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There's a rumor going around that Robinson Cano took a private jet to Michigan in order to meet with the Tigers after someone said they saw him at an airport. It's not a very substantiated rumor, but the idea is floating around nonetheless:
There was, indeed, a charter plane that took off from Teterboro, N.J., about a half-hour outside New York City, at 6:59 a.m. Friday and landed at Willow Run 90 minutes later. The plane then sat at Willow Run until 2:04 p.m., when it headed back to Teterboro. The plane in question is a Kelso Air-owned business jet, a Bombardier Challenger 600, which seats between 14 and 18 passengers. This plane could cost as much as $4,100 per hour to charter, or more than $32,000 for this particular trip - impressive, to be sure, but not much of a dent for someone who made, say, $15 million in salary in 2013.
This jet also has made no other recent trips to Michigan. Its recent getaways include such locales as Augusta, Ga. (home of swanky Augusta National Golf Club); Bermuda; Sacramento, Calif.; San Diego; and Chicago.
You would think that just acquiring Ian Kinsler would take them off the market for a second baseman, and yet, after shedding $168 million in payroll from trading Prince Fielder, the Tigers could be clearing room for a $200 million contract. It's always possible they could make another big commitment and then play Kinsler at first base, like the Rangers were discussing doing, and keeping Miguel Cabrera at third base.
However, someone went straight to the source and asked Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski directly. He says they "plan on having Ian Kinsler as our second baseman this year." Conventional wisdom says that that's probably true because they're more likely to use the money they saved from Fielder to upgrade in other places, like outfield, third base, and the bullpen.
Hopefully for the Yankees the Tigers stay out of the running, that way they have one less competitor and Cano has one less suitor. The last thing they need is to get into a bidding war for his services. So far there hasn't been any substantial interest in the All-Star second baseman, but the offseason is young and there's plenty of time for rumors to become more.