SO...THE TIGERS WERE IN THE MIX FOR SHIELDS AFTER ALL

No, no... I'm not "That guy", but it appears there was something to that story that we posted a few weeks ago about James Shields and the Tigers connection, huh?  When we wrote RUMOR: TIGERS MADE THAT $110 MILLION OFFER TO SHIELDS? on January 6th, we were unclear on whether or not the Tigers were interested in James Shields.  What we wrote then, was this:

"Yesterday I received a text from one of my buddies who got a whiff of a team that may have made that $110 offer to James Shields. You remember, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports said there was a "mystery team" that put that money out for Shields, read HERE.  I was told it may have been the Detroit Tigers.  

I was told it was a way to secure themselves a starter for the 2015 season because they were unhappy with the way Max Scherzer and Scott Boras "dug in", and wanted to make a mad dash to a club for almost $200 million.  I was told the Tigers, while the love Max Scherzer, didn't like the way it was handled and are "setting themselves up" because they just didn't know what was on Scherzer's mind, and that they were "not willing to pony up that kind of money.""

Now today, Rosenthal officially dropped the hint through his co-worker at FOX Sports, Jon Morosi about the Shields and the Detroit Tigers connection... weeks later:

Rosenthal wrote:

"The Detroit Tigers have had recent contact with Shields' agent, Page Odle, according to FOX Sports' Jon Paul Morosi..."

Jon Morori wrote:

"Shields is the No. 2 pitcher available on the free-agent market, and the full extent of industry interest in him is unclear. Detroit has appeal to him for three reasons: The Tigers have won four straight American League Central titles, their owner (Mike Ilitch) has a history of big investments in free agents, and Shields' best friend in baseball (David Price) is on the team."

Here are a few questions... Are the Tigers serious? And 1 more question, who will end up getting Shields?  According to Rosenthal, the latest team to be in the Shields Sweepstakes is the Blue Jays:

"As the price for James Shields drops, an increasing number of clubs are renewing their interest in him.

The Toronto Blue Jays are one of those clubs, according to major-league sources...Some execs now believe (Shields) is headed for a four-year deal, perhaps in the $70 million-$80 million range."

Stay tuned...

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