Before the Tigers went and shocked the world by signing Prince Fielder to a nine-year, $214 million contract last week, the team reportedly had a heavy interest in Roy Oswalt filling the No. 5 spot in the pitching rotation. The day prior to the Tigers agreeing to a deal with Fielder, reports surfaced that Oswalt was not interested in playing for Detroit, though.
Today, CBSSports' Jon Heyman passes along the info that Oswalt turned down a one-year, $10 million deal:
Though Oswalt's agent Bob Garber denied it, one other person familiar with the Tigers' discussions with regarding said Oswalt declined to accept Detroit's offer of about $10-million after it met Garber's asking price. That person said Garber requested $10 million, but after Tigers owner Mike Ilitch signed off on the $10 million, Garber later informed Detroit that Oswalt was not prepared to take the offer. Garber denied by text that he had asked for $10 million, saying, "I never gave the Tigers a number.''
Now that Fielder has signed and Oswalt rebuffed the Tigers interest, Detroit's beat writer Jason Beck said he'd be surprised if one of the Tigers' young in-house pitchers didn't wind up with the final spot in the rotation.
For more on the Detroit Tigers, check out Bless You Boys. You can also head over to SB Nation's main MLB hub at Baseball Nation.