Not only is Jose Valverde going directly from the minors to reclaiming the Tigers’ closer role, Jon Morosi of FOXSports.com reports that his one-year contract is worth $2 million upfront and another $3 million in potential incentives.
Pretty good for a 35-year-old who wasn’t really wanted back by the Tigers until very recently and struggled to find work of any kind all winter after following up a mediocre regular season with a dreadful postseason.
Valverde was paid $9 million last season, so if we assume most of his incentives are reachable and prorate everything for his missing most of April they’re basically getting him back for around half that price.
