This is pure garbage! Todd Jones for 2 years, $11 million? I thought I would never have to see that backwards homophobe pitch for my team again. That’s it-I’m done with this piece of crap ball team.

I think 2 years of Jonesy is probably as reasonable of a deal as could be expected for a closer at this point, and I think his personality will be great to have on the team again (come on, Dan, the homophobe comment was just one incident, and it was a couple of years ago). Maybe he’ll be able to help mold Fernando Rodney. Troy Percival is also supposed to be good in the “taking youngsters under his wing” department, and remember that Percival is supposed to show up for ST to at least give it a try. Besides, I don’t know if Jones changed something or added a pitch or just what, but he had a *very* nice year last year.

As for 2 years for a guy born during the Johnson administration (you can look it up)… I dunno. That’s a pretty big injury risk, but the guy has been solid the last few years despite playing in a bandbox down in Texas. A bit of a loose cannon in the clubhouse, to be sure, but signing Jones at the same time probably balances that out.

Rogers & Jones. Sounds like a good law firm but not a pitching staff. Come on! We signed these guys for $27 million dollars for 2 years! That’s like buying my grandparents bling-bling to go out to the night clubs. Why bother? Tigs aren’t contending the next 2 years you may as well go with youth.

Typical Dombrowski. You’d think they’d learned their lesson with Percival and Maggs.

I can live with the Jones signing, although after last year who would have thought we would sign a closer older than Percival. I take more issue with Rogers, his numbers the past couple of years haven’t been that good. In fact Johnson has pretty similar numbers except for W/L, and that can be attributed to the huge offesnive teams Rogers pitched on. Throw in the fact that he is 41, a questionable personality and a high dollar deal and you have the makings of a bad signing.

Jeff, you sometimes seem like a rational person, but then you baffle me with things like this. Are you out of your mind? Don’t tell me you’ve gone closer-stupid on us. What is wrong with Fernando Rodney? He’s 28 years old and an order of magnitude cheaper. Do you really think it’s worth signing a closer, not to mention Todd Jones, for that kind of money? If your answer is yes, there is simply no reason for us to even have a conversation about baseball. Wake up, Jeff.

AAAGGHHHHHHHHHGGGGG!!!!! Kenny Rogers? 2 years/$16 million?!?!? What is this, the goddamn twilight zone?!

When I saw the words Rogers and Tigers in the espn.com headline my heart sunk. When I read that not only did they sign him, but for 8 mil a year for two years, I think I threw up in my mouth. Jason Johnson had a better season than he did last year.

Just think about that for a second.

I know that I’m coming out to the Copa this year with my “Fold Em Kenny” sign. Let’s not forget how hard he was booed at the All Star game. I’m sure Joe Tiger Fan will eat up his AMAZING 3.46 era last year and won’t see the truck they’re about to be hit by.

people seem to forget he was 14-8 in texas, and that’s not a pitcher friendly place. I think it’s fine for 2 yrs, if it were longer I’d be pissed, but for 2 i’m fine with that. Oh by the way JJ is not as good as Rodgers and never will be!

Dan, we’re gonna have to agree to disagree about closers, buddy… It’s oh-so-fashionable to discount the mental parts of the game, but if you’ve got a team that you want to win games, they’re going to be a lot more confident in a guy like Todd Jones (or Troy Percival) than a guy like Fernando Rodney. I’m sorry, but that’s a fact. Besides, like I said, I’d like to think that Jonesy is a good enough guy that he can groom Rodney to close in the future. Considering Jonesy’s age, we might be talking the near future, but still…

And here’s another factor, Dan. There is simply no way that Double-D is not going to sign a closer going into next year. The average fan would light him up if we “just” went into next year with Fernando Rodney in the role. So, that’s where I was coming from… Consider some of the closer contracts that are out there. I’m a lot more comfortable with an aging Todd Jones at 2 years/$11 mil than B.J. Ryan (can you say “flavor of the month”?) at 5 years/$47 mil. That’s the way I’m looking at it. As much as you can sit there and rail about the wisdom of a team developing its own closer, it wasn’t gonna happen.

Great, and I suppose we’ll also have to agree to disagree on my assertion that you have no idea what you’re talking about.

Rodney has earned the job. Look at the numbers. We are not a contending team, Jeff. There is no reason to waste money until Rodney proves that he can’t do it. Enough about the mental game. When people like you, people completely outside the game who hear nothing but nonsense on ESPN try to make claims as to the fortitude needed to cget three outs in the 9th inning, it’s an insult to everyone, mostly to guys like Fernando Rodney. This stuff about closing is pure bullshit.

B.J. Ryan is being paid too much, but he’s 30 years old next year. He struck out 100 batters in 70 innings while walking only 26 and giving up 4 homers. He is far far FAR better than Todd Jones. As a matter of fact, Jones is being overpaid more than Ryan is being overpayed.

Wait a minute, why am I even bothering to argue with you? You clearly have no intention of learning a single thing. Nevermind.

OK, so let’s play a little game, Dan… Pretend, for me, that instead of the announcement that the Jays had signed Ryan, it was instead the Tigers who had signed him. Let’s say it was for 3 years-$25 million.

Have at it.

And, please, address my contention that a closer signing of some form was going to happen regardless. Or, in other words, please address this portion of my argument: IT COULD HAVE BEEN WORSE.