In what seems like obvious news, the Detroit Tigers are expected to pick up the $9 million dollar option on closer Jose Valverde as tweeted by SI.com’s Jon Heyman.
Valverde had a remarkable year with the Tigers going 49-49 in save opportunities during the regular season and 3-3 in the postseason. He did suffer a loss in the postseason to the Texas Rangers in the final game of the ALCS but aside from that had a dominating season.
Valverde will be 34 before the beginning of the 2012 season and given the uncertainty surrounding relief pitchers approaching their mid 30’s, the Tigers aren’t likely to give Valverde a multi-year deal.
Ref: ESPN, SI.com, Twitter, AP (image)