.  It’s never lost that special charm.

The talk of money here in August, as long as you're a Tiger fan, is centered around draft picks and the aging Magglio Ordonez.  The Tigers are running out of time to sign their first- and second-round picks due to contract concerns (Scott Boras: Jerk) and it’s looking more and more likely that Ordonez will meet the plate appearance clause in his contract which will guarantee him $18M in 2010.

Since we love baseball and money, here’s what certain Tigers are due to make in 2010:

• Magglio Ordonez: $18M if he gets about 80 more plate appearnces this season over the final 45 games. $3M if he doesn’t.
• Miguel Cabrera: $20M
• Jeremy Bonderman: $12.5M
• Carlos Guillen: $13M
• Dontrelle Willis: $12M…ugh
• Nate Robertson: $10M
• Brandon Inge: $6.6M
• Curtis Granderson: $5.5M
• Rick Porcello: $1M
• Everyone else is either a free agent or will be eligible for arbitration.  Guys like Edwin Jackson and Brandon Lyon will likely be due big raises due to their strong performances this season.

Just with the guys listed above, the Tigers will owe at least $100M in salaries.  That doesn’t count re-signing the other guys.  To me that screams that the Tigers will be pretty inactive in the free agent scene this winter. 

As they continue to cut costs, it just blows my mind that they are letting Magglio get so many at-bats.  If they were able to rid themselves of his contract, they could spend a lot of that money to fill a few gaps on their roster.  Oh well.