Tigers making moves to re-tool for another 2014 run

Our GM tenure began the moment Koji Uehara vanquished our World Series aspirations. While Dave Dombrowski did a great job leading the team this far, myself and Mr. J were brought aboard by the Ilitch family to get the team over the top. Our youthful exuberance and fondness for GIFs as teaching tools in the clubhouse were seen as big positives during the interview process, which consisted of an email or two.The simulated winter meetings began on Monday, November 3rd at 9:00 a.m. While there were preliminary talks with other teams over drinks during the weekend leading up to the meetings, no action occurred until the meetings began. It was not soon after, however, that we made our first move.

We're still not sure why Dave Dombrowski turned down Mr. Veras' services in real life, but the Fake Tigers sure are glad to welcome him back in the fold for 2014. Our organization will be changing its game management philosophies in part to maximize the bullpen's efficiency, and we saw Jose as part of that plan. Speaking of changing our organization's philosophies, that leads me to our next move...During our interviews with the Fake Brad Ausmus that I made up in my head, Brad was eager to implement our sabermetric philosophies into his game planning. Terms of his contract were not released, in part because I didn't have time at work to negotiate with myself over what our fake manager would make.One of the most important aspects of a general manager's job during the offseason is deciding which players to retain and which to let go.

Luckily for us, things were not so difficult. Of the Tigers' nine arbitration-eligible players, Phil Coke and Don Kelly were the only two to not receive contract tenders for the 2014 season.At this point, our main goal was similar to what the real-life goal should be for this Tigers team: re-sign Omar Infante and shore up the bullpen. Both of these goals have been met.According to sources, the Tigers' deal with Fake Infante is worth $30 million over three years. In a vacuum, the price seems steep. However, compared to what other free agents are getting, this seems to be a bargain.