By Ashley Scoby
@AshleyScoby

Talk has been bubbling for days about the Tigers and reliever Mark Lowe, and the club officially announced Tuesday it had agreed to a two-year deal with the right-hander.

"He had a very good season last year," Tigers general manager and vice president of baseball operations Al Avila said. "We knew quite a bit about him, as far as his makeup and ability. Actually one of the guys I checked with was Lloyd McClendon, our new Toledo manager, who mangged him in Seattle. He's got high praises for him. Also, he knows (Ian) Kinsler very well, and Kinsler spoke very highly of him too. We know we've got a good guy in the clubhouse and we've got a good guy on the mound."

It's been no secret that pitching has been the Tigers' single-minded focus this week at baseball's winter meetings in Nashville. Even before signing Lowe, the club had already signed two starters in Jordan Zimmermann and Mike Pelfrey, as well as closer Francisco Rodriguez.

The financial terms of the two-year deal with Lowe were not released, although Ken Rosenthal had previously reported it was worth $13 million.

Avila said on Monday that the team was still looking for a set-up man for Rodriguez, and Lowe appears to be that man. He has spent 10 seasons at the major league level with the Mariners, Rangers, Angels, Indians and Blue Jays, with a career ERA of 3.80 and six career saves.

Lowe is seen as the Tigers' "eighth-inning guy," according to Avila. Manager Brad Ausmus mentioned Lowe's effective slider, as well as his increased velocity last season as reasons for being a good fit in Detroit.

Before discussions were solidified with Lowe, the Tigers had previously been in talks with another reliever, Joakim Soria, who pitched for Detroit in 2014 and 2015, before being traded to Pittsburgh at the deadline this past summer. Soria ended up signing with the Royals instead of coming back to Detroit.

Two factors are at play in any free agent signing, and the team's desire for the player is only half the equation. Where a player wants to be is still an important piece to any deal.

"It's not just us that makes the decision; the players make the decision too," Ausmus said. "We like him (Soria) but Al's made it clear – we've talked to a lot of people. Believe it or not, sometimes a player chooses another team. It doesn't mean we didn't want that particular player. That's just how the system works."

"I think at the end of the day, Mark Lowe wanted to come to Detroit and Joakim Soria wanted to go to Kansas City, and I think that's why that happened the way it did," Avila said. "That's just my personal feeling."