12-09-2006, 06:04 PM
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#1 (permalink)
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| Senior Monk
Status: Offline
Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Detroit, MI
Posts: 1,879
vBookie Cash: 500
Rep Power: 3  | Tigers, Inge agree to four-year, $24 million extension
Quote:
DETROIT -- Third baseman Brandon Inge has agreed to a $24 million, four-year contract with the AL champion Detroit Tigers.
"It's awesome to get this done because Detroit is the only place I wanted to play," Inge told The Associated Press on Friday. "This organization stuck by me through tough times and for them to still believe in me when times are good, it's really gratifying.
"The deal is basically done because the only thing that would hold it up would be a problem with the physical that I took today, but I can't see that there would be any problem with that."
Inge was eligible for arbitration and would have been eligible for free agency after next season.
"They put a very fair four-year deal on the table and it's great that we were able to finalize it," he said.
Inge was one of the holdovers from the 2003 Tigers team that lost an AL record 119 games, then surprised the baseball world last season by winning the AL pennant before falling in five games to St. Louis in the World Series.
Detroit drafted Inge in the second round in 1998 and he joined the Tigers in 2001 as a catcher. He batted .180, .202 and .203 with a combined 15 home runs and 69 RBI in his first three seasons.
After perennial All-Star catcher Ivan Rodriguez joined Detroit, Inge split time at catcher, outfield and third base in 2004 and his batting average soared to .287 with 13 homers and 64 RBI.
Inge became the Tigers' regular third baseman in 2005. Batting at or near the bottom of the order last season, he recorded career highs with 83 runs scored, 27 homers, 83 RBI and a .463 slugging percentage.
Inge's range, quickness and hustle endeared him to Detroit fans and somewhat offset his 22 errors during the regular season, second only to New York's Alex Rodriguez among AL third basemen. He batted .353 in the World Series but committed three of Detroit's eight errors, including two on one play in the Cardinals' Game 1 victory.
| I'm glad that they re signed him. He is an outstanding third basemen. He can hit and he can make spectacular plays. |
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