Jordan Zimmerman to Tigers

[Vecmizer]

Per Rotoworld and John Heyman

CBS Sports' Jon Heyman reports that the Tigers and Jordan Zimmermann have agreed to terms on a contract.
Fox Sports' Jon Morosi and Ken Rosenthal reported late Saturday that talks between the two sides were heating up and they've now apparently crossed the finish line. There's no word yet on the details of the deal, but Zimmermann was widely expected to cross the $100 million threshold with his deal. The Tigers' first-round pick is protected, so they'll forfeit a second-rounder for signing Zimmermann. The 29-year-old held a 3.66 ERA and 1.20 WHIP with 164 strikeouts over 201 2/3 frames for the Nationals in 2015.

[Hornsby]

It better go WELL beyond the 100 million mark, or his agent did a shitty job.

Good signing for the Tigers on a guy who's good, but not great...a fine #2 starter.

[Sharky]

And with the first-round pick protected, the cost to the farm system isn't that bad. I wish the Mets were similarly smart. They seemed to sign away their early picks for years. Now they missed that window.

[Grinch]

Good signing for the Tigers on a guy who's good, but not great...a fine #2 starter.

Do they view him as a #1 or is it still Verlander who looked washed up in the first half, but rebounded in the second half?

[Ryno84MVP]

It better go WELL beyond the 100 million mark, or his agent did a shitty job.

Jordan Zimmermann's deal with Tigers expected to be 5 years and around $110 million.

https://twitter.com/jonmorosi/status/671015273156190211

[cool hand]

Al Avila has addressed 3 of the Tigers' most pressing needs with 3 very nice acquisitions, w/o overpaying for any of them, IMO.
And all before December. I was a little leery of him being given the reigns from within the organization w/o an actual search for a GM, but I am thoroughly impressed so far.
He has a few needs yet to address, but is in a considerably better position to do so at this point.

Bullish on the Tigers in '16

[Hornsby]

I'm reading 5 years / $110 million.

I would have thought that his floor would have been 24-25 million...

[Sour Masher]

I would have thought that his floor would have been 24-25 million...

The deal seems fair to me. Zimmerman has been a very good pitcher, but there are some troubling trends in his performance. $22 million a year for 5 years is a damn fine haul for a guy who isn't an ace.

[Moonlight J]

I have guessed 5/105 a week ago. He's a strong 2, but he's not an ace

[Grinch]

I can easily see his ERA going north of 4.00. He's going from the NL to AL, a pitchers park to a neutral/slight hitters park, his xERA was 3.82 last year (to be fair he has outpitched his xERA the last 4 years). The track record of NL to AL for pitchers always makes me a little pessimistic.

[rhd]

Pitchers normally take about a .5 ERA hit when they move to the AL, right?

In 2015, NL avg ERA as 3.90. IN the AL, it was 4.01. Difference of only 0.11. NL avg BA was .253 and in AL it was .255, so even less of a difference there.

Still, I think he is being way overpaid. Zimmerman's best year arguably was 2014 where he had a 4.9 bWAR, which is AS caliber but nowhere near MVP or Cy Young caliber. Yet his contract strikes me as pretty close to Cy Young caliber. His career K/9 is only 7.4 and league avg in 2015 for MLB was 7.8. And the Tigers already are paying megabucks for a long time to Miggy and Verlander. And Zimmerman will be 30 y/o next year, so he's unlikely to get any better. And Detroit's farm system is one of the worst. It likely will take a lot more than Zimmerman to make them contenders again.

[fuhrdog]

He's going from the NL to AL, a pitchers park to a neutral/slight hitters park

Shouldn't it be a neutral park to a pitchers park.

[Todd Zola]

The parks -- and the divisions are essentially a wash. Skills generally decline 3-5 percent when crossing into the AL. My early numbers are in the 3.60/1.19 neighborhood.

[Mithrandir]

Does the money paid for salaries have any direct correlation to ticket prices?

[Gregg]

I actually expected the Cubs to sign Zim and Samardzija.

While I hope for a Price or Greinke signing I really do not think that is going to happen. This signing has me thinking that it will be a Samardzija signing and a trade of some of our talent for a Ross or Teheran type pitcher. That is fine but certainly not the home run that I want to see.