Trying offseason awaits Tigers

Lynn Henning / The Detroit News

What a shame for the curious Tigers chroniclers that there are no transcripts from this week's team meetings at Comerica Park.

It would be easier to discern where a team is headed with regard to some select personnel questions:

• Will the Tigers sign any of their impending free agents: Placido Polanco, Fernando Rodney, Brandon Lyon and Adam Everett?

• Will they formally confirm expectations they have no interest in either re-signing, or offering arbitration, to two more free agents: Aubrey Huff and Jarrod Washburn?

• Are there any serious trade thoughts in mind as Dave Dombrowski, the Tigers president and general manager, huddles this week with manager Jim Leyland, coaches, scouts, and other front-office generals in plotting the team's 2009-10 offseason business?

"Everything's really being aligned right now," Dombrowski said Thursday, during a lunchtime break from the Tigers' summit meeting. "It's really just a process right now. You never can tell what will take place."

Nor was Dombrowski indicating that a GM known for acting quickly once the World Series has ended had any trade dialogue going. "Nothing hot and heavy," he said.

The Tigers have assorted decisions to make during an offseason that could, potentially, be more dramatic for the names they lose than the names they acquire.

Players could begin filing for free agency Thursday, with their latest clubs holding a 15-day opportunity to negotiate with those players before they can sign with another team.

Arbitration cases are another issue. With so many expensive players (notably Justin Verlander and Edwin Jackson) eligible, the Tigers will be careful heading into a year when their payroll could exceed $130 million. It explains why some of this week's conversations doubtless dealt with players the Tigers already have decided they will not offer contracts for 2010.

Marcus Thames, who played in only 87 games and hit only 13 home runs (none after Aug. 12), would figure to be a long shot to be offered a contract. He made $2.275 million in 2009. At age 32, and with DH likely to be the province of Carlos Guillen and Magglio Ordonez, Thames is all but gone, as is backup catcher Matt Treanor, who never played after having April surgery on his hip.

The team's disposition toward free agents and trades could fall along these contours:

Free agents

The Tigers would love to have Rodney back as their closer. The difficulty is that Rodney, 32, and his agent, Bill Rego, probably will shoot for a three-year deal. The Tigers will not want to gamble on three seasons at money in the vicinity of $20 million. They would likely bite on an affordable two-year deal, which might or might not develop.

Lyon is another ticklish case. The Tigers loved him as he settled into their setup role and became even more than the pitcher they imagined getting when he signed in January.

They would happily sign Lyon for 2010 -- if the money were right. But money, as well as next year's role, are issues for Lyon, 30, and his agent, Barry Meister.

Meister emphasized during phone calls last week that Lyon is interested in knowing ahead of time details of his 2010 job description. Lyon knows closing is where the money and the optimum job fulfillment rest for a right-hander who worked as a closer at his previous stop, the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Tigers likely would be unwilling to commit to Lyon as a closer, mostly because they believe day-to-day closing is what triggered his second-half meltdown with the Diamondbacks in 2008.

It puts added pressure on the Tigers to get something worked out with Rodney -- if they can gulp hard on a multiyear deal.

As for Polanco, he has all but been consigned to free agency. The Tigers ideally would retain him by way of a handsome one-year deal. But they seem resigned to the notion that Polanco, even at age 34, will be lassoed by another club for multiple years. It explains why they are intent on making Scott Sizemore, 24, their starting second baseman in 2010.

Another valuable infielder is a different case altogether. Adam Everett's bat displeased the fans but his glove is precisely what the Tigers were chasing as they tried mightily a year ago to nail down their left-side infield defense.

They saw how elegantly Everett fielded his position, making tough plays look easy. They want him back. Everett would be happy to return to Detroit -- if the money is acceptable.

Best bet: A mutually pleasing one-year deal is worked out with Everett returning as Leyland's starting shortstop.

Two other free-agents-to-be who looked as if they might be trade-deadline steals instead became deadline disasters for the Tigers in 2009: Aubrey Huff and Jarrod Washburn.

Both carried heavy contracts in 2009 ($8 million for Huff, $10.35 million for Washburn), which is why the Tigers can't risk offering either player salary arbitration. And because each player showed the Tigers their best days are likely behind them, the Tigers will make no effort to sign either.

The deadline deals blew up because of Washburn's injured knee (since surgically repaired) and Huff's stunning inability to hit down the stretch. The Tigers can only hope the players they gave up (watch out for Mauricio Robles' development with the Mariners) don't double the Tigers' anguish at two deals that never should have blown up, but did.

Trades

Dombrowski certainly has ideas about trades he would like to make, and he no doubt has been swapping exploratory phone conversations with other GMs.

But nothing so far has bubbled, even at the rumor stage.

One reason, perhaps, is the Tigers aren't blessed with an abundance of trade chips.

They have dealt away most of their expendable minor league arms. They have no abundance of attractive position prospects in the minors, or at the big league level, to offer as barter for a relief pitcher or position player they might covet.

Do they part with Curtis Granderson, a key up-the-middle performer? Do they trade Zach Miner, who could be deemed valuable by another club because of his potential as a starter or as a reliever?

Who will play third base in 2011, if Brandon Inge isn't re-signed after his contract runs out at the end of 2010? Who will replace Jeremy Bonderman if Bonderman, likewise, doesn't re-up for a stint with the Tigers?

Dombrowski is thinking about all of that this week, as well. He simply isn't saying, at this time, what he and his cohorts are thinking as a huge offseason for the Tigers gets rolling.

lynn.henning@detnews.com (313) 222-2472