Dave Dombrowski Gets His Man

Dave Dombrowski gets his man.  Victor Martinez was the best hitter available in free agency.  While it was the obvious decision to bring back the 36-year-old designated hitter who is coming off a career year getting it done is important so that this off-season can proceed.

While 4 years is a lot for a 36-year-old you are hoping to get 2 great years and then it can be a crap shoot.  If he can somehow manage to hold back Father Time for the length of this contract that would be awesome for the Detroit Tigers.  The other benefit is that Victor signed for 4 years for 68 million when he was projected to get 4 years for 80 million. So while 12 million does not feel like a savings it could mean the difference between just patching or actually fixing the bullpen.

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While Mr. Dombrowski has made bigger splashes in signing free agents this maybe his most important signing in his 12 year career in Detroit.  Victor Martinez was a hot commodity this off-season and if they lost him their offense would have suffered a severe blow.  Victor has protected Miggy better than I thought he would while striking out at a insanely low rate. He may have a better eye than Miguel does.  The deal also lets the rest of the American League know that they plan on remaining contenders for the playoffs and ultimately the World Series.

The next decision should be to fix the bullpen, if that means dropping Joe Nathan and trying someone else at close so be it.  The bullpen with the exception of 3 years ago when Jose Valverde was 49/49 has been average to less than average and that has come back to hurt them in the playoffs.  Mr. Dombrowski needs to make a concentrated effort to fix the bullpen by any means necessary.

While Victor Martinez at the start of free agency was number one on Dave Dombrowski’s list of free agency accomplishments, number two is the bullpen especially since he traded Devon Travis for Anthony Gose some what solving their outfield problem.  I believe the bullpen will look vastly different going into the 2015 season, hopefully for the better.