6:42pm: The Tigers have announced the signing.
3:40pm: The two sides have a deal for two years and $10MM, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets. Grossman could make up to $500K per year in performance bonuses, per Stavenhagen.
3:39pm: The Tigers are closing in on a two-year, $10MM agreement with free-agent outfielder Robbie Grossman, Cody Stavenhagen and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic report. The pact will also include performance bonuses for Grossman, a Lagardere Sports client.
Detroit will be the fourth team for Grossman, a sixth-round pick in 2008 who has played in the bigs with the Astros, Twins and Athletics. Grossman played a small portion of his career in Houston under then-manager A.J. Hinch, who is now the Tigers’ skipper.
Grossman and Hinch will now reunite, and the 31-year-old switch-hitter will bring a lifetime batting line of .252/.350/.380 with 50 home runs and 37 stolen bases in 2,748 plate appearances to his new team. While Grossman has been a roughly league-average offensive player throughout his career, he hasn’t graded out as well in the outfield, where he has combined for minus-19 Defensive Runs Saved and a minus-18.9 Ultimate Zone Rating among all three positions.
Last season may have been a career offensive year for Grossman, who batted .241/.341/.482 (126 wRC+), hit eight homers and stole eight bases across 192 PA to conclude his A’s tenure. The majority of Grossman’s season was spent in left field, where the Tigers mostly deployed Christin Stewart in 2020. But Stewart and primary right fielder Daz Cameron had rough years, leaving the Tigers with a need in the corners. The hope is that Grossman will provide it, and his track record of getting on base suggests he’ll improve an offense that posted the league’s third-worst OBP (.303) last season.
For $5 million a year, not a bad veteran pickup for Detroit.
That’s gross man…
I dunno about that. Market isn’t really set don’t think for journeyman/backup outfielder’s and isn’t overpaid, like 5mAAV for this type the kind of contracts some teams are trying to unload now?
Renfroe got less than this as an example and he has power, but this guy.. See him as a blocker for one of Detroit’s prospects perhaps? Not a good deal is my2c.
Just what is Al Avila thinking?
Grossman looks like mike trout compared to renfroe. Hitting home runs don’t mean your a good baseball player I’m hoping people start realizing that again
he will provide better AB and has a low strike out rate.
He has also improved his power by advancing in Pull %
I agree with you and I think this in an amazing pick up for the Tigers
I am thrilled and relieved that the White Sox did not get him. Athletes with the last name Grossman do not have a great history with Chicago sports.
5 million a year for Grossman? Yikes!
Horrible take. His type are a dime-a-dozen. You’re 14, so makes sense.
Seems good to me. There are a lot of home run hitters but not with the walk rate Grossman has. Let’s be honest, in many cases, a walk isn’t that much different than a single.
Keep in mind starting salary in a mlb team is $565,500 a year
meh
I looked up “meh” in the dictionary, and it actually said “See also: Robbie Grossman”. True story.
I look up meh in the dictionary and it said your mom.
(I can’t believe I just said that lmao)
Don’t feel bad, it was juvenile but still funny.
lol! Your mom jokes are always funny just like farts.
Rangers29 with the comeback!
Hey Rangers, we’ll trade you 2 years of Robbie Grossman for 1 of David Dahl. LMK.
@miggy4prez… #DahlToArlington
I appreciate the humor
I shouldn’t have laughed, but…
Momma says Robbie Grossman is the Devil!
I looked up ‘hottest man/best athlete alive’ and saw David Fletcher
We’ll trade you one month of Robbie Grossman for the entire starting Cardinals outfield.
La Tortuga and Bartolo Colon would like to have a word with you!
What about Arozarena though? Oh wait…
Fair deal
Fletcher is a god amongst men.
I mean, it’s the Tigers, so that’s pretty apropos.
I’m going to give his mom a call.
She’s obviously into Gross men.
Yawn. What else you got?
Crap! I thought I was right on with the Dodgers prediction!
Dodger dont need outfield, U a vet on this site lol you should know. Grossman wanna be a starter
With the absense of Pederson, I thought another crafty comeback player like Chris Taylor would be a good fit for their OF spot. And, with the signing of Grossman, they could allocate more money to other positions by going cheaper there.
They got a couple kids coming up the pipe to help if needed. Left field is not a big priority ATM.
Replacement level placeholder. Keep the $$ and play a kid who might develop
….no fans anyway
Wow, I didn’t think he had that kind of value…
On base machine – plus a serviceable defence.
Gritty performer and I’m disappointed he’s not re-signed with the A’s….
I’m not. Dudes the definition of mediocre. Hoping Seth Brown can step up this year and be more productive.
I agree, he was good, but A’s can move on without him. I like Canha better at LF and it’s time Seth Brown gets a full season in.
Think Canha has one more year to go before leaving A’s too…
With Fowler ( out ofptions), skye bolt, Seth brown as lefty hitting outfield options and deichmann, Luis Barrera slated for AAA there’s outfield depth there
To anyone other than Avila, he doesn’t. Cause he doesn’t. Smh.
2 years, $10 mil. That’s gross, man.
Welcome aboard Robbie! Finally someone w/ decent obp. It will be interesting to see what they do with Stewart.
Glad I’m not signing the checks.. still unsure why they didn’t outbid the $1.5m for Casali. Go Tigs!
2 years? And his defense…sigh. I’m not clamoring for Avila to spend big but I think he could have aimed a wee bit higher. We’ll see.
I’d much rather watch Greene than 2 years of this guy.
Ohh, absolutely. And if I had to pick a FA it would’ve been Rosario. But, this gives me a glimmer of hope that more moves will be made this off-season. I felt like 1b/3b and catching were more pressing needs than RF.. we shall see.
The leash certainly got tighter for Hill, Stewart, Demmerite, and Stokes. Which is great as far as I’m concerned. We can’t be stuck in neutral. Next man up!
Stewart needs to go. Horrendous fielder who can’t hit…. they need to to accept that he is not the future LF like they thought and move on. This was not who I was hoping to replace him with though…
Man, what’s going on with the Free Agent prediction leaderboard? I feel like it’s been two months since submissions were in!
Search “contest”. It’s there.
Oh, awesome. My mistake, thanks for pointing that out!
Thanks. Was wondering how to find it myself.
Interesting thing for Detroit will be to see how much they allow stolen bases under Hinch. During his tenure in Houston, they practically outlawed steals for guys with <65% effiency
*efficiency. But anyway I wonder if that was a Hinch decision and whether that will continue for his new team
Considering he barely played in 2015 and that was hinch’s first year as manager id say it probably wasn’t a hunch decision
Connor, can you please link Robbie Grossman’s name in the article? I like being able to click on it and have it go directly to Baseball Reference so I can check out some sabermetrics and algorithms, instead of having to open another tab, type out his name, and then find the correct link in search. Thank you pal!
(EDIT: Thank you for updating it!)
Not to be rude but do you guys check your work?
I’m sure you meant 2008 draft
Blue Jays were linked to him.
Another nice fit for the Angels. Give Adell some AAA time then upgrade Upton’s “defense”.
Was hoping the Cubs would sign him, they need OBP guys.
Grossman requires a MLB contract, which instantly eliminates the Cubs.
Lol
Grossman has been really good last year, so the value is there in theory. But he will probably not bat above 125 wRC+ again, so if the Tigers want to start contending in 2022, his production will be a bit too light. I also wanted Detroit to sign a 1B/OF type, to give enough ABs to Reyes, Jones and Cameron (the latter since the Tigers aren’t going anywhere this year).
Gruß,
BSHH
He was drafted in 2008, not 2018. he is ooooooooooooold for a .200 hitter… lol. good for a local Cy Fair boy makin a little extra change. MLBPA cant be too happy about a 33yr old ball player signing for $5mm/yr.
Tell us more about how the association isn’t happy that a guy like Grossman got $10 million.
He’s 31.. slash line .252/.350/.380/.730. He’s average, and he’s paid as such.
Joey Gallo’s BA is .208 fwiw
On base machine, decent hitter, decent speed. The perfect player for a rebuilding club.
Yes, his OBP is more than 90 points hire than his BA career wise. That is something the Tigers lack right now is guys who can work the count and draw walks. Plus his K rate isn’t horrible. Again not my preference but there are worse guys the Tigers could have picked up.
Stokes Jr. had an OBP 110 pts higher than his BA in ’19 but got cut to make room for Grossman.
Not who I would have liked but somewhat happy to have a reasonable LF who has a history of some production but is not being paid so much that he can’t find a seat on the bench if a younger kid from the minors proves worthy of some MLB time. It pretty much fits what Avila has done the past two years with his FA signings. No major commitment in dollars, lower level guys who are gap fillers. The only difference is the years, 2. Universally, Avila has had 1 year gap fillers. But this also shows what most of us know, that we’ll need an OF gap filler for two years.
I would have loved Rosario or Joc Peterson but they would have likely cost double this or more for the same amount of time. Tigers are not going to be contenders this year, or next likely. Just hoping to see some prospect growth this year.
And you made a mistake. Daz Cameron was not the primary RF, Victor Reyes was. Victor slid to center when JaCoby Jones got injured. Daz got called up from the alternate site because of that and did log quite a few games in RF, but that does not make him the primary RF. Daz was likely ticketed for Toledo to start this year even before he hurt his arm and had to leave his winter assignment.
I don’t think the MLBTR writers know anything about the Tigers…and it shows.
So true
Not a fan. Lots of better options out there. This doesn’t feel quite as immediately, obviously idiotic as the 2 yrs 18 mil Avila gave to Pelfrey, but it’s not too far off. Terrible fielders who are average hitters at best, and that’s a stretch, don’t hold much value. I’ll hold out some hope, but I doubt he’ll be around for year 2 of the deal.
hahahaha. do you even buy the nonsense you are selling?
Too bad they couldn’t trade fans like you away.
So u gonna sit there and act like Grossman is anything other than immensely mediocre? The man had a career year last year and hit .240. I don’t expect him to match that production in Detroit. Drawing walks is nice, but it doesn’t make up for atrocious defense and lack of production. There may be a role for him to serve, but there are others who are better and younger and could have played the same role. Like I said, I’ll hold out hope, but having watched Grossman play before, it won’t be much hope.
Yay for using batting average over other numbers that matter far more!
He is mediocre at everything man. I ain’t even tryna tear into him too bad. It’s just wrong to act like he is anything other than a replacement level, mediocre player. Like I said, drawing walks is not so important that it makes up for his other deficiencies. All I’m saying is there were better options out there.
Also, there is no more important offensive stat than batting average. Y’all can come up with any excuse u want to say other stats are more important, but it’s nonsense. Half of the stats nowadays are entirely made up. I enjoy analytics, but to delve too far from what’s obvious to the eye would be a disservice to the game. Hitting is still the most important thing an offensive player can bring. No one would care if you got 3,000 walks.
Grossman offers one thing, the ability to take a walk. He’s poor defensively. He doesn’t hit for average. He shows little power. He doesn’t steal bases. I would prefer someone who has some room to his ceiling. Goodrum has more upside. I’m tired of Stewart, but even he has more upside. Grossman just had a career year and rose to the level of “meh!” He is Travis Demeritte with more ABs. Sure hope he is a good teammate.
Grossman has been significantly better than both Goodrum and Stewart since 2017, when both came up. Upside?? you make it seem like they are prospects.
When your older than 27 it’s no longer “upside”.. it’s results. They are in their prime, and they are far from it. Goodrum and Stewart are below average, unlike a “meh” Robbie Grossman
Goodrum at least has the value of being able to play anywhere on the diamond, therefore making him worth keeping around. Stewart not so much lmao. Grossman is probably a slight upgrade over Stewart, but that’s not saying much at all. I’ll be curious to see who they jettison from the 40 man to make room, my guess is likely Schreiber, but it could be Funkhouser, Short, Stokes, Demeritte or even maybe Stewart. In short, plenty of guys could go lmao.
Turns out it’s Stokes, makes sense.
Thought about this a bit and a better comparison is Shane Halter. Does everything adequately, but nothing well.
So in other words.. an upgrade.
Great low cost deal for Detroit. It’s going to be nice to see Detroit be a competitive ball club again by 2023 or so.
Pretty sad when Robbie Grossman actually improves your team.
Not sure that’s a solid move for the Tigers, considering where they are in the rebuild. But it’s definitely a solid move for Grossman, financially. Good on you, Robbie.
Not a real exciting signing, but Grossman should definitely help. Now I’d like to see them sign Mitch Moreland to play 1B, Jason Castro or Alex Avial to catch, and re-sign Jonathon Schoop to play 2B,
NOTE TO THE AUTHOR: Victor Reyes was the Tigers primary RF last season and should have a strong hold on the job heading into spring training.
I thought that too when I was reading it.
Surprisingly, it looks like Daz DID have the most starts in RF last year.
Daz – 16
Cam – 12
Victor – 12
Bonifacio – 9
Demeritte – 6
Castro – 3
With that being said, with JaCoby coming back, that should push Reyes back to starting in a corner.
Nice check. I am surprised by this too, and watched every game last year.
This guy is a obp machine. Nice signing by det. He’s a tougher out than Cron or Schoop and he’s got speed on the basepaths.
You have to appreciate Det trying to accumulate extra wins but I cant say I would have gone about the last couple off-seasons in the same fashion as Det has.
Its been clear for yrs this was going to be a hard rebuild – To me, and it might be selfish I admit, Id rather see the FO bring in prospects taking on bad money than sign guys like Cron Schoop Grossman year to year-
Angels- Jup
Dodgers-Pollock/Price – Typically a no go but with CBT so pressing you could squeeze something outta them for financial flexibility atm
Cincy- Moose/Cast
Tex- Odor
And so on; These signings just seem like spinning the wheels, that org could sure use some offensive prospects around the AA level right now to time out with the arms
The Dodgers were morons for not trading for Verlander and it was great when the Astros stuffed him down their throat. I don’t see any way the dodgers would give up a prospect for payroll relief.
Verlander is 0-6 career in the World Series. When exactly did they “stuff him down their throat”?
A 0.583 WHIP in the 2017 World Series in two starts and went 5-0 with a 1.06 era. If LA, not Houston, acquired Verlander they win the 2017 World Series and maybe another prior to 2020.
No clue how Ver got in this and while 9.9/10 times Id agree on Lad , this is a unique situation where they are trying to stay under the CBT and still add in free agency-
The Tigers might ask too much but then again they should be able to net something of significance for taking a potential 41 mill to Pollock. If the CBT is a hard no pass theres a lot of incentive for Lad to try and off load Pollock or Price
So you would rather the Tigers sign FAs to 4 yr $64 million contracts than find stop gap players they can flip while developing their prospects and seeing who pans out? That makes absolutely no sense. Signing big dollar contracts blocks prospects at that position. You do that once you know you don’t have a prospect to fill that hole. Grossman is a solid floor for that position. If someone steps up, he drops to 4th OF without a problem. If they don’t the Tigers can sign a better OF next year. I’d much rather they continuously build up instead of spending big too soon and dumping salary like Cincy.
Grossman has little value now. Don’t see him getting starts on any contender with a payroll. Won’t have trade value.
Contenders don’t trade for starters unless they have an injury. They trade for depth and if Grossman plays like 2020 he’d be a good depth acquisition.
And Avila will get a 25 year old single A player.
Difficult for me to understand this signing for a team like the Tigers. $5mm guarantee in a season of suppressed salaries is a good reliever or a decent back end starting pitcher. Why commit this funds to an over 30 platoon player who is limited to corner outfield and is a below average offensive player. This is a depth move.
Grossman has reverse splits for his career and his career offensive marks are actually a tad above average.
Career:
vs. righties: .246/.345/..376
vs. lefties: .271/.364/.390
OPS+ 101
He doesn’t have reverse anything – he’s a switch hitter
I’m just glad the Cubs didn’t sign him as he has been a suggested replacement for Kyle Schwarber. Not that Grossman is bad, he just wouldn’t provide the Cubs much value and IMO is a fourth outfielder at best.
$5 million to be a wee bit better than Christin Stewart.
Surely the Tigers could find a better way to spend that much dough.
This is a typical garbage signing by Avilia. This guy should have gotten a one year veteran’s minimum type of deal, with team option. But our Underachieving GM signs another underachieving player, who’s next his non talented lazy son again or maybe another washed up rag armed veteran pitcher who throws 85mph. The guy is the worst GM in baseball …. The only time he gets it right is when the draft pick is number 1 overall, which no one can mess that up. Remember this is the clown who brought us Jordon Zimmerman for 5 years and 125 million …. He needs to go join his idol Dombrowski in Philly.
I beg to differ that the #1 overall pick can’t be messed up. Just ask the 2013 and 2014 Astros, the 1966 Mets, 2002 Pirates, etc.
Good value for the tigers.bait at the trade deadline
$5 mill. for a mediocre corner outfielder but couldn’t scrape up more than $1.5 mill. to outbid the Giants for Curt Casali!?!? All this so we can see Grayson Greiner and Jake Rogers hit .150 and play sub-part defense behind the dish! Yeah, that makes sense. smh
Not like our young pitching staff could use a strong, experienced, CALMING vet presence behind the dish as they learn the ropes… Avila thinks in 1 dimension, it’s so sad.
They don’t show the ability to hit, but Greiner and Rogers can catch.
Rogers has a reputation, but he lets up more passes balls than just about anyone.
Seems to me the Tigers over paid Grossman. He has some productive years as a backup. But definitely not a starter.
Let’s face it, in addition to the rebuild, DET has to overpay.
But, if he keeps up where he left off last season, he’s certainly a starter.
The pitchers must prefer to pitch to C Grayson Greiner because he surely can’t hit or throw out runners.
I DON’T CARE how much they paid Robbie Grossman, since it’s not coming out of my pocket and it is a fair price for (hopefully) ending the hopelessly inept Christin Stewart Era.
The Tigers can’t draft them, develop them, nor trade them to their benefit. For years, Stewart was their up and coming, trumpeted basher. Betcha he can’t even play the trumpet.
While I’m surprised Grossman was able to get the deal he got, it’s a good move by the Tigers. A team could do a lot worse than bringing in a solid role-player, especially one who addresses a key team-need (patience and a good eye at the plate).
Good job Tigers, an actual Outfielder to play the Outfield
Wow 2 years for 10 million? That’s a steal in my opinion. He typically gets on base a lot and is solid around. He reminds me of a Nick Markakis type, not much power but seems to get on base a ton. Put him in front of Miggy and you might get a lot more runs. Great move for a rebuilding team. Cheap, and if he plays good you might could get a prospect out of him. If not he a a good influences in the clubhouse and might help the young players grow. He should help this team
Grossman getting on base ahead of Miggy just means more GIDP opportunities. Miggy is career leader in that category.
Grossman: If the numbers are right, this deal looks pretty sweet.
What a bad signing….doesn’t bring anything of value…average to below average at every aspect
Seems like a bit of an overpay but you do need some major league players, even when you’re rebuilding. Maybe they’ll be able to turn him into a decent prospect down the road.
The man is 31 yrs. old. Somewhat past the due date for a prospect.
I wouldn’t hold my breath but if he is able to put up a slash line like he just did in the shortened season he’d be able to return a lotto pick or two. If not there’s really no risk for a rebuilding team.
Would rather have Duvall but okay… at least it’s a Major Leaguer we signed.
What the hell was Avila thinking here? Grossman’s salary for last season with the A’s was $3, 725, 000. Where did he come to merit $5 million/yr for two years? This is nuts. His batting is about league average and his fielding is below average. I don’t think he’ll grade out as well as Daz Cameron in left field in hitting and fielding.. This is another Jordan Zimmerman signing but for less money.
The tigers have to overpay to get any free agent. The team is terrible and looks like they will be terrible for a while.
What they need to do is trade for a couple bad contracts to add some veteran leadership and major league talent. If they dont, there is no way they can attract a decent free agent next year.
Shouldn’t have to overpay when you can offer starting ABs, and no one else is offering that. Its worth taking slightly less to get a showcase. As to attracting a FA next year, all they have to do is pay the most $$$$, just like they did with Grossman.
You are absolutely wrong as afar as I am concerned. They just need to be at least the slightest bit creative.
How about pointing out a) this is a good place to showcase their talents b) we will trade you to a team “in the mix” c) if.you perform, the receiving team will have pressure to keep you/extend you d) we can add whatever team/mutual option you want e) this is your one chance to play on a team with Miggie.
There are many good reasons to play in Detroit.
Lindor or Story or any of the other top free agents are not worried about getting at bats. They want to go to a team that wants to win. They dont care about how well you can tank.
Sure, guys like Grossman will consider going to the Tigers… for more money. But who is going to look at Grossman and Schoop and Cron and say, “now I want to be on that team.” It will again be a team of AAAA players.
The tanking will continue for at least a couple more years. Nothing to get excited about.
Chris ILLICH should be embarrassed.
Not only did he not hire me (yet), he allows some pretty crazy stuff.
Now is the time to make a flurry of moves. We keep top draft, scouting has never been less sure= good time to sign QO’d FAs. 6M is a lot.of $ in Japan. Think Sugaro wants to go back to Japan? Why is he here then? We need contracts with TEAM OPTIONS, lower the yearly rate with signing bonuses and flip them. Take on $ contracts? Ever heard of Kimbrel on the Cubs? Kiermeir on the Rays? We need to sign good defensive players up the middle for the pitchers. Helps era, confidence. Simmons and yes LeMhue are very, very good defensively. Does anyone realize.that is a HoF Detroit Tigers cap waiting to be bought? Are we too on love.with.the current roster we can’t trade anyone? Yanks need pitching, Astros need outfielders….. We should be trading as many off the roster as we can…….
Chris ILLICH should be pretty darn embarrassed…..
And ashamed…..
He might sign you, but based on your comments he’d have a stroke trying to navigate the bloody battlefield of the English language you’d leave behind in your wake while filling out an application, or any attempt at a CV that mercifully makes their way to his desk.
OfLol
That’s why I’m depending on word of mouth….. someone else’s.
Advise him to hire me as the “office boy”, and after consulting Bernstein I will “discover” my signature as good as Als’ or Chris’s, even though he only.meant for me to sign for the coffee, office equipment and equipment for the facilities – I discover in my contract I have the power to sign contracts and make trades….. so when Al was away, and Chris was away…..the office boy got bored and signed all these guys, made all these trades……Then Al can trade them all off when trading opens…..
Decent PR stunt and we would not be so bored…..
If they open the wallet wide……..it would look nice….
And it’s off to the races!
Chris ILLICH should be pretty darn embarrassed…..
And ashamed….. Really.
Hire me dude, YOU NEED TO HIRE A TIGER FAN….NOT A ” SPORTS PROFESSIONAL”.
Why don’t they give Gibson a shot? Seems like he’s withering on the vine. Would sure add excitement to a rather drab team.
In case you missed it.DJ LeMahieu is Tiger cap in the Hall of Fame, waiting to be bought. It is an embarrassment our owner and/or management team have absolutely no aspirations for it. A lifetime contract of seven years, to be a Tiger Legend, not another Yankee great, not another Dodger great – a Detroit Tiger Legend. Include player/manager mutual option for the end of contract to help the ego buy in. Surely 7 years at 12M + 55M signing bonus to be kicked down the road 3-4 years, is fair and is something the Tigers could afford. WHY ABSOLUTELY NO INTEREST BY OUR TEAM. A book and ghost writer certainly make up any deficiency of cash.
Seems we don’t even try.
Maybe DJ just doesn’t wanna be a Tiger. You sound like many of the Pittsburgh fans who also think that all a GM has to do is put a contract in front of a player and they will sign it. They have to want to play on the team to sign a contract. If a team that has not been competing offers more money than a contender, that does not guarantee the player is going to sign on the dotted line. DJ is going to sign with a team that is contending now. He is looking for a ring at this point in his career.
Once again Gozurman jumps to conclusions with reading the comment he’s replying to.
All the guy wants is for the Tigers to TRY and go after Lemahieu. There has been zero indication that the Tigers are interested in DJ. That is what Richard is talking about. Not your nonsense over whether or not DJ wants to play in Detroit. That was not the topic at-hand.
If you actually read what he wrote you could have picked it apart with the Hall of Fame talk
You don’t think he is going? BA title in both leagues? If we take him to the WS and be player/ manager?
He’ll be a legend!
I did read the whole comment. Just because there is zero public rumors about a team being interested in a player does not mean that there is. My main point was and is, at this point in his career, I am sure DJ is far more interested in going to a team contending now and not so interested going to a team that is a couple of years from contending even if they throw a ton of money at him. A contender will still throw a lot of money his way and a legitimate chance at a ring would seem far more important to him than just more money now. At 32 currently, he does not have the luxury of waiting to see if a rebuild works to put a team in contention. All it might have taken was a call to the agent and the agent flat out telling him that DJ has no interest in any team that is not a contender now and will get back to them if the contenders do not show interest. Why waste effort and time trying to woo a player that has no interest in you? I am using common sense here. Now if DJ were 5 years younger he might be more willing to be a cog in a great rebuild if a team lays out it’s plans and is showing commitment to a rebuild. DJ only has so many seasons left to try to get a ring now. Money is not always the prime driver and that is my point.
I get your point but as a player and at 32, just thinking he wants to be a player on the field winning the Series now. It is a few years away in a serious rebuild for Detroit to truly contend. His may not want to waste a couple of years waiting to contend. Is an intriguing idea but not sure a lot of players would have the mindset to want to go that route when they are still in their prime.
After thinking about Grossman a bit, I think he’s going to perform well in Comerica Park for the simple reason that he makes contact. There is a lot of green grass at CoPa for balls to land, if you make contact. Then flip him for a decent prospect.
Really not a bad deal for a guy that is a 4th OF/Borderline starting OF great for a rebuilding team as he gets on base and is good defensively and has a little pop/speed, especially given that many of their top OF prospects are still a couple years away, and trying to remember the last time a homegrown offensive prospect made a impact at the big league level.
Grossman is a very good baserunner. He does a lot of things well enough to be one of those players that has a long career without ever wowing you with the bubblegum card numbers.
Signings are taking longer, but not much evidence salaries are in decline. Grossman is 31 and has never posted a 2 WAR season. Decent OBP player, random power uptick that likely regresses in 2021, not a good fielder.
Why sign Grossman when you coulda signed Eaton?
Fools!
Maybe they offered.. and he chose CHWS?
Bingo. I hate the “they shoulda sighed xxxxxxx. The player has to want to sign with a team as well as a team wants to sign them. When teams are offering in the millions, and the numbers are not really that far off, location and the ability of a team to compete now mean more than an extra million or two over the course of 3-5 years when the player is getting 10s of millions at least anyway.
More prospects being held back.
Who?
This is what happens when prospects don’t step up, when the opportunity arises. Stewart, Demmerite, Daz, Bonifacio, Hill, Alcantara, Gerber, Lugo, Mahtook, Rodriguez, Peterson.
For a team to be competitive, they need to find that drive.
The opportunity is there.. it’s been there.
The Brewers signed a bunch of guys like this last year, then could not get rid of them fast enough. 2/10m for this guy is like signing Sogard. Blah.
Guys like Sogard, Grossman, Schoop, Smoak, Cron, Thames, and Avisail Garcia- types make up the majority of the league. There’s certainly a place for them in ML baseball
Tigers are morons. What a terrible signing.
What would you of done differently?
Grossman was signed because Stewart sucks so bad that he will be DNA and more than likely released if he is out of options. His calling card was supposed to be power and without that, he’s useless. He was the compensation pick from the Scherzer debacle and once he is gone, that era of horrible signings, horrible non-signing and draft picks will come to an end.