Dombrowski: Tigers never dealt with James Shields

Well, James Shields isn't going to be the answer. And maybe never was.

Shields — the free agent right-hander who reportedly has agreed to a four-year, $72-million deal with the San Diego Padres — often was mentioned in the media as a good fit for the Detroit Tigers, whose once-vaunted starting rotation suddenly has a lot question marks.

You know, with Max Scherzer and Rick Porcello gone, Justin Verlander needing a bounce-back year, Anibal Sanchez needing a healthy season, and newcomers Alfredo Simon and Shane Greene adding more question marks. And then there's that bullpen ...

Yet the Tigers never negotiated with James Shields, according to Dave Dombrowski.

So it seems like the Tigers are just in a wait-and-see mode. If it's not adequate, they'll have to search for help during the season — assuming they have the luxury of patience in the more-competitive AL Central.

Then again, maybe it'll all work out. Maybe they should worry more about designated hitter.

But Shields' deal with San Diego was good news to at least one Tiger: David Price, apparently the one sure thing in the Tigers' rotation and also a good friend and former teammate of Shields at Tampa Bay.

"Congrats to James Shields for signing!! deserves every penny!!" Price tweeted.

And what took Shields, 33, so long to get a deal?

ESPN's Buster Olney said teams were concerned that the wear and tear on Shields' arm and his contract demands didn't compute.

Said Olney: "Think about this: Since the start of 2007, the only pitcher in all of baseball who's thrown more pitches than James Shields is Justin Verlander."

Including playoffs, Verlander's thrown 30,653 pitches in that span and Shields has thrown 28,402, according to the ESPN graphic.

Contact Steve Schrader: sschrader@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @schradz.