The more the Tigers spend, the better their future looks

The Tigers continue their spendy ways, and have locked up another of their young core. Curtis Granderson has agreed to a 5 year, $30.25 million deal. Detroit is set in center for quite some time to come.

At first, I thought that this would be a good opportunity to do another pro/con list, but then it hit me. There is no con to this news.

I could get used to seeing catches like this on a regular basis.

What's not to like about this deal? The Tigers bought Granderson out of arbitration altogether, and his first season of free agency. $6 million a season for a young, elite center fielder is a steal, even more so when you compare his contract to the bloated deals lesser players like Gary Matthews Jr. (5 yr-$50M) and Juan Pierre (5 yr-$45M) received.

Granderson is one of the best center fielders in baseball, and has only spent 2 full seasons in the bigs. He's only going to get better as he comes into his prime. Do I expect another 20-20-20-20 season? Of course not. But he could become an annual 20-20 player, a gold glove fixture in center, and become the face of the Tigers in the process.

Granderson could easily be the next player to join the Detroit jock pantheon, along with luminaries like Steve Yzerman and Joe Dumars. Yes, he's that kind of player.

Not that Granderson held the Tigers over a barrel, which he easily could have done. They have no one else capable of playing center on a daily basis, now or in the future. That fact became quite obvious with trades of Cameron Maybin and Gorkys Hernandez. If Granderson continued to play as well has he has over the past 2 seasons, he could have made a goodly amount of jack in arbitration. But there is something to be said about security, and $30+ million is nothing to sneeze at. This is a contract that works for both sides.

I can't even bring my normal level of TWFE snark, because I'm so in favor of this move. Once again, Dave Dombrowski shows why he should be considered as one of the best GM's in baseball.