In advance of the MLB-wide roster freeze, the Tigers released and re-signed veterans Jordy Mercer and Zack Godley, per Chris Hilburn-Trenkle of Baseball America. It was a procedural move, per Chris McCoskey of the Detroit Free Press (via Twitter), no doubt relating to their opt-out clauses. Both players remain with the organization on minor-league pacts.
*The original version of this post misinterpreted the underlying story and failed to recognize that both players had been re-signed. We regret the error.
Mercer, the long-time Pirates shortstop, spent the 2019 season with the Detroit organization and returned as a non-roster invitee in the past offseason. He missed a lot of time due to injury but turned in a sturdy .270/.310/.438 batting line when healthy. Mercer has hit well thus far in camp and would appear to be a solidifying presence in a largely uncertain infield mix.
As for Godley, 29, he handed out eight walks in 4 1/3 innings of spring action. But he’ll still have a shot at earning a bounceback opportunity in Detroit. Godley emerged as a quality rotation piece in 2017 with the Diamondbacks but took a step back in the ensuing season and struggled mightily last year. His deal includes a $1.5MM salary and $1.5MM in possible incentives, if he can earn his way to the majors.
Among all of the young Tigers shortstops in their system, last year I saw Jose King, and did he hit the ball hard! Very impressive.
I think Willi Castro will be the SS soon. He’s progressing defensively and his bat is there.
That’s great to hear. Where did you see King play last year? GCL?
king is 21 but looks like he’s 17. Detroit wants him to grow into his body in west Michigan. i like him the most of all our ss prospects
Mercer was a light hitting short stop. I hope he can latch onto another team because his defense could be useful in later innings. If he had a bit more “pop” in his bat, he’d actually be a Top 10 SS in the league. He only plays pretty good D and not too flashy every time. He plays defense like players should and not think about the highlight reel on Sport Center. Good guy to have as a defense replacement.
Mercer hasn’t posted a positive mark in DRS, UZR, UZR/150 since 2015, and has never had a positive number in range runs. He also has career .703 OPS and 91 OPS+. I can name about 20 shortstops who would be above Mercer. Shortstop is one of the most loaded positions in the MLB right now. No way he would make a top 10 list above Baez, Lindor, DeJong, Story, Turner, Torres, Bogarets, Semien, Seager, Ahmed, Adames, or Anderson.
So if he hit ten more homeruns he’d be a top ten SS? No way.
Godley could make sense for the Yankees as minor league depth with questions about the pitching staffs health
Please edit your article. Yes they were released on 3/20, but resigned to new contracts the next day. They are still with the Tigers
Always thought Jordy Mercer was underrated when he was with the Pirates.
Any other team in the Tigers’ position would go with their kids, but Avila keeps signing these mediocre retread stopgaps.
They resigned them to minor league deals so as a fan I’m cool with it. Mercer has a shot at making the 26 man roster as a utility guy since Goodrum is the everyday SS. They could give that utility spot to day Willi Castro but I think they want him playing everyday, which means he’s probably ticketed first Toledo. Godley is just an arm and organizational depth. If he makes the 26 man roster it’s as a long man out of the pen. Their only 2 for sure bullpen guys coming into spring were Jimenez and Farmer.
I dont get the 1 yr deals on Schoop Cron Maybin now Mercer with a minors deal-
Id much rather “put a team over the coals” trying to offload a bad contract+ prospects
Will Meyers comes to mind first, Price before the Dodgers trade and even guys like Pollock and JUP Ian Desmond Wade Davis – Many other candidates as well fit this mold
I think they needed to sign Cron. They have no one even close in their organization ready to play 1B in the bigs. Schoop I had no issue with as a low cost possible trade chip come deadline time. Plus both Cron and Schoop are on 1 year deals. I totally agree with you on Maybin. They have numerous OF with flashes of talent that need to distinguish themselves from the rest of the pack (Jones Stewart Reyes Demeritte Cameron Stokes etc). But yes they need to absorb other teams crap contracts for additional young talent, just not “lengthy” contracts years wise. Chris Illitch has shown no conviction to take on bad money let alone long term bad money.
Def validity in that, Im probably more cut throat as a paper tiger Gm but I still think Id go that route –
The key is finding the team(s) Really looking to move bad money then hitting on the negotiations/scouting aspect as well
Think we are going to see a couple teams explore these route during re-builds this next decade –
Tigers ledger gets real real real real nice next year though with some nice prospects coming up- Things are looking Up for the storied franchise these days , good too see
They have some very good young arms and get to shed JZs albatross of a contract in 2021 but my concern as a fan under the Avila regime is the lack of home grown position player talent to hit the bigs or even be a prospect with a bright future. W. Castro, Cameron, Paredes, Rogers, Lugo, Candelario, etc are all prospects/young big leaguers acquired via trade. It finally looks like they have a homegrown position player who might be the real deal in Riley Greene but time will tell with him he’s still only 19.
They should trade Godley for Mercer along with draft picks and international money. Then rerelease and resign both again.
How do you trade a player for another player who is also on your team? They are both on the same team so you cannot trade them for each other.
Don’t you get it man????? The Tigers resigned BOTH Mercer AND Godley. What’s so tough to understand about that??????