The Tigers played it smart with Justin Verlander. As soon as Felix Hernandez signed his contract for $78 million and five years with Seattle, which is a reasonable cost for a premier starting pitcher, the Tigers immediately threw out a five-year, $75 million offer to Verlander. Just enough wiggle room to top King Felix (they eventually upped offer to $80 million). Just enough guaranteed money that Verlander would likely sign. If he had played out his contracts to free agency, Verlander would have gotten much more - assuming he'd maintained health. And probably would have ended up in the Yankees' price range rather than the Tigers' price range.
Will Verlander be a Tiger for the length of the contract? Don't count on it. General manager Dave Dombrowski said the exact same type of things two years ago when the Tigers locked up Curtis Granderson to a five-year deal even before he was eligible for arbitration. But at least this gives the Tigers the option of getting players or prospects in return when it comes to trading Verlander.

Random Thoughts

- Saw where Michigan State athletic director Mark Hollis didn't stick with his new logo. Honestly, I didn't see anything wrong with the change and am curious why MSU's faithful seems to consider it more important than the off-the-field issues facing the Spartans' football program. Hollis' feet should be held to the fire for that, not the logo change.

- The more we know about Demar Dorsey, the more lame Michigan football coach Rich Rodriguez sounds explaining his recruitment.