Octavio Dotel of the St. Louis Cardinals celebrates after getting the third out of the seventh inning during Game Seven of the MLB World Series against the Texas Rangers at Busch Stadium in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
Veteran right-handed reliever Octavio Dotel has signed a one-year deal with the Detroit Tigers that includes an option year, tweets Jon Heyman:
octavio dotel is in agreement on deal for 1 yr and option with #tigers
Why is this important? Dotel has 108 career saves and has at times been an effective closer, but those days are long gone, since he's 38; just before the non-waiver trading deadline last season he was acquired by the Cardinals. There he became a useful setup man and got a World Series ring.
When Dotel makes his first pitch for the Tigers next April, he will break the MLB record for most franchises played for, which is currently 12. It's held by Mike Morgan, Matt Stairs and Ron Villone.
And Dotel, unlike Morgan, Stairs and Villone, will have accomplished this feat in what could be called a "natural" way... all three of those players had repeat stints with one of their previous franchises (Morgan, Cubs; Stairs, Expos/Nationals; Villone, Mariners). In contrast, each time Dotel has moved on, it's been for good; he's never returned to a team he has departed.
Dotel's 13 franchises played for, in order of appearance: Mets, Astros, Athletics, Yankees, Royals, Braves, White Sox, Pirates, Dodgers, Rockies, Blue Jays, Cardinals, Tigers.
Congratulations, Octavio. A ring, and now this. What more could a ballplayer want?
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