Posted by Jeff Lubbers on Tuesday, August 25, 2009 at 10:12 am

As the Detroit Tigers continue to play as though they don’t want to make the playoffs (they have posted a record of 49-45 since the last time they did not sit atop the AL Central on May 9) fans have been deservedly worried about their chances of playing in October.  That along with their apparent inability to decide what to do with Magglio Ordoñez and his 2010 option has led to the possibility that this sideshow will overshadow their 2009 playoff run. 

Ordoñez will have an $18 million option for 2010 kick in with either 29 more starts or 63 more plate appearances with 38 games left to play (as of Tuesday, August 25).  At the beginning of the season this earned hardly a mention as it was assumed that Ordoñez would be playing in Detroit (or at least under contract) for at least another year.  However, his April slash line of .241/.333/.316 and the fact that his season slugging percentage was lower than his season on-base percentage until May 30 almost immediately led to questions regarding what to do about Ordoñez. 

Since the season started Ordoñez was given a few days off to be with his ailing wife, then benched for four games in June, then part of a right field platoon with the left-handed Clete Thomas, and is now given only occasional starts but against both left and right-handed pitching (including batting third against a righthander on Monday).  As a result the Tigers have perhaps inadvertently put themselves in a situation in which fans and media alike (not to mention Scott Boras) may very well be as curious about how many at-bats Ordoñez received in the previous night’s game as they are the actual outcome of the game. 

Several factors are at play in this situation.  The first is that Detroit ranks second-to-last in the American League in OPS from its right fielders – the bulk of which of course has been from Ordoñez (270 at bats compared to 470 for the team) but which also underscores the team’s lack of options at the position (Thomas and his .721 OPS is the team’s next best option). 

Another factor is that, while most if not all other teams are forced to eat at least some contracts for under-performing players, the Tigers’ 2010 payroll will commit $34.5 million to Jeremy Bonderman, Nate Robertson and Dontrelle Willis – all of whom are currently on the disabled list and have thrown all of 58.2 mostly ineffective innings in 2009 and don’t look to be major contributors in 2010.  Many teams are able to stomach a certain amount of wasted money for ineffective players but adding Ordoñez to the above three pitchers would commit the team to over $50 in the albatross contract department in 2010. 

It is a shame that the contract situation has come to this.  While they are certainly not world beaters (especially on the road) the Tigers have spent the majority of the season in first place and have done well in the attendance department after a well-publicized drop in season ticket sales from 2008 to 2009.  However, imagine this not-completely-implausible scenario: 

The Tigers are playing the White Sox on Sunday, October 4 with the division title on the line.  Ordoñez, one plate appearance shy of the magic number necessary to vest his 2010 option, starts the game on the bench against the right-handed Jake Peavy.  With the game tied in the seventh inning Ozzie Guillen brings in the left-handed Matt Thornton to face the left-handed Clete Thomas.  Does Jim Leyland pinch hit with Magglio Ordoñez?  If he does he could very well be costing his team more than he will ever earn from the Tigers as manager over his entire career.  Is Leyland (or any other manager, for that matter) capable of making a decision without wondering what his general manager is going to say to him after the game and if his job will be affected? 

I don’t know the answer to that but I certainly don’t envy Leyland or any other manager in a similar situation.  (For his part Leyland has stayed above the fray and distanced himself from the financial aspect of the game except to not-so-politely tell Boras and his cherry-picked statistics to leave the managing up to him.)  If nothing else it should serve as an extreme cautionary tale for any general manager looking to sweeten a free agent deal with playing time incentives, particularly such large incentives (he also has an option to earn $15 million in 2010) in a difficult economic time (even more difficult for fans to swallow) that are many years down the road (Ordoñez signed his contract following the 2004 offseason).

The list below is an unofficial list of the highest paid players in 2010 (this does not include bonuses or different ways of calculating annual salaries due to deferred payments as is often reported).  It is unlikely that any of the upcoming class of free agents, except for possibly Matt Holliday (especially if he keeps slugging .694 for
St. Louis) will match an annual salary in a signed contract this offseason.  While this list does contain some other players who will likely draw the ire of their hometown fans for their belated contracts (Zito and Soriano are prime candidates) Ordoñez will likely be the least deserving of his 2010 salary if in fact his option kicks in. 

1. Alex Rodriguez, NYY, $32,000,000

2. C.C. Sabathia, NYY, $23,000,000

3t. Derek Jeter, NYY, $21,000,000

3t. Johan Santana, NYM, $21,000,000

5t. Mark Teixeira, NYY, $20,000,000

5t. Manny Ramirez, LAD, $20,000,000

7. Ryan Howard, PHI, $19,000,000

8t. Carlos Lee, HOU, $18,500,000

8t. Carlos Beltran, NYM, $18,500,000

8t. Barry Zito, SF, $18,500,000

11t. Torii Hunter, LAA, $18,000,000

11t. Magglio Ordoñez, DET, $18,000,000*

11t. Alfonso Soriano, CHC, $18,000,000