I've been saying for a few months that I think ARod will end up with the Tigers in 2008.
One of the pieces to set that up is falling into place, with the Tigers announcing Carlos Guillen will be moving to first base next year.
There's been a fair amount of talk that Alex Rodriguez wants to go back to playing shortstop, and Guillen moving to first base opens that up for Alex.
The Tigers can afford ARod...their payroll was only $95 million this year. By declining their option on former Rangers Pudge Rodriguez, they'd have about $27 million coming off the books with the expiring contracts of Pudge, Kenny Rogers, Sean Casey (who is superfluous now that Guillen is moving to first base), and Doug Jones.
And the Tigers haven't been afraid to deal with Boras clients recently. They gave Magglio Ordonez a huge contract when he was coming off a knee injury and no one else would touch him. They moneywhipped Pudge to come to Detroit. They drafted Rick Porcello and gave him a major league deal.
And missing the playoffs the year after losing in the World Series creates the kind of sting that can make an owner like Mike Ilitch more aggressive in pursuing that stud acquisition that can push a team over the top.
I'm putting in the call...ARod is going to be a Tiger next year.