Tigers Rumors

Tigers Acquire Austin Meadows

By Anthony Franco | April 4, 2022 at 10:31pm CDT

The Tigers announced this evening they’ve acquired outfielder Austin Meadows from the Rays for infielder Isaac Paredes and a Competitive Balance Round B selection. Tampa Bay had reportedly been shopping Meadows in recent weeks, and he’ll land in Detroit.

It’s a notable, largely unexpected strike for Detroit. There wasn’t any indication the Tigers were on the hunt for outfield help, as they’d seemingly been content to open the year with a Robbie Grossman, Víctor Reyes, Akil Baddoo trio. Top prospect Riley Greene fractured his foot over the weekend, however, and is expected to be sidelined for six-to-eight weeks. Whether Greene’s injury increased the urgency for general manager Al Avila and his staff to add to the outfield isn’t clear, but they’ll do so by bringing aboard a player who’s only a couple seasons removed from an All-Star campaign.

Meadows was part of the Rays now-famous haul from the Pirates at the 2018 trade deadline for Chris Archer. A top prospect during his days in the Pittsburgh farm system, he hit the ground running with a solid rookie showing before breaking out the following season. Meadows hit a massive .291/.364/.558 with 33 home runs in 591 plate appearances in 2019, seemingly emerging as one of the sport’s top young sluggers.

He hasn’t kept up that pace in the past two seasons. The lefty-hitting Meadows stumbled to a .205/.296/.371 line during the shortened 2020 campaign, striking out at an alarming 32.9% clip. That was obviously an anomalous year, and the the former 9th overall pick did bounce back this past season — albeit not close to his 2019 levels. Meadows hit .234/.315/.458 in 591 plate appearances, somewhat offsetting his 27 homers with a mediocre batting average and on-base percentage.

To his credit, the strikeout woes that had plagued Meadows in 2020 were corrected. He only fanned in 20.6% of his trips to the dish last season. His 77.2% contact rate was right in line with the league mark, while his average exit velocity, barrel rate and hard contact percentage were all a bit higher than average. Meadows was instead plagued by a career-low .249 batting average on balls in play.

That can’t all be chalked up to misfortune, as he has gotten increasingly fly-ball oriented over the past couple seasons. Among 135 hitters with 500+ plate appearances in 2021, no one had a higher fly-ball rate than Meadows’ 53% clip. That’s a recipe for hitting for power but also for poor ball in play results, as non-homer fly balls rarely turn into hits.

Whatever concerns one may have about Meadows’ batted ball profile, it’s still easy to see his appeal to the Tigers. Over parts of four big league seasons, he owns a .260/.333/.489 slash line — offensive production that checks in 22 percentage points above league average by measure of wRC+. While he hasn’t been at his best in two years, he was still an above-average hitter in 2021, and the 2019 campaign offers a hint of the kind of offensive upside he possesses if he can again bring his fly-ball rate closer to that season’s 42.9%.

Meadows does have rather marked platoon splits. For his career, he’s a .271/.351/.525 hitter against right-handed pitching. He owns a more pedestrian .237/.295/.412 slash against southpaws. The Tigers outfield already skewed a bit left-handed, with Greene and Baddoo hitting from that side of the dish while Reyes are Grossman are switch-hitters. Meadows doesn’t need to be a strict platoon player, though, and the rest of the Detroit lineup is heavily right-handed. Presumably, Meadows will step into an everyday corner outfield role for skipper A.J. Hinch, who’ll have the freedom to perhaps drop him down a bit in the order on days when the opposing team will roll out a tough lefty starter.

It’s an immediate upgrade for a Detroit team that has also added Javier Báez, Eduardo Rodríguez, Tucker Barnhart, Andrew Chafin and Michael Pineda this winter. Avila and his staff are clearly trying to pull out of their recent rebuild, and the Meadows addition should be a notable upgrade to the offense. It’s not an absolute win-now move, though, as the 26-year-old (27 next month) is controllable for three seasons via arbitration. Meadows and the Rays had settled on a $4MM salary for 2022, and he’s not slated to hit free agency until after 2024.

That makes Meadows a fairly affordable pick-up for Detroit, but he was part of a large arbitration class that might’ve put a strain on the Rays payroll. Even after subtracting his $4MM salary from the books, Tampa Bay has a projected franchise-record $83MM player payroll, according to Jason Martinez of Roster Resource. The Rays reportedly made a run at Freddie Freeman, so they were willing to stretch beyond their typical comfort zone for the right player, but that surprising pursuit always seemed to be a recognition of Freeman’s star status.

In addition to whatever payroll constraints president of baseball operations Erik Neander and his staff might’ve been facing, they clearly felt prepared to deal from a position of organizational depth. The Rays have Randy Arozarena, Kevin Kiermaier and Manuel Margot on hand as outfield options. Top prospect Josh Lowe, meanwhile, seems ready for a big league look after hitting .291/.381/.535 in 111 games with Triple-A Durham last season.

The team apparently feels Lowe is ready for a significant role on a team with World Series aspirations. Rays pre-game broadcaster Neil Solondz tweets that the club plans to recall the 24-year-old to break camp in the majors. Given his status as a consensus Top 50 prospect, Lowe will certainly be in line for regular at-bats. He, Margot and Kiermaier are each possible plus defenders at all three outfield spots, giving manager Kevin Cash a chance to run some excellent defensive groups on the grass. (Arozarena is primarily a corner outfielder but rates well there in his own right).

In exchange for dealing from that outfield depth, the Rays add another young bat to their infield mix. Paredes has been on the prospect radar for quite some time, but he only recently turned 23 years old. A right-handed hitter, he doesn’t possess overwhelming power or athleticism but he has excellent bat-to-ball skills.

Paredes hasn’t produced much in limited big league action the past couple seasons. Over 163 plate appearances, he owns a meager .215/.290/.302 line with a pair of home runs. He has posted excellent offensive numbers all the way up the minor league ladder, though, and the Rays are betting on those skills eventually carrying over against big league pitching.

Paredes, who appeared at the tail end of Baseball America’s Top 100 prospects in both 2019 and 2020, is coming off a .265/.397/.451 showing in 315 Triple-A plate appearances. He hit 11 homers and walked at a huge 17.8% clip while only striking out 14.9% of the time. Among 96 Triple-A East hitters with 300+ plate appearances, Paredes sported the third-highest walk rate. No one in that group had a better walk to strikeout ratio, with minor league veteran Tyler White the only other player in the league to even walk more often than he punched out.

While Paredes has experience at each of second base, third base and shortstop, he’s primarily played the former two positions in recent years. He’ll step into a Tampa Bay infield mix that is quite crowded itself. Wander Franco and Brandon Lowe have the middle infield spoken for, while Yandy Díaz joins Paredes and fellow former top prospects Taylor Walls and Vidal Bruján in the mix at third base. Díaz figures to assume some DH at-bats vacated by Meadows’ departure, which would enable the Rays to get their younger players some action at the hot corner. All three of Walls, Bruján and Paredes have minor league option years remaining, so they can each bounce between St. Petersburg and Durham as well.

The Rays have never shied away from churning players off the big league club to bolster the long-term organizational depth. Paredes has just over one year of big league service under his belt. He won’t reach free agency until at least after the 2026 campaign, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he spends enough time in the minors this season to push that trajectory back a year further. Tampa Bay also adds a draft choice that’ll fall after the second round, currently projected for #71 overall. Along with a Competitive Balance Round B pick of their own, the Rays now own four of the top 75 selections — along with the accompanying bonus pool space that stockpiling picks provides.

It’s a fascinating deal between two teams envisioning both immediate and long-term contention in the American League. The Tigers add a potential middle-of-the-order bat, bolstering an outfield fresh off an injury setback. (In a fun tidbit, they also raise the possibility of Meadows pairing with his younger brother Parker — a High-A outfielder in the Detroit system — in the Comerica Park outfield someday). The Rays continue to preemptively stockpile young players and draft capital, building the kind of organizational depth that allows them to perpetually deal good players like Meadows with the knowledge that additional talented players are on the horizon.

Images courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Spencer Torkelson Makes Tigers Opening Day Roster

By TC Zencka | April 2, 2022 at 12:15pm CDT

Spencer Torkelson, the former number one overall pick of the amateur draft, has made the Tigers opening day roster, per Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press (via Twitter). The team announced his official promotion via Twitter. Torkelson is the fifth-ranked prospect in the game per Baseball America, and fourth-ranked prospect overall by MLB.com and Baseball Prospectus.

The news comes, perhaps not uncoincidentally, on the same day that Riley Greene, Detroit’s other top position player prospect, has been announced out to start the year with a foot fracture. Greene is perhaps the more important of the two, given his defensive prominence as a center fielder, but it will be Torkelson with the first opportunity to establish himself in Detroit’s lineup.

Still, Torkelson’s quick rise through the system is impressive. The 22-year-old was the top pick in the draft out of Arizona State in the June 2020 draft, not even two years ago. In his one pro season, Torkelson rose from High-A, through Double-A to the top development level in the sport, playing 40 games in Triple-A and hitting .231/.350/.531 line across 177 plate appearances. Across all three levels, Torkelson posted an impressive .267/.383/.552 line over 530 plate appearances.

Tigers Riley Greene To Miss Opening Day With Foot Fracture

By TC Zencka | April 2, 2022 at 12:02pm CDT

12:02 PM: The preliminary timetable for Greene’s recovery pegs his return at 6-8 weeks, per The Athletic’s Cody Stavenhagen (via Twitter). Greene would almost certainly need time in the minors, and that’s far enough down the line that there are any number of factors that will determine when Greene might actually make his big league debut.

9:06 AM: Tigers top prospect Riley Greene has fractured his right foot, per MLB.com’s Jason Beck (via Twitter). The injury will not require surgery, but he won’t be ready for opening day. Greene is a consensus top prospect in baseball, ranked 4th overall by Baseball America, 5th by MLB.com, and 6th by Baseball Prospectus.

It’s a bummer of a break for the Tigers, who had dreams of seeing Greene take over as their everyday center fielder from day one. Instead, the former number five overall pick will begin the year on the injured list, and there’s no telling when he might be ready. Because he was not on the 40-man roster, however, Greene will not accumulate service time while on the injured list.

Instead, Victor Reyes figures to get a lot more playing time to start the year. He was told that he made the team a couple of days ago, per Evan Woodbery of the MLive Media Group (via Twitter). Reyes posted a .258/.284/.416 line over 220 plate appearances in 2021. The 27-year-old switch-hitter has an 81 wRC+ over 944 plate appearances over his four-year career.

Greene’s potential had helped raise the ceiling for Detroit, turning them into a popular sleeper pick to improve this season, but instead they will turn back to a familiar face in Reyes. Daz Cameron will not be recalled for now, and Derek Hill will not be physically ready for the opener, notes veteran reporter Chris McCosky (via Twitter).

That leaves Reyes as the likely regular in center, especially since Akil Baddoo is currently slated to start in left field. The other potential configuration would put Baddoo in center with Eric Haase or Harold Castro seeing some time in the outfield.

Andrew Miller Announces Retirement

By Mark Polishuk | March 24, 2022 at 10:58pm CDT

Veteran reliever Andrew Miller is retiring after 16 Major League seasons, Derrick Goold of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. In a text to Goold, Miller looked back on his career and gave to those who helped him along the way:

“The list of people who took me aside, put their arm around me, made me laugh when I needed to, or taught me something is endless. It’s safe to say I would have been faced with the next chapter much earlier on if it weren’t for them. As someone who thought their career was practically over in 2010, to be able to experience everything I did along the way is incredible. You shouldn’t ever hear complaints from me. It was a heck of a run.”

After being selected as the sixth overall pick of the 2006 draft, Miller was initially seen as a cornerstone piece of the Tigers’ future before he became part of one of the biggest trades in Detroit’s franchise history. Miller was one of six players dealt from the Tigers to the Marlins in exchange for Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis in December 2007, though after three injury-plagued seasons in South Beach, the Marlins also parted ways with the left-hander.

Miller was dealt to the Red Sox in the 2010-11 offseason, and after more struggles in 2011, Miller became a full-time reliever in 2012 and essentially never looked back. The southpaw became one of baseball’s top relief pitchers, working in a variety of different roles depending on his team’s needs. Whether as a closer, set-up man, multi-inning workhorse, or lefty specialist, Miller became a valuable bullpen weapon in any capacity.

As flexible bullpens have become more and more prominent in recent years, it is also very easy to point to Miller as a trailblazer. As Cardinals teammate Adam Wainwright simply put it, Miller “changed the game and he kind of took that relief role back to when it first started, guys who could do two, three innings – and he was the guy who did it in the postseason.”

From 2013-17, Miller was next to unhittable, posting a 1.82 ERA, 41.1% strikeout rate, and 7.4% walk rate over 291 2/3 innings with the Red Sox, Orioles, Yankees, and Indians. That tremendous stretch saw Miller named to two AL All-Star teams, and receive top-10 Cy Young placements in both the 2015 and 2016 seasons.

Miller received a World Series ring for his contributions to Boston’s 2013 championship team, even if injuries kept him participating in the postseason. However, as Wainwright noted, Miller was at his best in baseball’s biggest spotlight. Miller retires with a tiny 0.93 ERA over 38 2/3 innings in the playoffs, even winning 2016 ALCS MVP honors with Cleveland in 2016. That particular season saw Miller help carry an injury-riddled Cleveland pitching staff to within an inch of a World Series, falling to the Cubs in extra innings in Game Seven.

“He kind of revolutionized all of it – your best pitcher doesn’t have to be your starter or your closer,” Cardinals pitching coach Mike Maddux said. “And he was the best pitcher on multiple staffs. What he did in the postseason to help his team was groundbreaking. I don’t think anybody really duplicated what he’s done – as far as throwing multiple innings in the hairy innings, whenever they are.”

Miller’s success was reflected in his free agent value, as he landed a four-year, $36MM deal from the Yankees in the 2014-15 offseason. Hitting the open market again following the 2018 campaign, Miller signed a two-year, $25MM contract with the Cardinals that became a three-year, $37MM pact when he pitched enough innings in 2020 to trigger a vesting option.

Injuries began to hamper Miller later in his career, and both his velocity and his overall performance took a step back over his three years in St. Louis. Miller had only a 4.34 ERA over 103 2/3 regular-season innings in a Cards uniform, but again remained effective come October. Over seven postseason games and 5 2/3 innings with the Cardinals, Miller didn’t allow a single run.

If anything, Miller drew even more respect from teammates and peers off the field, due to his work with the MLB Players Association. A longtime team union rep and a member of the MLBPA executive board, Miller was one of the most prominent and outspoken voices representing the players’ causes both during his career, and particularly this offseason during the lockout. While Miller will never himself play under the terms of the 2022-26 Collective Bargaining Agreement, it will stand as something of a legacy for his contributions to players both present and future.

“I have an appreciation for what he did for the entire game of baseball,” Wainwright said of Miller’s MLBPA work. “As many hours as that guy put in for the union over these past few years is kind of staggering. He may retire and that means this whole offseason he still spent 16 hours on the phone a day, for us, for who’s next – that means a lot.”

The 36-year-old Miller will retire with a career 4.03 ERA, 27.1% strikeout rate, 979 strikeouts, 10.6% walk rate, 63 saves, and 141 holds over his 829 innings with seven different Major League teams. We at MLB Trade Rumors congratulate Miller on a great career, and we wish him all the best in retirement.

For the last word on Miller’s career, the lefty himself sums things up as part of his text message….

“I feel very fortunate that my career worked out the way that it did. Of course there were tough stretches, injuries, and times of doubt. I also won’t deny that I can find myself in moments of wondering what if this or that had happened differently, could it have somehow been better? I’m usually pretty quick to be able to step back though and see how lucky I have been. The hard times were necessary for me to grow and to be able to appreciate the highs along the way. Ultimately, I was able to play for many great franchises, wear historic uniforms, and play in some amazing ballparks. I made some of the best friends I will ever have in life through the game. I was able to work with the union and see the good it can do for players while learning so much about the game.”

Free Agent Notes: Correa, Braves, Story, Tigers, Cueto

By Mark Polishuk | March 20, 2022 at 5:57pm CDT

The Braves were somewhat surprisingly connected to Carlos Correa prior to the lockout, and the two sides did re-engage to some extent before Correa signed with the Twins, though The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports that Atlanta didn’t make Correa an offer. It was actually agent Scott Boras who reached out to the Braves as he was gauging the market for his client, and Rosenthal writes that Boras “floated” the same three-year, $105.3MM deal with two opt-outs that Correa eventually signed with Minnesota.

While nothing came of these negotiations, Rosenthal does wonder if Correa (assuming he opts out) might be a target for the Braves next winter, as incumbent shortstop Dansby Swanson will be a free agent. Signing Correa to a long-term deal would surely require Atlanta GM Alex Anthopoulos to make his biggest expenditure yet, though the Braves will have quite a bit of money coming off the books in the form of Swanson, Kenley Jansen, and depending on club options, Charlie Morton and Will Smith.

Injury Notes: Urias, Rortvedt, Funkhouser

By Darragh McDonald | March 19, 2022 at 8:01pm CDT

Luis Urias was removed from today’s Spring Training game after suffering a quad injury while running the bases. Brewers manager Craig Counsell told Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and other reporters that the extent of the injury won’t be known until tomorrow. If Urias needs to miss any amount of time, it would certainly be a blow to the Brewers, as Urias’ excellent breakout campaign (.249/.345/.445 with an 111 wRC+) put him in line to be the club’s everyday third baseman this year.

The Brewers succeeded last year despite a mediocre offense, getting tremendous results from their pitching staff. They’ve made efforts to bolster the lineup this offseason, adding Hunter Renfroe, Andrew McCutchen and Mike Brosseau. If Urias has to miss any time, Brosseau and Jace Peterson are the most likely to step up and man the hot corner.

Some other injury notes from around the league as Spring Training games get underway…

The Yankees’ newly-acquired catcher Ben Rortvedt has been sidelined by an oblique injury, per Dan Martin of the New York Post. Rortvedt was just acquired as part of the big trade with the Twins, coming over with Josh Donaldson and Isiah Kiner-Falefa in exchange for Gary Sanchez and Gio Urshela. As a left-handed bat, Rortvedt was expected to play in a platoon capacity alongside right-handed batter Kyle Higashioka. The club doesn’t have another catcher on their 40-man roster. If Rortvedt’s injury proves significant, they may have to look for outside additions, or else rely on depth options like Rob Brantly or David Freitas.
Tigers reliever Kyle Funkhouser has lat soreness in his right side and may not be ready for Opening Day, reports Chris McCosky of The Detroit News. Funkhouser emerged as a valuable member of Detroit’s relief corps last year, throwing 68 1/3 innings with a 3.42 ERA. His 21.1% strikeout rate and 12.8% walk rate were both subpar, but he did log a strong 53.2% ground ball rate. “It just hasn’t resolved itself,” Tigers’ manager A.J. Hinch said of the injury. “He hasn’t been throwing any bullpens or live batting practice. That’s a concern with the shorter spring. I don’t anticipate that he’ll be ready for the season. Three weeks from yesterday we open up. That’s not much time on a regular schedule, let along when you have a bump in the road like this.”

Tigers Sign Michael Pineda

By Anthony Franco | March 19, 2022 at 10:02am CDT

March 19: The Tigers have officially announced the deal with a press release. Pineda may be delayed in joining the club, however, as he works to solve issues relating to his visa, per Chris McCosky (via Twitter). Whether or not he’ll be ready to start the reason remains up in the air.

That matters for Pineda, whose contract includes a number of innings bonuses, per Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press (via Twitter). Pineda will receive $375K for hitting each of the 50, 75, 100, and 125 inning benchmarks, and he would receive an additional $500K for tossing 150 and 175 innings. In total, that amounts to an extra $2.5MM that he could add to the $5.5MM base sum.

March 18: The Tigers have fortified the back of their rotation, reportedly agreeing to terms with Michael Pineda on a one-year, $5.5MM guarantee. The deal, which is pending a physical, also contains another $2.5MM in possible incentives. Pineda is a client of ISE Baseball.

Detroit has ben searching for additional rotation help in recent days. General manager Al Avila acknowledged they made an unsuccessful run at Zack Greinke before he signed with the division-rival Royals. The Tigers were linked to Frankie Montas and Sean Manaea, both of whom the A’s have made available via trade. Avila implied yesterday that the Detroit front office might not meet the A’s ask on those two starters, though, and it seems they’ve instead pivoted to Pineda.

Tigers fans have seen plenty of the big right-hander over the past few years. Pineda has spent the last three seasons with the Twins, generally offering capable if not overwhelming production. He worked 282 cumulative innings with Minnesota, pitching to a 3.80 ERA while holding opponents to a .257/.296/.428 slash line. Pineda’s 21.6% strikeout rate in that time was a bit below the league mark, but he only walked 4.8% of batters faced and generally did well to keep the ball in the park.

Pineda’s availability was a bit spotty during his Twins tenure. He had four injured list stints between 2019 and 2021, although none of those stays on the shelf lasted more than a month. He also missed some time late in 2019 and early in 2020 serving a suspension after testing positive for a banned substance. When able to take the mound, Pineda generally performed alright. Last season, he tossed 109 1/3 frames in 22 appearances (21 starts), pitching to a 3.62 ERA.

That came with a career-worst 19.2% strikeout percentage, though. Pineda also averaged a personal-low 90.9 MPH on his fastball and had the lowest swinging strike rate (10.5%) of his eight-year big league career. That seemingly contributed to a lack of leaguewide interest at last summer’s trade deadline, as the Twins held onto Pineda all year despite moving a few players in July amidst a disappointing season.

Pineda’s stock isn’t as high as it had been earlier in his career, but it’s still a plenty sensible dice roll for the Tigers. Detroit has a top four of Eduardo Rodriguez, Casey Mize, Tarik Skubal and Matt Manning, but the final rotation spot remained up in the air. Swingman Tyler Alexander and non-roster invitees Chase Anderson and Wily Peralta seemed the likeliest candidates for the #5 spot heading into today. Pineda’s signing will presumably push Alexander back into a multi-inning relief role, with Anderson and Peralta competing for depth spots. It’ll also help Detroit brass keep the innings totals of their younger arms in check.

Avila said yesterday the Tigers were prepared to make an offer to Greinke comparable to the $13MM guarantee he received from the Royals. It doesn’t come as much surprise they had enough in the coffers to put less than half that on the table for Pineda. Detroit’s projected player payroll is up to around $129MM, according to Jason Martinez of Roster Resource. That’s well above where they’ve been in recent seasons as they’ve been firmly amidst a rebuild, but it’s nowhere near the franchise-record levels of years past (or the luxury tax thresholds). How far owner Chris Ilitch is willing to push isn’t clear, but it stands to reason there may still be some room for the front office to explore further additions.

Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free-Press first reported the Tigers were in agreement with Pineda on a one-year deal. Jon Heyman of the MLB Network was first to report the financial terms.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Tigers Notes: Manaea, Montas, Greinke, Torkelson, Greene

By Anthony Franco | March 17, 2022 at 7:41pm CDT

The Tigers have had an active offseason, acquiring Javier Báez, Eduardo Rodríguez, Andrew Chafin and Tucker Barnhart. They could still use some help at the back of the rotation, though, and they’ve been tied to a few starting pitchers in recent days.

Jon Heyman of the MLB Network tweeted last night that Detroit was among the teams in discussions with the A’s about Frankie Montas and Sean Manaea. It is widely believed Oakland will move one or both of those players, as the A’s have kicked off their long-rumored reboot since the lockout was lifted. Chris Bassitt, Matt Olson and Matt Chapman have already been shipped out. Manaea, entering his final year of club control, seems a lock to change teams. Montas has an additional year of control, but that was also true of Chapman and Olson.

Either would be a marked upgrade to the rotation, beyond a typical back-of-the-rotation acquisition. Manaea tossed 179 1/3 innings of 3.91 ERA/3.68 SIERA ball last season, his third sub-4.00 showing in four full seasons. Montas was even better, pitching to a 3.37 ERA in 187 frames with a strong 26.6% strikeout rate.

The A’s two starters may be the top two arms available to pitching-needy clubs. Every currently healthy starting pitcher who made MLBTR’s Top 50 Free Agents list entering the offseason has already signed. The Reds don’t intend to trade Luis Castillo or Tyler Mahle, leaving few obvious remaining trade candidates.

Detroit general manager Al Avila met with reporters (including Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free-Press) this afternoon. He acknowledged that the market was “thinning out a little bit” but said the front office was “still trying to improve the team.” The Tigers were reportedly involved in the bidding for Zack Greinke before the six-time All-Star returned to the Royals on a $13MM deal. Avila confirmed as much today, saying “we were in the Greinke situation” but that the righty preferred to “(go) back to Kansas City and the place where he started.” Avila implied the Tigers were prepared to make an offer at least competitive with the Royals’ proposal but suggested Detroit was at a geographic disadvantage against their division rivals.

Asked about the possibility of acquiring one of the A’s hurlers, Avila said they’ve looked into making an impact acquisition via trade but expressed a desire “to be careful” in not parting with too much prospect talent. Montas, given his two years of control and superior numbers, would bring back more in return than would Manaea.

Speaking of top prospects, Avila addressed the status of Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene. Both young hitters are among Baseball America’s top five overall minor league talents, and each had excellent late-season showings with Triple-A Toledo last year. Whether either of Torkelson or Greene will make the Opening Day roster is one of the biggest questions for the organization.

Avila denied that service time considerations would play a role in whether to carry those players out of camp. “When a player is ready to come up, and the team is ready to go, there’s no reason to hold a player back. I was not taught that way,” the GM said, via Petzold. “I also believe I’m not arrogant enough to think that I could hold a guy back and we’re going to get by and we’re going to make the playoffs anyway. You got to go full bore from Day 1. Those few games at the beginning could mean everything at the end. That’s the way I was taught. Our decision is going to be to put the best team on the field where we can win and get to the playoffs.”

To be clear, that’s not a formal declaration that either of Greene or Torkelson will break camp. Avila said the front office will “know it when we see it” when asked about when those players will be ready for their debuts. There’d seem to be a real opportunity for either to open the year on the MLB roster. Putting Torkelson at first could allow Jonathan Schoop to kick back to second base, which might otherwise be manned by Willi Castro or Harold Castro. Greene could be an option for either left or center field, where he’d presumably be complemented by Akil Baddoo and Robbie Grossman, with Víctor Reyes moving into a fourth outfield role.

Tigers Interested In Zack Greinke, Michael Pineda

By Mark Polishuk | March 16, 2022 at 2:34pm CDT

The Tigers are “still in the mix” for free agent starters Zack Greinke and Michael Pineda, The Detroit News’ Chris McCosky reports (Twitter link). While the Tigers also re-signed Wily Peralta on a minor league deal earlier today, the club is clearly still interested in adding further reinforcements to its rotation, and using Peralta in his old swingman role.

Eduardo Rodriguez was signed to a five-year, $77MM deal back in November, thus giving Detroit a veteran arm to augment the promising young rotation trio of Casey Mize, Tarik Skubal, and Matt Manning. Even with Peralta now in the fold as well, adding yet another full-time starter would give the Tigers more depth in the event of injury, or if any of the younger hurlers aren’t quite yet ready to deliver at the Major League level. Neither Greinke or Pineda are exactly sure things themselves, of course, but they do bring plenty of experience to a Tigers team that plans to return to contention.

Greinke’s 17.2% strikeout rate last season was his lowest since 2006, while his 17.4% home run rate was the highest of his 18-year career. The veteran righty also missed time due to both neck soreness and the COVID-related injury list during the last two months of the season, and thus the Astros only used Greinke on a sparing and limited basis during their postseason run.

This said, Greinke was still an effective pitcher overall, posting an elite 5.2% walk rate and solid hard-contact numbers en route to a 4.16 ERA over 171 innings for Houston. Even as Greinke enters his age-38 season, there is plenty of indication that he can still be a strong contributor to a big league rotation, though his days of being an All-Star caliber starter are probably over.

Pineda is only 33, but carries more durability questions than Greinke. Three separate IL stints limited Pineda to 109 1/3 innings with the Twins last season, and he also missed all of 2018 recovering from a Tommy John surgery. When Pineda did pitch last year, he performed well via the bottom-line number of a 3.62 ERA, though his Statcast metrics were much less flattering, apart from an outstanding 4.6% walk rate. Pineda had some of the worst hard-contact numbers of any pitcher in baseball, and his 19.2% strikeout rate was both well below the league average and the worst K% of Pineda’s eight big league seasons.

It would certainly seem likely that either Greinke or Pineda would be available on a one-year contract, which would fit a Detroit club that could be looking for more supplementary pieces after already spending big on E-Rod and Javier Baez. MLBTR ranked Greinke 40th on our list of the winter’s top 50 free agents and projected him for a one-year, $15MM deal. Pineda signed two-year deals with the Twins in each of his last two visits to the open market, though both of those contracts (worth $10MM and $20MM, respectively) were impacted by his Tommy John recovery and the 60-game PED suspension that cost him parts of the 2019 and 2020 season.

Tigers To Sign Andrew Chafin

By Tim Dierkes | March 16, 2022 at 9:52am CDT

The Tigers have an agreement with lefty reliever Andrew Chafin, according to Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press. Chafin’s contract will be a two-year deal in the $13MM range, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. That is indeed the contract value, reports Jon Heyman of MLB Network, who notes the inclusion of an opt-out after 2022. Chafin is represented by Meister Sports Management.

Chafin, 31, posted a career-best 1.83 ERA in 68 2/3 innings for the Cubs and Athletics in 2021. Though his 24.1 K% was down from previous years, he also managed a career-best 7.1 BB%. Chafin was tough on both righties and lefties in ’21, and actually posted a significantly higher strikeout rate against righties. Though Chafin is not known for his velocity or spin rate, his Statcast metrics regarding quality of contact are excellent.

Chafin was drafted 43rd overall by the Diamondbacks out of Kent State back in 2011. He’s made 66+ appearances in a season five different times, leading all MLB relievers with 225 appearances from 2017-19. In facing 263 lefty batters since 2019, Chafin has posted an 18.3 K-BB% against them while allowing a .225/.290/.317 batting line.

According to MLB.com’s Jason Beck, the relative proximity to Chafin’s Ohio home was an advantage for Detroit. The Chafin signing is another move toward respectability for the Tigers in an offseason full of them. The club committed $217MM to Javier Baez and Eduardo Rodriguez prior to the lockout, also trading for catcher Tucker Barnhart. Chafin joins a Tigers bullpen that is slated to include holdovers Gregory Soto, Michael Fulmer, Jose Cisnero, Alex Lange, and Kyle Funkhouser.

In February of last year, the Cubs signed Chafin to a one-year, $2.75MM deal. Near the July trade deadline, he was dealt to Oakland for minor leaguers Greg Deichmann and Daniel Palencia.

Three other lefty relievers have signed two-year deals this winter. Aaron Loup received a $17MM deal from the Angels, while Brooks Raley got $10MM from the Rays and Jake Diekman got $8MM from the Red Sox. Brad Hand, Matt Strahm, T.J. McFarland, and Joely Rodriguez inked one-year pacts. Here’s a look at the lefty relievers still remaining in free agency.

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