Yahoo! Sports' Jeff Passan reports the Tigers are discussing a 5-year deal worth $75 million with Justin Verlander.
In a series of tweets, Passan writes:
Baseline of deal is Felix Hernandez's 5-year, $78M deal with Seattle. Seems to have set the market for top-of-the-line young starters.
*snip*
Remember, Tigers shed a ton of money after 2010: Magglio ($18M), Bonderman ($12.5M), Dontrelle ($12M), Robertson ($10M) -- more than $50M.
*snip*
Something else to consider: Verlander's father, Richard, was a longtime union leader. He's not going to accept an below-market contract.
Update: Passan now has a story on it.
Just to be clear, the Tigers might not shed Ordonez's contract. He needs more plate appearances than he got in 2009, but fewer than he had in 2008, for the 2011 option to kick in at $15 million. If he's hitting the ball, the Tigers would be hard-pressed to argue they sat him for baseball purposes. But if he's not hitting the ball, the Tigers will save money and audition some younger corner outfielders from the 40-man roster, I'm sure.
Anyway, a deal of 5/75 sounds fair to both sides. Verlander gets quite a bit of money and a contract similar to a better, younger pitcher. The Tigers lock up their ace for the foreseeable future, or until the Yankees offer them a couple of relievers for him. I do worry about any deal that long with pitchers. However, he seems to be reliable enough mechanically that those worries shouldn't be too great.