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Tigers' $110 million free agent signing ranked 5th-worst contract in MLB history
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- Tigers' $110 million free agent signing ranked 5th-worst contract in MLB history
Tigers' $110 million free agent signing ranked 5th-worst contract in MLB history originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
Sometimes the best plans simply don't work out.
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That's incredibly true for the $110 million contract agreement the Detroit Tigers agreed to before the 2016 MLB season.
They were signing Jordan Zimmerman to a five-year deal. It seemed like a sure thing at the time.
Zimmerman had been great for the Washington Nationals . What would be different with the Tigers?
Apparently, everything.
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Zimmerman struggled so much with the Tigers that ESPN's Bradford Doolittle has ranked that contract as the fifth-worst free agent signing in MLB history -- which is remarkable given that there are 50 years worth of free agency to choose from.
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But yeah, it was a rough spell for Zimmerman in Detroit.
"Like (Jeff) Suppan (with Brewers ), Zimmermann seemed to be both durable and consistent at the time the Tigers signed him," Doolittle wrote in his new article on Friday. "In seven years for the Nationals, he had a 3.32 ERA. The following five years, on the Tigers' dime, that number was 5.63."
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Zimmerman missed at least a few starts in all his seasons with the Tigers, and he was shut down for almost all of his fifth and final campaign with Detroit.
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He made two appearances with Milwaukee after leaving the Tigers, and that was that. Evidently, he had given his best pitching to the Nationals. Detroit just had no way of knowing that when they handed him a big contract.
