Pavano and his agent, Scott Shapiro, will be in Detroit as part of a nine-day tour that will take them to six American League cities.

“Carl wants to meet the people with the Tigers, including the pitching coach and trainer, and also wants to look at the facilities,” Shapiro said Monday. “All of this is important to someone who doesn’t know a lot about American League teams.”

Pavano, 28, has spent his entire seven-year major league career in the National League.

Pavano is coming off a breakout season in which he was 18-8 with a 3.00 ERA for the Marlins. He was offered a three-year, $21-million deal to stay in Florida, but it’s apparent his value is higher than that on the open market. He already has met with the Red Sox and is expected to travel to the West Coast for visits with the Angels and Mariners. The Yankees and Orioles also have expressed interest.

Pavano — a native New Englander — started his professional career in the Red Sox organization before being traded to Montreal in the 1997 deal that sent Pedro Martinez to Boston.

Shapiro was asked how the Tigers stack up against a team like the tradition-rich, World Series champion Red Sox in the competition to sign one of this off-season’s premier free agents.

“Taking nothing away from Boston, but the Tigers are every bit as rich in baseball tradition as the Red Sox,” Shapiro said. “They have a great fan base — kind of like a sleeping giant — and it would mean a lot to a player like Carl if he could help bring championship baseball back there.

“Detroit offers a wealth of things.”

Shapiro said Pavano started gathering information on the Tigers during a recent phone conversation with Ivan Rodriguez.

“He played with Pudge in Florida and values his opinion,” Shapiro said.

Pavano isn’t expected to decide on a new team until mid-December at the earliest.