DETROIT -- The Tigers had until 10 days after the World Series to weigh their option on catcher Ivan Rodriguez. In the end, they didn't even need until the start of the League Championship Series to decide that they still need him.

Rodriguez is not the same catcher he was five years ago, but as the Tigers began preparing for their organizational discussions next week, they concluded that he's still pretty good for his position. Thus they announced on Tuesday that they've exercised their $13 million option on Rodriguez for next season, solving arguably their biggest offseason quandary before the offseason really begins by bringing back Rodriguez for a fifth season in a Tigers uniform and his 18th in the Major Leagues.

"We still feel that Pudge is one of the better catchers in baseball," team president/general manager Dave Dombrowski said. "We just felt that he did a solid job for us this year, and we feel like he's still one of the top catchers available in the game."

Rodriguez will turn 36 next month coming off a 2007 season in which he batted .281 over 129 games with 31 doubles, 11 home runs and 63 RBIs -- all off from last season, but better than the year before. He walked just nine times in 515 plate appearances, resulting in a .294 on-base percentage, and he batted .296 with runners in scoring position.

Defensively, Rodriguez had a rough start throwing out baserunners before regaining some of his old form later to throw out 21 would-be stealers in 68 attempts. His seven passed balls marked his highest total since 2003 for a catcher whose ability to block pitchers in the dirt has been proven. In terms of game-calling, however, he earned credit for providing stability for some of the Tigers' young pitchers as injuries forced them into bigger roles on the staff.

His overall game had to be weighed into the decision when it came time for the Tigers to look at the option. However, so did his skills compared with those of his peers, including the catchers who might be available if the Tigers declined the option and had to look for a replacement. With no clear successor in the organization -- Vance Wilson is coming off Tommy John ligament-replacement surgery, and Mike Rabelo had limited playing time last year as Rodriguez's backup -- a replacement would've surely come from outside the organization.

Part of the process of the Tigers' organizational meetings involves ranking players around the Majors at their position -- not just prospective free agents, but all players around baseball. When front-office personnel and scouts started doing their evaluations for catcher, Dombrowski explained, the regard for Rodriguez was pretty clear.

"The more people I talked to and [the more I] read the reports, the more it became clear," he said. "Once I started getting that information, it became clear that he's one of the better catchers in the game still. Once you have that feeling, you go ahead and exercise [the option]."

This season was the last guaranteed year on the four-year, $40 million contract Rodriguez signed in February 2004. If the Tigers didn't exercise the option, they would've paid $3 million to buy it out and make Rodriguez a free agent.

The looming decision was uncertain enough that Rodriguez used the past tense at times when talking about his Tigers tenure on the last day of the season. But owner Mike Ilitch might have given a clue to his leanings when talking with the Associated Press last Wednesday.

"Pudge did a big thing for us, putting a face on the franchise," Ilitch told the AP. "He's made a lot of contributions. I don't think it'll be a tough call, but we'll see."

Ilitch met with Dombrowski last week to discuss the team, including Rodriguez.

Asked how much input Ilitch had on the decision, Dombrowski said, "When I discussed it with him, he was very open to the idea of him coming back."