Tigers Ink Brandon Inge to Extension

Brandon Inge has been wearing the Olde English D since 2001 and the longest tenured Tigers will stay in Detroit for at least two more years.

The Tigers today announced the signing of Inge to a new two-year contract with an option for 2013, financial terms were not disclosed. Inge finished up a four-year, $24 millon contract that he signed following the 2006 season when this season ended. This is the first step to what should be a busy offseason for the Tigers management.

With Inge in place at third, where his range is among the best in baseball, the Tigers can feel at least a bit more comfortable in their pursuit of Jhonny Peralta to remain as the shortstop. Peralta doesn’t have great range, but Inge’s presence beside him mitigates that problem quite a bit. The Tigers have yet to decide on the $7.25 million club option they hold on Peralta, but would prefer to sign him at a lower salary, perhaps over a multi-year contract.

Inge missed two weeks with a broken hand this season, but that number was expected to go much longer. In 144 games, Inge batted .247 with 13 home runs, 28 doubles, and 70 runs batted in.

Inge and INF Ramon Santiago are the only two remaining Tigers that were a part of the 119 loss 2003 season. Jeremy Bonderman lost 19 of those games, but the Tigers are not planning to pursue a new contract with the right hander.

Santiago was traded to Seattle after that season as part of a package that brought Carlos Guillen to Detroit, but returned to the Tigers as a free agent in 2006.

UPDATE: Mlive’s Steve Kornacki has the financials for Inge; $5.5 million in each of the next two season, $6 million club option for 2013 with $500,000 buyout.