Detroit Tigers Should Invest More In High Profile International Players
By Rich Seroka
The Detroit Tigers have done an excellent job in finding young South American talent and developing it into Major League Talent. However every time a high profile player who might help becomes available the Detroit Tigers always seem to lose the bid. The latest example is Cuban outfielder Rusney Castillo. Dave Dombrowski said they made an offer on the Cuban defector but it was not even close to the Boston Red Sox offer who ultimately signed him. If Dave Dombrowski insists on trading prospects to improve the team signing a ready to make Major League talent player would go along way to help make up for the inequities of our minoe league system.
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It is very frustrating to hear from the experts that the Detroit Tigers are interested in a high profile International player and then realize that they only would sign him in that player cam at a discount. If the Tigers are going to take the time and effort to scout these players they need to be willing to pay them to come to Detroit. These players are good enough to play here and should be paid accordingly, while your never 100% positive about someone till they do it, you are not gonna pay these guys minor league deals and get them to sign.
Dave Dombrowski needs to go to Mike Illitch and get him to open his pocket book for veteran International players. A 23 year old or older player who has played in his home countries porfessional ranks is not going to take a small contract. They are going to want a significant deal because they feel they have earned it. This is especially true for players from Cuba who have to go through the trouble of establishing residency in another country before they can be declared available for free agency. Having to go through all that I would want a big enough deal so I could justify all that I went through to get here. The Detroit Tigers window has all but closed on their chance to win a World Series and seeing that Dave Dombrowski has emptied the cupboard in the minors signing big name international players could be a stop gap and keep the window open for a little but longer.