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Detroit Tigers Clips

Sunday, February 21, 2016

Detroit Free Press

Seidel: To excel behind plate, McCann puts kale on it (Seidel)

New Tiger Zimmermann calls himself workhorse, not star (Fenech)

Notes: Extension in hand, RF Martinez wants to play ball (Fenech)

Tigers lefty Boyd slides repertoire, impresses Ausmus (Fenech)

The Detroit News

Tigers’ J.D. Martinez: New deal ‘fair for both sides’ (McCosky)

Henning: Greene will surprise, and other bold Tiger forecasts (Henning)

Kensing makes pitch to Tigers in arduous comeback bid (McCosky)

MLive.com

Roster battle: Bryan Holaday has uphill battle to win job as Detroit Tigers backup catcher (Iott)

Detroit Tigers notes: J.D. Martinez reports to camp, says he signed 'fair deal' in offseason (Iott)

Watch Jordan Zimmermann, Michael Fulmer take mound for first time since start of workouts (Iott)

Watch Detroit Tigers catchers have some fun during pop-up relay drill (Iott)

MLB.com

McCann to take on more scouting info (Beck)

Camp notes: J.D. glad negotiations done (Beck)

Zimmermann may hold key to Tigers' success (Bauman)

Associated Press

Still room to improve for Tigers' J.D. Martinez (Trister)

ESPN.com

With extension in the books, J.D. Martinez headed back to work (Strang)

Daily Transactions

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Seidel: To excel behind plate, McCann puts kale on it February 21, 2016

By Jeff Seidel/ Detroit Free Press

LAKELAND, Fla. – On one of the back fields at Tiger Town, James McCann started batting practice.

He crushed a ball that sailed over the right-centerfield fence and disappeared into the construction area at Joker

Marchant Stadium.

Then, he crushed another. And another.

They were all opposite-field blasts, the kind you see when Miguel Cabrera or J.D.Martinez take batting practice.

“You can learn a lot from those guys,” McCann said.

The truth is, McCann’s offense was a pleasant surprise for the Tigers last season after he hit .264 in 114 games

— the longest season of his life. He hit seven home runs, a number manager Brad Ausmus could see increasing

significantly.

“I don’t know if it will happen this year,” Ausmus said, “and I hate to put a number on it. I don’t know if he will

get there, but I think he will be a guy who hits 15 to 20 homers at some point in his career.”

Having said that, Ausmus is quick to point out something more important, something he has stressed almost

daily: “His impact is going to be much bigger on the defensive side of the ball.”

McCann is in an interesting situation. He is entering his first season as the unquestioned, full-time starting

catcher. He is the budding leader of this team, a team-first, no-nonsense field general. It takes years for a

catcher to grasp the nuances of playing in the major leagues: making a scouting report, blocking balls, framing

pitches, throwing out runners, handling pitchers and calling a game.

“Nothing can replace experience for a catcher, especially when it comes to game calling,” said Ausmus, a

former catcher. “Last year, playing as much as he ended up playing, I think is probably an enormous asset for

him. But he’s still learning. Experience is huge in baseball and enormous for a catcher.”

When does a catcher figure it all out?

Ah, there’s the cruel irony.

“Usually, (a catcher) has enough experience to really excel defensively and as a game-caller right around the

time his physical skills start to erode,” Ausmus said.

Which is why McCann has changed his diet.

He already is thinking about the future, trying to get as healthy as possible so that he can have a long, successful

career. Think a couple of decades. Not a couple of years.

Secret ingredient

During the off-season, McCann studied the habits of superstars who have had lengthy careers. Guys like Tom

Brady and Kobe Bryant and Torii Hunter.

“What do they do differently from other guys?” McCann said. “They take care of their bodies.”

So McCann spent the off-season eating less meat and potatoes and more vegetables, chicken and fish.

Suddenly, he ventured into the land of kale. “I would have never known that I would like kale,” he said. “Kale

turned out pretty good. ... You put a little bit of olive oil on it and broil it in the oven, and you are good to go.”

He doesn’t want to be in his best shape in March; he wants to be in his best shape in August and September. He

came to camp weighing 225 pounds — 10 fewer than last year — and his goal is to maintain that weight instead

of letting the long season eat away at his body like it did last season.

“Every aspect of my game I want to improve,” he said. “The thing is, at the end of the day, I want to win, and I

want to win a World Series. We definitely made the moves and have the guys to do it. That means I need to

improve on every aspect of my game, from receiving to throwing to blocking. Every little thing I can do to help

the team win, that’s what I’m going to do.”

In the middle of last season, Ausmus gave McCann the responsibility to make his own game plans. “He’s not

just reading scouting reports,” Ausmus said. “He’s looking at numbers and putting together his own scouting

report on each individual hitter.”

Ausmus takes the same information and does his own scouting report to have in the dugout. But he lets McCann

do it on his own.

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“The biggest thing that I took from last year was how to use all of the information that is available and put

together a scouting report that is useable,” McCann said. “You can’t go into a game and think, ‘OK, 0-2, this

guy hits this or doesn’t hit this. You have to be able to take the information and categorize it.”

It is all part of the plan, the education of James McCann, every aspect of the game, from his offense to his

defense.

All the way to his diet.

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New Tiger Zimmermann calls himself workhorse, not star

February 21, 2016

By Anthony Fenech/ Detroit Free Press

LAKELAND, Fla. – Mark Brost was at a Dairy Queen in central Wisconsin recently, some 25 miles from the

small town of Auburndale, when the owner, a man he didn’t know from Adam, had a question.

It was a question he has been asked time and time again, and when he put in the ice cream cake order for his

Auburndale junior high school basketball team, the man said: “Do you know Jordan Zimmermann?”

Brost has known Zimmermann since his early years. He taught him in elementary school. Coached him in high

school. Played catch with him this winter.

And after he told him, yes, he did know Jordan Zimmermann, the man gave a response Brost has heard time and

time again.

“He said, ‘Yeah, I heard he’s really good with that town,’ ” Brost said. “People in the area, I don’t know how

many times I’ve heard people from other towns say, ‘God, I hear he’s really good for the community. I hear he

really helps the communities out.’ ”

This year, for the first time in Zimmermann’s seven-year professional career, he will join a new community. He

is the Tigers’ $110-million man, signed to a five-year contract this off-season. But behind the big contract, the

one Zimmermann never dreamt he would sign, lies the small-town personality of a quiet kid who has ridden his

right arm into the upper echelon of major league pitchers, the same arm that Brost noticed one recess in the fifth

grade.

Quiet and competitive

Jordan Zimmermann is, by admission and observation, a soft-spoken guy.

“I tend to be quiet in the beginning around people I don’t know,” the 29-year-old said last week, sitting at a

picnic table outside of the clubhouse at Joker Marchant Stadium. “I just kind of feel out the situation at first.”

And during his first few days in Tiger Town, the unassuming Zimmermann was the one player people didn’t

know. Autograph-seeking fans asked who that was when he walked by. Reporters couldn’t pick him out in a

crowd. A parking lot attendant wondered, “Was that the guy they signed?”

Brost saw that personality his freshman year of high school.

“He was one of the quietest kids I’ve ever been around,” he said.

College coach Tim Bloom saw it his freshman year at Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

“I never really saw him show a whole lot of emotion,” he said.

But that emotion is inside of him, they would find out, even if the words didn’t ring loud. It was Zimmermann’s

competitive nature that stood out, on the football field and basketball court and baseball diamond, even as he

struggled to stand out for big colleges and big league teams along the way.

“I think it’s easy to mistake quiet athletes for those that don’t care,” Bloom said. “He has a tremendous

competitive fire inside of him, and he’s one of the toughest young men that I’ve ever coached. He’s not going to

seek out attention or try to draw people to him based upon his words. He’s going to let his play on the field do

the talking for him.”

But coming out of high school in central Wisconsin, where the travel baseball scene had yet to bloom and

scouts were scarce, Zimmermann’s play didn’t speak loudly enough.

‘Look at that’

It was late in his fifth-grade year, Brost recalled. He was Jordan Zimmermann’s homeroom teacher, sitting

around with a couple of colleagues, when the youngster uncorked a football during recess.

“I said, ‘Oh, my god, look at that,’ ” he said. “He’d play quarterback, and he’d just grab the ball and throw a

pass, and it was unbelievable.”

The passes would go 60 yards, Brost estimated. Perfect spirals, sailing forever.

In the years that followed, he would watch Zimmermann in Little League games and junior high games. He

made him the starting catcher on varsity — as a freshman. Zimmermann started pitching as a junior, but after

two seasons of dominating the competition at the top of the Auburndale High rotation, he still couldn’t get

much attention.

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So Brost sent a letter to every one of the 30 major league teams.

He said there was baseball player in his program, 6 feet 1, 170 pounds, a real hungry player he thought was

worthy of a look.

“I tried to keep things simple but also express the fact that there was a lot of potential there,” Brost said. “I

thought I saw that in Jordan. That’s why I wrote the letters. I thought this was the guy that really could have that

chance later on.”

Three teams got back to him: the Phillies, Red Sox and Dodgers, who sent a regional scout. The scout didn’t see

much potential in Zimmermann’s 84-m.p.h. fastball and wiry frame and left.

But the fastball was deceiving, and the frame was on the brink of bulking up.

Because he stepped right off the hardwood onto the mound in early spring after Auburndale High made deep

runs in the state basketball tournament, Zimmermann didn’t stretch out until late in the season. When he did that

summer, his fastball was pushing 90 m.p.h.

He had one opportunity to play college baseball, at non-scholarship Division III Stevens Point, went on a strict

weight program and gained 15 pounds. He was hitting the mid-90’s after his sophomore year, starring in the

Northwoods League against premier college competition, when scouts started to take note. The Nationals

drafted him in the second round in 2007 after his junior year.

“Coming out of college, I wasn’t expecting to make it to the big leagues,” Zimmermann said. “I was a second-

rounder, but I was still a guy that everyone took a chance on. He’s coming from Division III. How good is he

going to be?”

Taking the blue-collar route didn’t bother him, he said. No extra fuel for being overlooked at small schools in

favor of less talented players at bigger schools. Grab your lunch pail. Put in your work. See what happens.

“An old-time coach in Auburndale said, ‘You know, it doesn’t matter the size of your school,’ ” Brost said. “ ‘If

you’re good enough, people will find you.’ ”

Farm strong

Jordan Zimmermann always found himself next door, working on his grandparents’ farm.

His mother, Kris, has video of him climbing on machinery when he was really young, maybe 4 or 5, and he got

up early in the morning and stayed late at night helping out during his childhood.

“As a farmer, you don’t get any days off,” he said. “So I kind of have that mentality in my head, that every day I

have to get over there and do my chores and do stuff on the farm, and that kind of helped shape me into the way

I am today.”

After a quick rise to the big leagues — he debuted with the Nationals in 2009 after one full season in the minor

leagues — he found himself on the operating table for elbow ligament reconstruction surgery after just 16

games.

It wasn’t the toughest injury of his career. Zimmermann had suffered a broken jaw in college when a teammate

smacked a line drive off the side of his face entering his breakout junior year at Stevens Point, which threatened

to derail his baseball dreams just as they were leaving the depot. But it was the most trying, he said.

And as he went through rehabilitation, a pain-staking test of patience, he drew back on those 12-hour days

growing up and the work ethic they instilled.

“For me, it wasn’t mental,” Zimmermann said. “It was probably the harder of the two (injuries), but it comes

back to the mind-set of work on the farm and working hard.”

Doctors said it would take 12-18 months. Zimmermann’s goal was 12 months. He returned to the major leagues

Aug. 26, 2010, 12 months and a few days after.

Ever since, he has taken that workmanlike attitude to the mound. In the five seasons that followed,

Zimmermann posted a 3.14 ERA, made two All-Star appearances and pitched a season-finale no-hitter against

the Marlins on Sept. 29, 2014. He has made at least 32 starts in each of the past four seasons, pitching at least

195 innings in all.

Asked to describe himself as a pitcher, he said, “I’m a workhorse.”

So when the Tigers were seeking a workhorse to stabilize the front end of their rotation this winter, and when

they made it clear Zimmermann was their first choice, it was a simple choice for a simple guy.

“That’s what I really liked,” he said. “That’s why I’m here.”

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True to his roots

Jordan Zimmermann doesn’t know a thing about the spotlight.

Throughout his career, he always has been in the shadows. In high school, he couldn’t get a Division I

scholarship. With the Nationals, there was Stephen Strasburg. Then Max Scherzer.

“I guess, growing up, I was never the star,” he said. “I was never the guy, and I just took care of my business

and flew under the radar, and I like it that way.”

It was no different Nov. 30, when he was introduced inside the Tiger Club at Comerica Park. Seated to his left

on the stage was longtime team owner Mike Ilitch, who hadn’t spoken publicly in some time and stole the show

with one-liners.

There were as many questions for Ilitch as there were for Zimmermann, questions about the Tigers’ former

general manager, not their new starting pitcher.

But the quiet character from Auburndale, Wis. — “Population: 738,” the city’s welcome sign reads — wouldn’t

have it any other way.

He likes hunting, ice fishing and Bud Light. The Packers, too. He’s funny, they say, and has been known to pull

pranks. He’s a multimillionaire who drives a Ford F-150 and lives in a modest house in a rural area a few miles

away from where he grew up, and he doesn’t ever see himself moving.

“I love it,” he said. “Anytime you can go back to the town you grew up in and stay in the community and help

out, even just going and playing catch at the high school with the kids and elementary kids that see you come in,

wanting autographs, they love it. I like going back.”

Back to his small-town roots, to the gym he played basketball in, on the floor for which he made a big donation,

playing catch with his old high school coach during an open gym in late December.

“There were a whole bunch of kids in town,” Brost said. “They didn’t recognize him. I said, ‘Do you know who

that was?’ That was Jordan Zimmermann.’ ”

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Notes: Extension in hand, RF Martinez wants to play ball February 21, 2016

By Anthony Fenech/ Detroit Free Press

LAKELAND, Fla. – It didn’t take long.

The off-season wasn’t even a month old, and J.D. Martinez was starting to feel stir-crazy.

“I gotta hit,” he said. “I gotta do something. I’ll go crazy. I’ll pull my hair out. I was already swinging in one of

the first weeks of November.”

The Tigers’ rightfielder hasn’t stopped swinging since, and Saturday afternoon he was taking his cuts on a back

field at Tiger Town shortly after arriving at spring training.

“It’s definitely exciting every time you come to spring training,” Martinez said. “It’s the start of a new season,

the start of something fresh. Last year is the past, and the Royals were the World Series champions last year.

But now it’s 2016, so now is our chance to start a new year and hopefully win a World Series.”

Martinez enters the season on a recently signed two-year, $18.5-million extension. He and the Tigers agreed to

the deal to avoid an arbitration hearing, which inched closer and closer as February wore on.

“It was definitely, I would say, a negotiating battle, if you would call it that,” he said. “But that’s the business

side of the game. I just want to play baseball. As cliché as it sounds, that’s what I love to do. I let the other

people take care of that. I just worry about coming out here and hitting and catching the white ball.”

In 2015, he did both of those things, hitting .282 with 38 home runs and 102 RBIs. He won the American

League Silver Slugger Award in rightfield and was a finalist for the Gold Glove.

The sides exchanged figures $2 million apart Jan. 15 — the Tigers filed at $6 million, Martinez at $8 million —

and after failing to reach a midway point completed the two-year deal that will keep the All-Star in a Tigers

uniform through 2017, the season before he is due to hit free agency.

“I wouldn’t have signed it if I didn’t think it was a fair deal,” Martinez said. “I definitely think it was a fair deal

for both sides. It was something that I didn’t want to start off the year on a negative note, going to arbitration

and going through all that stuff.

“Everything with the Tigers has been positive, and that’s the way I wanted to keep it. I didn’t want to go in and

have to go through the battle and the whole negative process. It’s just one of those things. If you can avoid it at

all costs, it’s something you try to do.”

Martinez will be paid $6.75 million in 2016 and $11.75 million in 2017.

There was a longer-term deal discussed before the team signed leftfielder Justin Upton to a six-year, $132.5-

million deal late last month, Martinez said, but nothing materialized.

“It was brought up,” he said. “We definitely talked about it, ... but we couldn’t come to an agreement on it.”

Martinez, 28, has taken off since the Tigers signed him to a minor league deal after the Astros cut him late in

spring training two seasons ago. Now, fresh off a contract extension, he is looking ahead to the near future and

trying to win a World Series championship.

“I feel great,” he said. “I’m just excited to be out here.”

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Tigers lefty Boyd slides repertoire, impresses Ausmus February 21, 2016

By Anthony Fenech/ Detroit Free Press

LAKELAND, Fla. – Matt Boyd had been working on it all off-season.

And Friday, the Tigers left-hander was finally able to show off his sharpened slider.

“It was good and short,” Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. “It was almost a big cutter, more of a cutter than a

true slider. Kind of in between the two.”

Ausmus was impressed with the way Boyd threw, and while he stressed two days into camp wasn’t the time to

throw a party or have a parade, he said he looked “really good.”

Boyd, 25, is likely ticketed to Triple-A Toledo to start the season.

Ausmus said he didn’t really think of him as a candidate for one of the team’s two open relief spots and that he

would remain a starting pitcher. With a few names ahead of him in the pecking order — lefty Daniel Norris and

righties Shane Greene and Michael Fulmer — Boyd can concentrate on stretching out his arm and continuing to

refine that hybrid pitch.

Boyd posted a 7.53 ERA in 13 games — 12 starts — with the Blue Jays and Tigers last season. He was acquired

with Norris and lefty Jairo Labourt in a package for All-Star lefty David Price.

Boyd will throw the shortened slider in favor of the curveball he threw last season, a sweeping pitch with more

break. And it was that slider that caught Ausmus’ eye.

“I was impressed with him,” he said. “He did look good.”

Wilson signed: The Tigers announced they came to an agreement with left-handed reliever Justin Wilsonon a

one-year deal, avoiding arbitration.

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Tigers’ J.D. Martinez: New deal ‘fair for both sides’ February 21, 2016

By Chris McCosky/ The Detroit News

Lakeland, Fla. – Tigers right fielder J.D. Martinez characterized contract talks with the Tigers as a “negotiating

battle.”

If so, there don’t appear to be any losers. Martinez certainly wasn’t bearing any battle scars upon his arrival in

Tigertown Saturday. Nor was general manager Al Avila, whose first order of business Saturday was to rush

over to the batting cages and greet Martinez.

“I am excited to be out here,” Martinez said. “It’s a perfect day to come out for my first day.”

Martinez avoided arbitration this year and next year by signing a two-year deal for $18.5 million two weeks

ago. The deal allows him to make slightly more money than he might have earned through arbitration in 2016

and 2017, and be eligible to hit free agency at age 30.

“I wouldn’t have signed it if I didn’t think it was a fair deal,” he said. “I think it was fair for both sides.”

He’s correct. The Tigers were initially hopeful of signing Martinez to a longer-term deal, but those plans were

scuttled when they committed six years and $132.75 million to Justin Upton in January.

Upton can opt-out of his contract after the 2017 season, so he and Martinez both could hit the market at the

same time. But in part because of the two-year deal with Martinez, as well as some other contracts coming off

the books in 2018, the Tigers should have plenty of financial flexibility, certainly more than they have now.

None of that was Martinez’s primary concern.

“That’s the business side of it,” he said. “It comes with the game but I just want to play baseball. As cliché as it

sounds, that’s what I love to do. Let the business people take care of that stuff and I will just worry about going

out there and hitting and catching the white ball.”

Martinez’s outlook is perhaps a bit more grounded than some others. He was unemployed and looking for a

team to take a chance on him after being released by the Astros before the 2014 season.

The Tigers were that team and he has rewarded them by hitting 61 home runs and knocking in 178 runs the last

two seasons. He made his first All-Star team last season and won a Silver Slugger award.

Had he won in arbitration, he would have made $8 million for 2016. Now, he will average a little more than $9

million for two years. Maybe he could have scraped out a few more dollars from the Tigers, but why let a

possibly contentious contract negotiation ruin the mutual respect he has with the organization?

“I just didn’t want to start the new year off on a negative note by going through arbitration and all that stuff,” he

said. “Everything with the Tigers has been positive and that’s the way I want to keep it.

“I didn’t want to have to go through that battle, that whole negotiating process. I just wanted to come to spring

training happy.”

That’s exactly what he’s done.

“Both sides were cool,” he said. “We understood it. There was never any hard feelings toward it on either side.

It’s a business. At the end of the day they are trying to save money and we’re trying to get money. That’s the

battle.

“They want to save money to go out and get other players. That’s how the game is. It kind of sucks, that part of

it. You kind of just want to play for the love and let everything else take care of itself.”

Martinez last season answered the question of whether he was a one-hit wonder. He followed his 23-homer, 76-

RBI 2014 season with 38 and 102. He also took a huge leap forward defensively, settling into right field and

finishing second in the American League with 15 outfield assists.

At the same time, he’s taking nothing for granted.

“There is always room for growth; I believe in that,” he said. “This game is weird in a sense. The minute you

think that you’ve got it figured out, it will humble you real quick. It’ll step on you and make you feel this big

(thumb and forefinger an inch apart) again.

“I’m a worker. I never stop. It’s in my blood. If I am not doing something, I feel like I am wasting my life.”

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Henning: Greene will surprise, and other bold Tiger forecasts February 21, 2016

By Lynn Henning/ The Detroit News

Lakeland, Fla. -- Phone calls have been steady. Questions have been torrential.

Everyone wants to know what’s up with the Tigers at spring camp.

So, it was decided that rather than expend an over-abundance of Verizon’s time and my money, perhaps a first-

week compilation of queries, with answers flavored by a dose of soothsaying, might be in order. Here goes:

Who will be spring camp’s big surprise?

Answer: Shane Greene. When you listen to Greene talk about his shoulder artery and the blood clots that last

season moved from the shoulder to his right (throwing) hand, you wonder how he survived, let alone threw a

baseball.

He had numbness. He had black-and-blue fingers. He was a mess. Detroit News colleague Chris McCosky

watched his bullpen session Saturday, alongside Tigers assistant general manager David Chadd, and both were

awed by the difference in Greene’s pitches. Stay tuned.

Did last year’s embarrassing early ticket home inject maturity into Bruce Rondon and his approach to pitching?

Answer: We’ll see. He looks good. He spoke with media Friday and was courteous. If there were any troubling

signs, it was Rondon’s refusal to discuss 2015 and the Tigers’ decision to send him back to Venezuela ahead of

the season’s completion. He said he didn’t care to talk about last year. Well, OK. But a young man (25) who

seems unwilling to confront some past slovenliness and discuss it candidly leaves one fairly wondering if

lasting lessons have been learned.

He has youth and a powerful arm on his side. If he brings an equal amount of resolve to his pitching portfolio,

Rondon could yet become an important reliever.

What are the chances Bobby Parnell becomes part of Detroit’s bullpen mix?

Answer: Not a great bet Parnell will contend for a job during spring camp, and that’s where things could get

sticky. But this was an example of a low-cost, no-downside signing that could pay off for Parnell and for the

Tigers. It has to do with Tommy John recovery. It can take a couple of years. Parnell’s only 31 and is 22 months

from elbow surgery.

It was a wise investment by general manager Al Avila, with only one glitch: Parnell, if he doesn’t make the club

during spring camp, could opt out of his contract and sign elsewhere. The likelihood is he would stick with the

Tigers and with a meaningful minor-league deal, assuming he agrees with them that a bit of work at Triple A is

in everyone’s interest.

What will the Tigers do with their best young pitcher, Michael Fulmer?

Answer: It surprises to hear the Tigers talk about Fulmer as a bullpen option. They have a brilliant right-handed

pitcher here, one who has started and who figures to start in the big leagues if he heads, as planned, for Triple-A

Toledo in April.

The Tigers are open to making Fulmer a temporary back-end reliever. It wouldn’t be the blueprint here, all

because Fulmer has immense potential as a starter. A guy begins working in the bullpen and suddenly he’s not

throwing that third pitch that otherwise would be stuck in his quiver. They know what they’re doing, but they’re

better in the long term if Fulmer stays with his starter’s script.

Any trades coming up?

Answer: Not immediately. But there will be dealing, almost certainly, at the end of spring camp. The Tigers

signed Jarrod Saltalamacchia as a left-handed bat (he switch-hits) they needed, which makes it all but

impossible for Bryan Holaday to make the team. He’s out of options, so a trade would be in the picture, given

the market for legitimate backup catchers.

The Tigers might also pare down their sudden surplus of outfielders. Justin Upton’s signing means Tyler

Collins will have a tough time making the club. He’s marketable, also, because of his left-handed bat. If the

Tigers could count on Steven Moya advancing at Triple-A Toledo in 2016, trading Collins for the right brand of

return would be an option.

If the Tigers deal, Holaday, who’s the team’s third catcher?

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Answer: You had to ask. Well, that would be, uh, er, um, Miguel Gonzalez. You know all about him, of course:

25 years old, bats right-handed, 5-foot-11, 220 pounds, former White Sox prospect from Venezuela. Signed

with the Tigers in 2014 as a minor-league free agent. Played last year at Toledo and at Double-A Erie and had

these combined numbers: .242 batting average, with a .638 OPS. Hey, you asked.

Who is the first position player headed to Detroit from the minors in 2016?

Answer: Probably the most interesting position prospect in the system, Dixon Machado. The Tigers will do one

of three things with Machado in 2016: (a) keep him at Toledo and use him as alluring trade bait at July’s

deadline should they find themselves in the playoff hunt; (b) bring him to Detroit immediately should Jose

Iglesias or Ian Kinsler get hurt; (c) begin working him at shortstop and Iglesias at second base should Kinsler

either get hurt or be dealt or whatever.

The Tigers would view Machado as having greater range at short and Iglesias as being capable of bringing his

flash and fast hands to second base.

Who starts in center field?

Answer: Anthony Gose. He’s a more natural center fielder than is Cameron Maybin, who can swing easily from

left to center depending upon matchups, injuries, players needing rest, etc. Gose also bats left-handed and that’s

an important option to present against teams that have a majority of right-handed pitchers.

It isn’t clear that Maybin will get as many at-bats as the Tigers had envisioned. But that isn’t as important, at

least to the Tigers, as having an excess of legitimate starters at Brad Ausmus’ disposal.

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Kensing makes pitch to Tigers in arduous comeback bid

February 21, 2016

By Chris McCosky/ The Detroit News

Lakeland, Fla. — In one corner of the Tigers clubhouse at Joker Marchant stadium sit six players, all non-roster

invitees, all with big league service time, all looking for another opportunity however long the odds may be

against them.

Outfielders Nate Schierholtz (Giants, Cubs, Nationals, Phillies) and John Mayberry, Jr. (Phillies, Blue Jays,

Mets), are over there, as are pitchers Drake Britton (Red Sox), Preston Guilmet (Indians, Orioles, Rays,

Brewers) and Lendy Castillo (Cubs).

The sixth member of that group, right-hander Logan Kensing, has had perhaps the longest and most unfortunate

journey of them all.

“I don’t want to say it’s been long because it makes me sound old,” he said. “But it’s been up and down. Lot of

hills and a lot of valleys. I’m 33 and I’ve battled through a lot.”

Kensing was a second round pick of the Marlins in 2003 and made it to the big leagues in 2004. By 2006 he was

a key contributor in then manager Joe Girardi’s bullpen.

Things quickly went off the rails. It started with an elbow injury and Tommy John surgery in August of 2006.

He made it back by the end of 2007 and wound up going 6-1 with an ERA under 4.00 between the end of 2007

through 2008.

By 2010 he was unemployed.

He was traded to the Nationals in 2009 and injured his shoulder. A surgery was performed to remove bone

spurs.

“I went all the way through the rehab process only to find out they didn’t remove the right bone spurs,” Kensing

said. “They had to redo it.”

It took him more than three years to work his way back. He was pitching in the Independent League in 2011

before the Yankees, with Joe Girardi managing, gave him a shot with their Triple-A team.

“People don’t like to buy cars if they can’t test drive it,” Kensing said. “So, I had to go show people.”

In 2012 he signed with the Pirates and pitched his way from high-Class A to Triple A. In 2013, he was with the

Rockies’ Triple-A team and finally got back to the big leagues for one game late that season.

The last two years he was with the Mariners. He was called up late last season and went 2-1 with a 5.87 ERA

and 1.23 WHIP in 19 games.

It was enough to entice the Tigers to give him a look.

“When you have that much down time, your mind plays a lot of tricks on you,” Kensing said when asked if he

ever thought of quitting. “But at the end of the day, you only get one shot to play this game. Keep going until

you can’t get a job or until you really get tired of it.

“I’m not there.”

Seven-year jinx?

Studies on the effects of Tommy John surgery have shown that the transplanted elbow ligament will typically

hold up under normal major league baseball rigors for seven to eight years.

Former Tigers pitchers Joe Nathan and Joakim Soria each went seven years between Tommy John surgeries, for

example.

The question comes up because of right-hander Jordan Zimmermann, who is beginning his sixth year post-

Tommy John.

“The truth is, nowadays, anytime a pitcher takes the mound, Tommy John is a concern — even if they never

had the surgery before,” manager Brad Ausmus said. “I know there are studies out there, but what am I going

to do about it. Someone might get injured. Well, if I knew what day he was going to get injured, I’d sit him.”

Greene pen-bound?

Ausmus closely watched right-hander Shane Greene’s bullpen session on Saturday. Ausmus has made the point

that he didn’t want Greene to be forgotten man in the Tigers' pitching plans.

13

Greene’s strong showing Saturday validated that. Healthy after dealing with a nerve issue in his shoulder last

season, he’s throwing hard with heavy sinking action on both his fastball and slider.

“He had an off year, but the stuff we saw a couple of years ago is still in him,” Ausmus said.

Although Ausmus hasn’t made anything official, it appears Greene will be working as a reliever, at least early

in camp.

“I don't want to pigeonhole him, but I think his velocity might tick up a bit (in relief), and he'd have a little

harder slider,” Ausmus said. “Plus, you only need two pitches coming out of the pen."

14

Roster battle: Bryan Holaday has uphill battle to win job as Detroit Tigers backup catcher February 21, 2016

By Chris Iott/ MLive.com

The Tigers will carry two catchers this season. They have just three viable candidates for those two jobs and

will have a decision to make when it comes to choosing a backup catcher.

Here is a look at the battle for that spot.

Lock

James McCann will be the starter for the Tigers in 2016 and will get the majority of the playing time no matter

who backs him up. He had a solid rookie season and should only get better as he gets experience at the major

league level.

Contender: Jarrod Saltalamacchia

The veteran switch hitter struggled at the start of the season in 2015 only to be cut by the Miami Marlins after

fewer than 30 at-bats. He went on to post solid numbers for the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Tigers are on the

hook for about $500,000 for Saltalamacchia this season. The Marlins will pay the remainder of his $8 million

contract.

2015 numbers

• Miami Marlins: .069 (2 for 29), 1 HR, 1 RBIs, .389 OPS

• Arizona Diamondbacks: .251 (43 for 171), 8 HRs, 23 RBIs, .805 OPS

Contender: Bryan Holaday

Holaday posted solid offensive numbers in 2015 for the Tigers. But 64 at-bats is not a huge sample size and

Holaday has a career .643 OPS in the minors. Holaday is out of options, so the Tigers would have to risk losing

him on waivers before sending him to Triple-A Toledo.

2015 numbers

• Detroit: .281 (18 for 64), 2 HRs, 13 RBIs, .745 OPS

• Triple-A Toledo: .224 (36 for 161), 2 HRs, 17 RBIs, .593 OPS

Summing it up

When the Tigers added Saltalamacchia, they said that he and Holaday would compete this spring to be the

backup catcher. But it would be a surprise if they let him walk and kept Holaday on as the backup.

Prediction

Saltalamacchia will be the backup to James McCann. The Tigers will try to sneak Holaday through waivers so

they can keep him in the system as the starter for Triple-A Toledo.

15

Detroit Tigers notes: J.D. Martinez reports to camp, says he signed 'fair deal' in offseason February 21, 2016

By Chris Iott/ MLive.com

LAKELAND, Fla. -- J.D. Martinez was happy to be in training camp Saturday, a few days before he was

required to arrive.

He said he was happy with the two-year deal he signed earlier this month, not long before he and the Tigers

would have been headed to an arbitration hearing.

"I wouldn't have signed it if I didn't think it was a fair deal," Martinez said of the contract that will pay him

$6.75 million this season and $11.75 million in 2017. "I think it was fair for both sides. I just didn't want to start

the new year off on a negative note by going through arbitration and all that stuff. Everything with the Tigers

has been positive and that's the way I want to keep it."

Martinez certainly made the Tigers happy with his play on the field in 2015. He hit .282 with 38 home runs, 102

RBIs and an .879 OPS last year. That came on the heels of a 2014 season that saw him hit .315 with 23 home

runs and 76 RBIs for the Tigers.

It seems that Martinez would have been a good bet to win his arbitration case after the Tigers filed an offer of

$6 million and Martinez asked for $8 million. If Martinez had won that case and followed it up with a good

season in 2016, it's likely he would have made at least the $11.75 million he signed for in 2017.

Did bypassing arbitration cost Martinez money? It might have. But you never know. There's a chance he could

have lost his arbitration this year and made less over the next two seasons.

"It was definitely a negotiating battle," he said. "That's the business side of it. That comes with the game. I just

want to play baseball. As cliché as it sounds, that's what I love to do. Let the business people take care of that

and I can just worry about going out and hitting and catching that white ball."

TIGERS NOTES

Detroit Tigers catchers participate in a pop-up relay drill Saturday during the second official day of workouts.

Three more report: Martinez, Andrew Romine and Wynton Bernard reported to camp Saturday. They joined

Jose Iglesias, Anthony Gose, Mike Aviles, Dixon Machado, Nick Castellanos and Tyler Collins as position

players on the 40-man roster who have reported early. The deadline for position players to report is Monday.

Good first impression: Matt Boyd made an adjustment to how he throws his slider and left a good first

impression on Tigers manager Brad Ausmus. "It looked really good," Ausmus said. "He was throwing it where

he should and it had a good, short ... it was almost a big cutter, more of a cutter than a true slider. Kind of in

between the two. But I was impressed with it. Again, it was the first time off the mound. I'm not ready to throw

a party or have a parade, but he did look good."

Power coming? Ausmus believes catcher James McCann will hit for power at some point in his career. "I don't

know if it'll happen this year," Ausmus said, "but I think he's a guy who's going who hits 15 to 20 homers at

some point in his career. That's my guess. It doesn't mean it's going to happen, but I think it will."

Rotation order: Ausmus isn't setting anything in stone, but it appears that Jordan Zimmermann will start the

second game of the season with Anibal Sanchez starting the third game, which is the home opener for the

Tigers. Justin Verlander will start the season opener.

16

Watch Jordan Zimmermann, Michael Fulmer take mound for first time since start of

workouts

February 21, 2016

By Chris Iott/ MLive.com

LAKELAND, Fla. -- One is a veteran who just signed a huge contract. The other is a prospect who has never

pitched above the Double-A level. Detroit Tigers fans are probably eager to see both of them in action.

On Saturday morning, right-handers Jordan Zimmermann and Michael Fulmer threw off a mound for the first

time since the start of official workouts for pitchers and catchers.

Zimmermann signed a five-year contract worth $110 million as a free agent this offseason and will slot in as the

No. 2 starter for the Tigers.

"He looked good," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. "He just looked like he was working on his stuff. It looks

like his fastball has good life. He threw all four of his pitches. But it was his first day."

The Tigers obtained Fulmer from the New York Mets last summer in exchange for outfielder Yoenis Cespedes.

By all accounts, he is the team's top prospect.

Fulmer is expected to be part of the competition to be the team's fifth starter, but Ausmus said he's more likely

to be in the bullpen if he makes the team heading out of spring training.

"He has a high intensity delivery that kind of explodes on the hitter," Ausmus said. "Apparently the ball

explodes on the hitter as well. But again, it's the first day off the mound."

17

Watch Detroit Tigers catchers have some fun during pop-up relay drill February 21, 2016

By Chris Iott/ MLive.com

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Spring training lasts a long time, so coaching staffs try to lighten the mood at times.

They did Saturday morning when the catchers wrapped up their pop-up drill with a relay event.

They had drills that featured one catcher catching a pop-up and throwing his mitt to another catcher, who had to

catch a ball that was already in the air. Another catcher was added later, making it a relay between three

catchers.

"You've got to break it up," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. "Just standing there catching pop-ups in the

Florida sun, it can get kind of old. If we can tweak something or put a little twist on a fundamental drill that can

make it more fun for them, make the time pass, then we'll do it. We've done it the past two years."

The final drill included all the catchers. Check out the video to see how it went.

18

McCann to take on more scouting info

February 21, 2016

By Jason Beck/ MLB.com

LAKELAND, Fla. -- James McCann is the son of an aerospace engineer. If anybody on the Tigers should be

able to process large amounts of information and translate it onto the field, it's him.

When he looked for ways to avoid wearing down from the rigors of catching over a season, he compared his

weights from last year. He talked with players who had long careers, including former Tigers teammate and

fellow Arkansas resident Torii Hunter. McCann read up on athletes from other sports, from Tom Brady to Kobe

Bryant to LeBron James, and what has worked for them. McCann talked with Mike Strouhal, a strength and

conditioning coach at the University of Arkansas, and came up with a plan.

"I added a whole heck of a lot more vegetables to the diet," McCann said. "Less meat and potatoes, more

chicken and more fish."

He reported to camp last year at 235 pounds, opened the season at 225 and ended at 215. He reported this year

at 225 and wants to stay above 220 all season. He looks bigger and stronger at first glance, but he's leaner.

"I would've never thought I'd like kale," he said with a smile. "Kale turned out pretty good. Put a little olive oil

on it, broil it in the oven, and you're good to go."

When the Tigers plot a course to trim the damage on a pitching staff that gave up the highest ERA in the

American League last year, McCann will go through a similar process.

One of the Tigers' few bright spots from last year was the progress of McCann, who was thrust from a backup

role when the season began into an everyday role in his first full Major League campaign when Alex Avila went

on the disabled list. Around midseason, McCann worked with manager Brad Ausmus to take on responsibility

for game plans, collecting scouting information and statistical tendencies on opposing hitters, and meshing that

with pitchers' strengths. The resulting plan had to be simple enough to execute in a game without overwhelming

McCann or the pitcher.

Essentially, Ausmus did with McCann what coaches did with him when he was a young catcher.

"The biggest thing that I took from last year was how to use all the information that's available and put together

a scouting report that is usable," McCann said. "There's so many numbers out there, you can't go into a game

and think, 'OK, on 0-2 [counts], this guy hits this or doesn't hit this.' You have to be able to take all the

information and kind of categorize it. That's what [Ausmus] was really able to help me do."

Expect them to build on that for Year 2. The information flow increases with the build-out of the Tigers' new

analytics department. The plan must remain simple.

"I think the scouting reports that we handed to him in the middle of last year, the research that we asked him to

start doing, was a really good first step," Ausmus said. "I think over time he's probably going to take that

framework that was given to him and mold it a little bit into what he finds usable. But experience is the most

important factor for a catcher."

19

Camp notes: J.D. glad negotiations done

February 21, 2016

By Jason Beck/ MLB.com

LAKELAND, Fla. -- J.D. Martinez has been a meticulous note-taker since joining the Tigers two years ago,

writing down each battle with pitchers for future reference. As far as he's concerned, though, his arbitration

battle with the Tigers -- which came within a few days of a hearing -- is forgotten.

He called it a "negotiating battle," but he also called it business. He's good with the two-year, $18.5 million

contract reached last week to avoid a hearing.

"I wouldn't have signed it if I didn't think it was a fair deal," said Martinez, whose contract takes care of his

remaining arbitration years but keeps him on track for free agency after the 2017 season. "I definitely think it

was a fair deal for both sides. I didn't want to start off the year on a negative note going to arbitration.

Everything with the Tigers had been positive, and that's the way I wanted to keep it. I didn't want to go in and

have to go through that battle and the whole negative process, and then come to Spring Training and be happy.

If you can avoid it at all costs, that's what you try to do.

"We were both cool, both sides. We understood it. There were never any hard feelings on either side. It's a

business at the end of the day. They save money and we're trying to get money, and that's just the battle. That's

how the game is."

The two sides discussed a longer-term deal, Martinez confirmed, but preferred to take care of it this way.

"It was brought up," he said. "We definitely talked about it, but it was just something that obviously we didn't

really feel comfortable doing at the time. They didn't feel comfortable. It was talked about, but we couldn't

come to an agreement on it."

Sanchez on track for home opener

Though manager Brad Ausmus has decisions to make on the final spots in his pitching staff, he isn't leaving

much suspense with his pitching order. After confirming earlier in the week that Justin Verlander will most

likely start Opening Day on April 5 at Miami, Ausmus said Anibal Sanchez will probably start the Tigers' home

opener against the Yankees on April 8.

Jordan Zimmermann is on track to make his Tigers debut against the Marlins on April 6.

"If it ends up being Zimmermann in Game 2 [at Miami], then it's probably going to be Sanchez in Game 3,"

Ausmus said. "Probably, not definitely."

It would be the first time Sanchez has started Detroit's home opener. But then, the Tigers have opened the

season at Comerica Park in each of the past two seasons.

Popup drills

Ausmus has tried to find ways to make routine drills more fun as a manager, knowing the monotony can drag

on veterans. So catcher popup drills on Saturday turned into a relay race.

As one catcher fielded a popup, he tossed his mitt to the next catcher to try to catch the next popup.

"You have to break [the monotony] up," said Ausmus, who went through plenty of popup drills during his

catching career. "I mean, just standing there catching popups in the Florida sun can get kind of old. If we can

tweak something or put a little twist on a fundamental drill that can make it more fun for them, make the time

pass, then we'll do it. We've done that the past two years."

20

Zimmermann may hold key to Tigers' success

February 21, 2016

By Mike Bauman/ MLB.com

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Jordan Zimmermann plans to be "the same old Jordan" in 2016. The Detroit Tigers would

be just fine with that level of accomplishment.

One of the reasons for renewed optimism in Tiger Town this Spring Training is the acquisition of Zimmermann.

He figures to be the No. 2 starter in Detroit's rotation behind a once again healthy Justin Verlander.

With his previous team, the Washington Nationals, there was always somebody on the pitching staff more

heralded. But there wasn't anybody who, over the last four seasons, produced with the kind of consistency and

efficiency that Zimmermann did.

The payoff for Zimmermann, 29, was a contract for $110 million over five years. The payoff for the Tigers

could be a return to the top of the American League Central. The Tigers had won four straight division titles

before falling to fifth place last season.

Detroit made Zimmermann its No. 1 pitching priority in the offseason.

"He was kind of the guy we had targeted," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said on Saturday at Joker Marchant

Stadium. "To be honest with you, I thought it was a little bit of a pipe dream that we could get him. A lot of

times you target somebody, but it's a lot harder to actually get the guy. And [general manager] Al [Avila] was

exploring a number of pitching options. And all of a sudden, after Thanksgiving, Al called me and said, 'I think

we've got a shot at Zimmermann.' And by that Friday night, it was done.

"So it happened fast. Al had talked to [Zimmermann's] agent multiple times over the course of weeks, but it was

kind of a pipe dream. ... Then, within a matter of 24 to 36 hours, it happened."

Zimmermann had other offers. But when the Tigers made him their leading priority, that made an impression.

"They had me as their top target," Zimmermann said. "With other teams, I was their second or third option --

and I didn't really like that. I wanted to go with these guys because they wanted me pretty bad."

Zimmermann is the total package, bringing both ability and intangible assets to his work.

"He has a track record, he has professionalism, he has experience, he has a calmness on the mound, he has a

competitive edge that it's sometimes tough to teach," Ausmus said. "He has a lot of the intangibles along with

good stuff."

Zimmermann has a well-earned reputation as a fierce competitor.

"I've always had that," he said. "I'm a big-time competitor, and I hate to lose. That's just the way I've always

went about it. When I was coming up, I wasn't always the best player and I've had to work hard to get to where I

am."

Perhaps he was made tougher by living through winters in central Wisconsin, where he grew up and where he

still spends the offseason.

"You've got to learn to survive," Zimmermann said, with a smile.

Zimmermann threw his first bullpen session of Spring Training on Saturday, throwing 50 pitches, hitting the

catcher's glove in place with complete regularity.

"It looks like his fastball has good life; he threw all four of his pitches," Ausmus said. "Just the first day, you

know."

The Tigers are justifiably excited to have Zimmermann on hand. And Zimmermann is just as happy to be here.

"If you ask me, this is probably the best lineup in the game," Zimmermann said. "Opposing pitchers, coming in

here or at their place, it's going to be tough to get through this lineup three times. This lineup is solid 1-9. As

long as we stay healthy and do our jobs, we should have a really good year."

There will be an adjustment to a new league and unfamiliar hitters. But going in, Zimmermann knows this.

"[The AL is] a little different animal," said Zimmermann. "I don't really know the hitters. So I'm going to lean

on [catcher James] McCann to guide me through the season. I'm just going to be the same old Jordan. I'm going

to go out there and try to throw up 200 innings, 32 or 33 starts in the regular season, and stay healthy. That's the

biggest thing."

21

"The same old Jordan" is a typically modest way of putting it. But just that level of performance from

Zimmermann could be a major factor behind the Tigers returning to their winning ways.

22

Still room to improve for Tigers' J.D. Martinez February 21, 2016

By Noah Trister/ Associated Press

LAKELAND, Fla. (AP) -- If the question about Miguel Cabrera is how much longer he can be great, then the

question about J.D. Martinez is even more tantalizing:

How great can he become?

The 28-year-old Martinez enters his third season with the Detroit Tigers after emerging as one of the American

League's top power threats. Since being released by Houston in March of 2014, Martinez has been one of

baseball's biggest surprises, hitting 61 home runs over the past two years. With some of Detroit's biggest stars

now showing signs of age, Martinez is a major reason the Tigers can still hope to contend in the AL Central.

And he still has room to improve.

"I definitely feel that my mental side of the game could be stronger. The difference in my eyes between

superstar players and All-Star players is right here," Martinez said, pointing to his head. "When you watch

Miggy, and the way he handles his business, he looks like he's joking and he's playing around all the time, but

the moment he gets in that box, he's a different animal."

When the Tigers signed Martinez to a minor league deal in 2014, they could hardly imagine what an important

addition he would become. He was called up to the majors about a month later and hit 23 home runs in 123

games, helping Detroit to a fourth straight division title.

Last year, the Tigers sank to last place, but Martinez showed his power was no fluke, going deep 38 times and

driving in 102 runs. He attributed his improvement to a swing overhaul in which he altered his leg kick and the

placement of his hands.

Those adjustments suggest Martinez already has a solid mental approach to the game, and manager Brad

Ausmus noticed significant improvements last year in right field.

"He made huge strides," Ausmus said. "Going back on balls, reads off the bat, he threw very well. ... He put a

lot of hard work in."

The 6-foot-3, 221-pound Martinez is not a huge asset on the basepaths. He was an All-Star last year, but he also

led the Tigers in strikeouts with 178, while drawing only 53 walks.

But his power now appears comparable to the 32-year-old Cabrera's, and at this point Martinez looks like less of

an injury risk. This offseason, the Tigers and Martinez agreed on an $18.5 million, two-year contract that took

care of the outfielder's last two years of arbitration eligibility. He can become a free agent after the 2017 season.

At spring training Saturday, Martinez described contract talks as a "negotiating battle" but said it's part of the

game.

"I wouldn't have signed it if I didn't think it was a fair deal," he said. "I didn't want to start off the year on a

negative note, going to arbitration."

Martinez and the Tigers didn't agree on a longer deal, so Detroit might lose him in a couple years, but for now,

the Tigers have a slugger in his late 20s for a price well below what they're paying some of their other

standouts.

Martinez isn't taking his success for granted. He said he gets antsy if he goes too long without doing something

baseball related, so even during the offseason, he was back swinging the bat in November.

"This game is weird in a sense that, the moment you think you've got it figured out, it'll humble you real quick.

It'll step on you," he said. "I'm a worker. That's always how I've been. I'll never stop, because it's just, it's in my

blood. If I'm not doing something, I feel like I'm wasting my life."

23

With extension in the books, J.D. Martinez headed back to work

February 21, 2016

By Katie Strang/ ESPN.com

LAKELAND, Fla. -- After making the rounds with his Detroit Tigers teammates -- hugging new utility player

Mike Aviles, patting young reliever Bruce Rondon on the arm -- J.D. Martinez wasted little time in his first day

down at spring training.

He promptly left the clubhouse at Joker Marchant Stadium and instead sought out the confines of the batting

cage.

Martinez, 28, isn't basking in the afterglow of a standout 2015 season or lazing around in the wake of his

recently-inked two-year, $18.5 million contract extension.

Instead, it's back to work.

Martinez wanted it this way. He was not interested in a protracted contract negotiation, one that could've been

dragged to a neutral arbitrator for both his camp and the Tigers to duke out. He wished for the deal be taken

care of prior to season's start. No distractions.

"It was something that I didn't want to start off the year on a negative note going to arbitration and going

through all that stuff," Martinez said. "Everything with the Tigers has been positive. And that's the way I

wanted to keep it."

Ultimately, he felt the deal was a fair one for both sides. Martinez, whose contract breaks down to $6.75 million

in 2016 and $11.75 million in 2017, saves the Tigers some money with regards to the luxury tax for the

upcoming season, but will make quite a bit more the following year. Ultimately, the average annual value is

higher than he would've landed in arbitration, whereas he still gets to test the free-agent market at age 30.

"It was definitely, I would say, a negotiating battle, if you want to call it that," Martinez said. "I don't know.

That's the business side of it. That comes with the game. I just want to play baseball. As cliché as it sounds,

that's what I love to do. I let the [other] people take care of that. I worry about coming out here and hitting and

catching the white ball."

Martinez insisted there was no enmity between the two sides, however.

"Both sides understood it. There was never any hard feelings towards it on either side. It's a business," Martinez

said.

Martinez conceded the two sides did discuss a long-term deal -- the slugger said last month he wanted to be a

"Tiger for life" -- but ultimately could come to an agreement on the type of pact that would keep him in Detroit

past 2017.

"It was brought up. We definitely talked about it. But it was something that we didn't really feel comfortable

doing at the time," Martinez said. "It was one of those things that was talked about but we couldn't come to an

agreement on it."

With the contract talks now behind him, Martinez is looking to build on a ferocious 2015 campaign in which he

led the team with 38 runs and finished with a slash line of .282/.344/.535.

Beyond his offensive production, which was a major coup, Martinez also made significant gains in his

capabilities as a defensive player in right field, where he finished with 15 assists.

"He made tremendous strides. He made huge strides," manager Brad Ausmus said. "He really put a lot of hard

work in. [Third base coach and outfield instructor] Dave Clark put a lot of hard work with him, but he made

tremendous strides to the point where's a very good defensive outfielder, I think."

Martinez hopes he will only continue to improve, especially in the mental area of the game. That, Ausmus

predicted, will come with experience.

But Martinez plans to aid the effort with what has helped him in the past.

"This game is weird, in a sense that, the moment you think you've got it figured out, it'll humble you real quick.

Step on you, make you feel this big again," Martinez said, gesturing with his hands. "In my eyes, I'm a worker.

That's always how I've been."

24

LAST UPDATED: SUN, FEBRUARY 21, 2016, 06:31 EST

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2016

TEAM PLAYER TRANSACTION

Baltimore Orioles Yovani Gallardo Signed as Free Agent, ( 2016-2018; Opt 2019)(three-year contract)

San Diego Padres Casey Janssen Signed to a Minor League Contract

Texas Rangers Jeremy Guthrie Signed to a Minor League Contract

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2016

TEAM PLAYER TRANSACTION

Chicago Cubs Aaron Crow Signed to a Minor League Contract

Colorado Rockies Christian Friedrich Released

Kansas City Royals Mike Minor Signed as Free Agent, ( 2016-2017; Opt 2018)(two-year contract)

Kansas City Royals Jason Vargas Placed on 60-Day DL, (Recovery from left elbow surgery)

Los Angeles Dodgers Brandon McCarthy Placed on 60-Day DL, (Recovery from right elbow surgery)

San Diego Padres Greg Reynolds Signed to a Minor League Contract

Toronto Blue Jays Tony Sanchez Signed to a Minor League Contract

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2016

TEAM PLAYER TRANSACTION

25

Colorado Rockies Adam Ottavino Placed on 60-Day DL, (Recovery from right elbow surgery)

Detroit Tigers Bobby Parnell Signed to a Minor League Contract

Kansas City Royals Clint Barmes Signed to a Minor League Contract

Kansas City Royals Ross Ohlendorf Signed to a Minor League Contract

Kansas City Royals Brian Duensing Signed to a Minor League Contract

Los Angeles Dodgers Louis Coleman Signed as Free Agent, ( 2016)(one-year contract)

Milwaukee Brewers Pat Misch Signed to Play in Japan, (Orix Buffaloes)

Pittsburgh Pirates Matt Joyce Signed to a Minor League Contract

Tampa Bay Rays Chase Whitley Placed on 60-Day DL, (Recovery from right elbow surgery)

Tampa Bay Rays Ryan Webb Signed as Free Agent, ( 2016)(one-year contract)

Washington Nationals Burke Badenhop Signed to a Minor League Contract