The Detroit Tigers aren’t waiting around and are trying to sign one of the big fat prizes of free agency, Jordan Zimmermann of the Washington Nationals.
The discussions between the two sides seem to be progressing nicely, which would mean Zimmermann is going to leave the National League after seven seasons with the Nationals, which puts him a little bit closer to where he grew up in Wisconsin. Zimmermann has started 178 games for the Nationals since being brought up to the Majors, posting a 70-50 record with a 3.32 ERA, making the All-Star game twice.
Last season wasn’t the best for the 29-year old right hander, just like for the rest of the Nationals. He finished at 13-10 with a 3.66 ERA, his highest since 2010. He made $16.5 million on the last year of his contract, hitting free agency for the first time of his career. It’ll be interesting what it takes to sign him this offseason, with $150 million for seven years and north of that probably the figures being thrown around.
Zimmermann was tied for the lead in wins for National League pitchers in 2013 with 19, and threw a no-hitter in 2014 against the Miami Marlins, the first Nationals pitcher with a no-hitter. He’s the franchise’s all-time leader in wins, innings pitched (1094) and strikeouts (903, 7.4 per nine innings), and is one of only four pitchers with 32 starts and 190 innings or more over the last four years. He pitched 810 innings over that time, third in the NL, behind only Clayton Kershaw and Madison Bumgarner.
The Tigers had one of the worst pitching numbers in the majors last season, with a 4.64 ERA (28th), a 1.37 WHIP (21st), giving up a .268 batting average (26th) and had only 72 quality starts, tied for 21st in major league baseball.