Starting pitcher Mark Buehrle is one of the most coveted players in this offseason's free agent class, and while the Detroit Tigers have shown interest in the 32 year-old right-hander in recent weeks, they are now most likely out of the running to sign him, via MLive.com.
Buehrle wants to sign a multi-year deal and has reportedly received multiple three and four year offers, but Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski confirmed on Monday that Detroit is not likely to offer a multi-year deal to fill a rotation spot at this point.
"We’re open to be in a position where we listen to anything, but we think that if we have our four starters that are established that we would go on with the young guys as a fifth starter," Dombrowski said. "We think that we have more than one that might be able to step up. We’re not looking for them to be our fourth starter."
The Tigers obviously already have their ace in Cy Young winner and MVP Justin Verlander and they are clearly looking to fill out the rotation at the bottom rather than the top, so it appears that Buehrle, who is believed to be attracting deals in the $35+ million range, will clearly not be their man. Instead, the team will call on a youngster within the organization -- the MLive.com article mentions Jacob Turner, Adam Wilk, Drew Smyly, Andy Oliver and Duane Below as potential candidates -- or perhaps a versatile veteran starter who can also work out of the bullpen to fill the fifth spot in the rotation.
Verlander, Doug Fister, Max Scherzer and Rick Porcello are currently penciled in for four of the rotation spots in Detroit.