Tigers & Phil Coke Avoid Arbitration, Agree to a 1 Year Deal

According to Jason Beck, the Tigers and Phil Coke have avoided arbitration and agreed to a 1 year deal. Coke will make $1.85 million this season; it's his 2nd season being arbitration eligible.

Coke in 2012 went 2-3 with a 4.00 ERA and a 1.65 WHIP in 66 relief appearances. He pitched 54 innings, had 1 save and 20 holds. Coke was very poor in the regular season, but redeemed himself in the postseason.

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Tigers & Rick Porcello Avoid Arbitration, Agree to a 1 Year Deal

According to MLBTradeRumors.com, the Tigers and Rick Porcello have avoided arbitration and agreed to a 1 year deal. Porcello will make $5.1 million this season; it's his 2nd season being arbitration eligible.

Porcello in 2012 was 10-12 with a 4.59 ERA and 1.53 WHIP in 31 starts. He pitched 176 1/3 innings and gave up a major league high 226 hits. Porcello has been rumored in trades ever since Anibal Sanchez was re-signed.

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Tigers & Doug Fister Avoid Arbitration, Agree to a 1 Year Deal

According to Jon Heyman, the Tigers and Doug Fister have avoided arbitration and agreed to a 1 year deal. Fister will make $4 million this season; it's his first year being arbitration eligible.

Fister in 2012 went 10-10 with a 3.45 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP in 26 starts. He pitched 161 2/3 innings and tied the American League record for most consecutive strikeouts in a game; he had some injury problems at the beginning of the season, but pitched great down the stretch.

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Tigers & Austin Jackson Avoid Arbitration, Agree to a 1 Year Deal

According to Jon Heyman, the Tigers and Austin Jackson have avoided arbitration and agreed to a 1 year deal. Austin Jackson will make $3.5 million this season; it's his first year eligible for arbitration.

Jackson in 2012 hit .300 with a .377 on-base percentage and had a .479 slugging percentage. He had 16 Home Runs and 66 RBI in 137 games from the leadoff position, it was a breakout season.

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Tigers & Alex Avila Avoid Arbitration, Agree to a 1 Year Deal

According to Jon Heyman, the Tigers and Alex Avila have agreed on a 1 year deal to avoid arbitration. Avila will make $2.95 million this season; it's his first year eligible for arbitration.

Avila in 2012 hit .243 with a .352 on-base percentage and a .384 slugging percentage in 116 games last season. He had 9 Home Runs and 48 RBI in a down season from 2011.

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Tigers & Anibal Sanchez Agree to a 5 Year Deal

The Detroit Tigers did what most people expected them to do, according to Bob Nightengale the Tigers and Anibal Sanchez have agreed to a 5 year $80 million dollar contract.

Sanchez is a beneficiary of inflation on the free agent market this winter. He is slated to be the #4 in the Tigers rotation behind Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, and Doug Fister. With this move, it's also expected the Tigers will now look to trade Rick Porcello, and Drew Smyly will be their #5 starter.

Last season, Sanchez was 9-13 with a 3.86 ERA and 1.27 WHIP, with the Tigers he was 4-6 with a 3.74 ERA and 1.29 WHIP and in the postseason, Sanchez went 1-2 with a 1.77 ERA and 0.98 WHIP.

Given the inflation in player salaries now, I'm ok with the deal as long as money is still on the table for Justin Verlander to sign an extension.

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Tigers Sign Brayan Pena to a 1 Year Deal

According to Brian Britten, the Tigers have agreed to sign Brayan Pena to a 1 year contract. Pena is a catcher who should end up being the backup catcher in 2013 for the Tigers.

Pena is a switch hitter who has a career line of .248/.286/.350 (for a .635 OPS). Last season, Pena hit .236/.262/.321 with a .583 OPS.

I'm not a fan of the move, and think based on Pena's track record, it would be more beneficial to give Bryan Holaday a shot at backing up Alex Avila at catcher.

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