The Tigers have selected the contract of veteran infielder Pete Kozma from Triple-A Toledo and created roster space by transferring Jose Iglesias from the 10-day DL to the 60-day DL, per a club announcement.
The move formally brings an end to Iglesais’ 2018 season and could very well mark the end of his time with the Tigers. The defensive standout is set to hit free agency after the 2018 season and may not factor into the mix for the rebuilding Tigers, though the team doesn’t have an heir-apparent waiting in the upper minors. Dixon Machado could perhaps get another shot, but he’s already been designated for assignment and outrighted off the 40-man roster this season — a move the organization surely wouldn’t have made if it held much belief that he could be a regular contributor for them in 2019 and beyond.
Iglesias will have age on his side as he enters free agency, as he’ll turn 29 in January. His bat has tailed off since a pair of impressive seasons in 2013 and 2015 — he missed 2014 due to injury — but he remains a premium defender at short. In 464 plate appearances this season, he batted .269/.310/.389 which, paired with his strong glovework, made him worth a bit more than two wins above replacement (2.2 rWAR, 2.6 fWAR).
Kozma, 30, spent 15 games with Detroit earlier this season and hit .175/.195/.300 through 41 plate appearances. The former Cardinals infielder hasn’t hit much in Toledo either, posting a dreadful .203/.260/.295 slash through 296 trips to the plate, but he’ll give the team a quality defensive presence off the bench for the final couple of weeks.
Totally disagree on the article. His bat is fine for a team that already has a premium line up. He’s only Mark Belanger like in the field. His main problem has in my view been an inability to stay healthy.
pete rises again
Pete f-ing Kozma.
Why the heck do the Tigers need a quality defensive presence off the bench in the last two weeks of this dreadful season? Bring up some of the kids, not these old, tired has-beens.
You dont know how this works do you?
No, he doesn’t.
I don’t get how this happened. The most mysteirous injury ever lol. Tigers have nothing to play for, Iglesias is a FA, makes no sense. After doing a little digging.. aggravating abdominal strain? Now I’m even more confused. How did he originally suffer the abdominal strain
Since Castro and Alcantara are both on the 40 man roster with MLB ready gloves and had respectable seasons at the plate, I could see them battling for the job in spring training.
Just glad the Tigers are moving on from Machado. W. Perez looks like the real deal, at least in the lower level minors. And the real question is where does Paredes end up defensively?
This is a stretch, but Cabby has to be a full time dh soon, maybe if Candy is still struggling at 3rd he shifts to 1st eventually. Just a thought.