As you have probably heard by now, the Detroit Tigers got their future shortstop by signing Javier Baez to a 6-year, $140 million deal.
But according to a report from Jeff Passan, Baez may not have been the Tigers' first choice as they were one of the teams that were ‘in' on free agent SS Marcus Semien before he ended up signing a massive deal with the Texas Rangers.
During a recent article, Passan said that the Rangers sealed the deal with Semien by playing their “trump card” on the morning of Nov. 28.
After a few days off for Thanksgiving, Semien's market started to percolate, spurred by the Rangers, Blue Jays and Tigers. Determined to seal the deal, on the morning of Nov. 28, Texas played its trump card: a seventh year. The Rangers offered $175 million. At about 5 p.m., Semien accepted. It was the biggest deal handed out by the Rangers since Alex Rodriguez's historic 10-year, $252 million contract more than two decades earlier.
In my opinion, giving Semien, who is 31, a 7-year deal is a bit risky and I think the Tigers were correct to bow out at that point and settle for Baez.
Nation, what do you think?
