That's funny you brought this subject up Sabres, because Mike and Mike were talking about this very subject on their radio show this morning!
They said that Buster Olney considered the Tigers/Marlins trade of Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera for a package of 6 prospects quite possibly the worst trade ever! At the time, this was considered a huge trade that would put the Tigers in position to be one of the favorites to contend for a World Series.
Just last month, Cabrera signed an eight-year, $153.3 million contract extension. Cabrera is batting .278 with 8 home runs so far with the Tigers. A far cry from the .320, .339 and .323 batting average and 34, 26 and 33 home runs in which he had for the Marlins the previous 3 years. Considering Cabrera's now one of the richest guys in baseball, I would think a lot more is expected of him.
Willis is signed through 2010 and will earn between $29-$30 million. Willis never had any resemblance of success so far with the Tigers. He's pitched in 4 games for the Tigers this year and walked 21 batters in 11 1/3 innings, while compiling a lofty 10.32 ERA. To his defense, the bad start may partially be due to his stint on the DL, but this lack of production recently got
Willis sent down to the Minors. Detroit's single A affiliate to be exact!
We will find out more in the future (obviously) as to which team benefited or got hurt more. But in shear money spent and performance in return, at this point, I may actually have to agree with Olney.
