The Tigers are certainly attempting to make a big splash with their free agent acquisitions! I like Percival, because he has playoff experience and has proven capable of being a consistently capable closer. He already seems to assuming a role as a recruiter, too, making a pitch for Troy Glaus to consider the Tigers. Brian provides a lot of excellent proof as to why signing Percival may blow-up in their face. The fact that it is hard to envision the Tigers bullpen without Urbina and Percival together makes it troubling. How ready is Urbina going to be perform at his usual standards after all he has been through in the last year? Where will the Tigers be if Percival misses 2 months? Here are some more vitals in regards to Percival and Urbina from 2004:

Player/ K/9/ BB/9/ H/9/ WHIP/ HR/9
Urbina 9.33/ 5.33/ 6.33/ 1.30/ 1.16
Percival 5.98/ 3.44/ 7.79/ 1.25/ 1.28

Player/ W-L/ ERA/ G/ GF/ IP/ BF/RG(batters faced)
Urbina 4-6/ 4.50/ 54/ 46/ 54.0/ 4.33
Percival 2-3/ 2.90/ 52/ 48/ 49.2/4.06

Player/ SV/ BS/ SV%/ oppBA/ OppOPS/ G/F(ground ball/fly ball outs)
Urbina 21/ 3/ 88%/ .194/ .660/ 0.47/
Percival 33/ 5/ 87%/ .230/ .682/ 0.53/

I guess it is necessary to takes some risks along the way if you are attempting to become a contender. In my eyes, the Tigers are still a year or two away so spending $10+ million/year for the back end of the bullpen may not be wise. Still, you have to give Dombrowski and the Ilitch’s credit for stepping out there and going to toe-to-toe with the big boys in free agency.

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