Update 1/13 13:21: Jon Paul Morosi reports that the Tigers are believed to have the biggest current offer for Valverde, but the sides aren’t yet close to an agreement.

Morosi also says that the Cardinals are a potential suitor for Valverde.  It is not clear what role Valverde would play with the Cardinals since the team has All Star closer Ryan Franklin, who had 38 saves last season.

1/12 06:27: According to ESPN.com, the likely destination for free agent closer Jose Valverde is Detroit.

Last week, Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports, reported that Valverde received four offers to be a team’s closer.  Two of the offers are more than one year.  Brown says that the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Detroit Tigers are two of the four teams that have an offer in front of Valverde.

ESPN went on to say that the Diamondback’s interest has waned, so Detroit may have the upper-hand.

Valverde gambled this off season by turning down the Houston Astros offer of arbitration in hopes of getting a larger deal.  Right now, it’s not for sure that Valverde’s gamble to test the open market will pay off.  Valverde, who made $8 million last season with the Astros, probably would have made $10 million in arbitration.

You can see Jose Valverde’s contract history and statistics here.