It was another offseason of short-term veteran additions for the Detroit Tigers.
Major League Signings
- Jonathan Schoop, 2B: One year, $4.5MM
- Julio Teheran, RHP: One year, $3MM
- Nomar Mazara, OF: One year, $1.75MM (plus incentives)
- Wilson Ramos, C: One year, $2MM
- Jose Ureña, RHP: One year, $3.25MM ($250k in available performance incentives)
- Robbie Grossman, OF: Two years, $10MM ($500K per year in available incentives)
- Derek Holland LHP: One year, $925K ($150K in available incentives)
- Total spend: $25.425MM
Trades and Claims
- Selected OF Akil Baddoo from Twins in Rule 5 draft
Notable Minor League Signings
- Wily Peralta, Renato Nunez, Greg Garcia (granted release), Erasmo Ramirez, Aderlin Rodriguez, Dustin Garneau, Ian Krol
Extensions
None
Notable Losses
- Brandon Dixon, Nick Ramirez, Austin Romine, Ivan Nova, Jordan Zimmermann, Travis Demeritte, Sergio Alcantara, Anthony Castro, Jorge Bonifacio, Dereck Rodriguez, Dario Agrazal, C.J. Cron
On January 18, 2016, the Tigers inked Justin Upton to a six-year, $132.75MM free agent contract. The first overall pick of the 2005 draft was a three-time All-Star and two-time Silver Slugger Award winner. He was MLBTR’s fourth-ranked free agent of the 2015-16 free agent class. Entering his age-28 season, he was coming off a 4.2 bWAR campaign in his only year with the Padres. In short, he was a get.
Upton wouldn’t stay long, however. He was gone by mid-2017, traded to the Angels, who re-worked his contract to avoid an opt-out clause Upton could have triggered after 2017. Had he stayed in Detroit to complete that deal, Upton would be entering the final year of that contract this season.
Somewhat amazingly, Tigers GM Al Avila – who took over the August before the Upton offseason – had not signed a single free agent to a multi-year deal since Upton. The nearly-five-year drought ended this offseason. Come on down, Robbie Grossman. The former A’s left fielder signed a whopping two-year, $10MM deal to achieve this important landmark in the Tigers’ rebuild. Make no mistake, it is an important landmark.
Detroit has yet to really pull themselves from the rebuild that started back in 2017. Signing Grossman isn’t exactly analogous to the intent-to-contend contacts we’ve seen in the past for Jayson Werth, Jason Heyward, or even George Springer this winter, but the Grossman deal does represent an important signal that the Tigers believe the time is coming when they will be ready to contend again.
The time is right, considering the arrival of much-touted pitching prospects like Casey Mize, Tarik Skubal, and soon, Matt Manning. For now, however, those youngsters haven’t shown to be impact contributors in the Majors. Their careers are just beginning, however.
As for Grossman , he’s flown under the radar as a productive hitter over the past five seasons. He was particularly good over 192 plate appearances last year for the A’s. He slashed .241/.344/.482, good for a 127 wRC+. He does just enough in almost every facet of the game, including with the glove. He walks at an above-average rate, avoids strikeouts at an above-average rate, he runs better than most, and he fields his position well enough. He doesn’t hit for a ton of power, and he’s not really elite at any one thing.
For the Tigers, the Grossman deal – as well as the rest of their offense – wasn’t so much about capturing upside, however. The ceiling on their roster rises or falls with the fortunes of their young players: Mize, Skubal, Willi Castro, Akil Baddoo, Gregory Soto, Bryan Garcia, and eventually, Manning, Isaac Paredes, Spencer Torkelson, Daz Cameron, Riley Greene, and others. Grossman represents a desire to raise the floor for this team and prevent the sort of disastrous season that might slow their organizational momentum.
So, too, does the return of Jonathan Schoop on a one-year, $4.5MM deal. Schoop hit .278/.324/.475 in 177 plate appearances last season, a solid 114 wRC+. He’s better defensively than you might think, given his power profile at the plate. He was worth 4 outs above average in 2020, trailing only Adam Frazier and Nicky Lopez among second baseman. He also added the ability to play first and third during spring training.
Wilson Ramos has long been thought of as a bat-first catcher, but the Tigers feel good enough about his ability to usher this young staff into the Majors to sign him to an affordable one-year deal. Jake Rogers hopes to claim the position in the long-term, but they can take their time with the 26-year-old with the veteran Ramos on hand.
Similarly, Jose Ureña and Julio Teheran hope to keep the Tigers’ young arms from overwork. Teheran somewhat surprisingly won his rotation spot while on a minor league deal this spring. He showed some promise, if not to return to the guy he was in Atlanta, at least to post better numbers than in 2020. He was an unmitigated disaster for the Angels with a 10.50 ERA/6.19 SIERA over 31 1/3 innings. Over nine starts, he made it as deep as five innings exactly two times, particularly struggling to keep the ball in the yard. He served up 12 home runs while only striking out 20 hitters.
Ureña made five starts in 2020 with a 5.40 ERA, but he was made largely expendable by a strong stable of young rotation candidates in Miami. How long he stays in Detroit’s rotation will be dependent on a number of factors, including how he fares early in the season.
Derek Holland came out of spring training with real positivity about his re-captured velocity and ability to be a difference-maker for the Tigers out of the pen. Truth be told, he’s a low-cost gamble for the Tigers, who will need a plethora of bullpen arms to survive the 162-game season and protect their young arms. Holland may have some worldly wisdom to impart, himself having once been a promising rotation arm on a World Series team. He flashed some of that promise as a member of the Giants’ rotation in 2018, but it’s been a rough couple of seasons since then.
The same can be said for Nomar Mazara, who overlapped with Holland in Texas during the 2016 season. There was legitimate hope that a change of scenery might have prompted a breakout with the White Sox in 2020, but a complete lack of power tanked those expectations. He hit just .228/.295/.294 across 149 plate appearances with a meager .066 ISO. There’s little reason to expect Mazara’s power to have completely evaporated, so the Tigers will give him another chance to “come into his own” as their everyday right fielder. If nothing else, he doesn’t even turn 26 until late April, so a breakout isn’t inconceivable. The track record is hard to ignore, however. If he’s able to muster a wRC+ north of 100, it will be the first time in his career he’s able to do so.
Baddoo rounds out their offseason additions. Taken in the Rule 5 draft from the Twins, the speedy outfielder had a mere 29 games in High-A to his name before this season. He has shown a good approach and a bit of pop in the little minor league action he saw with Minnesota, but he should have an opportunity to play in Detroit.
It would seem unlikely that the 22-year-old would stick on the roster the whole season, but then he launched a home run on the first Major League pitch he saw. He hit a grand slam the next day and a walk-off single the day after that. Suddenly, there’s a bit of excitement around the Silver Spring native. Through four games, he rocks a comical .455/.455/1.182 triple slash line. One of these days, Baddoo will play a Major League game and fail to register a hit, but it hasn’t happened yet. The hype train has left the station and room is running out on the bandwagon.
None of these moves are meant to move in the needle like, say, Upton back in the day. But with this grab bag of veterans, the Tigers hope to foster a more competitive atmosphere, a structural foundation to allow the kids the space to grow at their own speed. This team is not likely to compete this season, they’re more-or-less the unanimous pick to finish last in the AL Central, but it’s arguable that even a month or two of competitive play could prove beneficial to the youth on the roster. Best case, young players like Mize and Skubal take off, and the rest of the roster is capable enough to give some legs to the Tigers as a first half surprise team. Alternatively, any of these veterans might be flipped at the deadline, and none weigh heavy on the long-term ledger – not even Grossman.
How would you grade the Tigers’ offseason? (Link to poll for Trade Rumors iOS/Android app users)
AJ Hinch was the most important signing of the offseason for contending in the future.
No doubt. Kind of surprised TC didn’t spotlight that as a sign of the Tigers’ future intentions rather than Robbie Grossman.
Tigers did well this off season, by Tiger standards. They are not likely to emerge from this rebuild until some of the younger talent has developed, which won’t be for another 1-2 years at the earliest. So again more stop gap signings. Grossman got a multi year deal is an admission that they are going to need OF help for at least the next two seasons. It’s significance is nothing more than that.
But, the quality of the off season signings is better than the past 3 off seasons. Urena and Teheran should complement the rotation well. Schoop was a solid signing last year before getting hurt. Mazara has some real power potential even if he did not show it last year in Chicago. And yes, Grossman should give the Tigers something they haven’t had in a while, a competent OF who will actually draw walks. And for now, they have a potential power bat in Renato Nunez sitting at the alternate site who has a real chance to help the team once he gets some time in. Showing up late to camp (visa issues) then having to follow COVID protocols really set him back. No, they are not contending type moves but the do represent better players than past additions. Might not pull the Tigers out of the AL Central cellar but will make this team a lot more interesting to watch and make the opposition have to work for wins.
At least their games might be watchable, unlike the past several seasons.
This is one of those off seasons, like many, where they essentially did what they needed to do. They went out, acquired a bunch of veterans on one year deals that could be potential trade pieces later in the summer. All the Tigers really can do right now is wait until their top prospects are ready and developed.
I like what the Tigers are doing and their “rebuilding” (hate that term) the right way.
I give them an F for failure. The Tigers were a last place team entering the off season and they did nothing to change that. They probably didn’t add a single player who will be an above average major league player at any time in the future, either through trades or free agency.
There may not be a single position player on the Tigers’ roster who ranks in the top five in the league at his position, nor in the top ten in MLB.
All contenders have a mix of home grown talent and players acquired through free agency. Those free agents are not acquired all in one off season. The time to start those acquisitions is long since past.
Moreover, contenders acquire more players by trades than by any other method, and Avila has done precious little since getting Willi Castro in that department.
It’s another year of excuses, wait til next year, we’re excited about the rebuild, blah, blah, blah. The front office is awful.
They have way too many holes to fill in free agency alone. They’re also not going to trade a bunch of their prospects to fill those holes either. Their goal for 2021 is to keep developing prospects for 2022 and beyond while signing veterans to help bridge those prospects and potentially be trade pieces. Their goal was not to contend.
“Free agency alone”??? Didn’t I say pretty much the opposite?
Payroll has dropped every year since Chris Ilitch took over. $50 million came off last year’s payroll and they didn’t spend half of that on replacements. Their goal, at least for now, is to make money.
Once again, filling out the roster with free agents- and it only takes 4 or 5 of them on an average contender- doesn’t happen in one season.
Mike Illitch’s checkbook free agency roster building and overpaying for the past performance of declining veterans was not a sustainable business model in small to mid market Detroit.
It is not how much you spend, it is how you spend it.
Tampa Bay has made 2 World Series with, consistently, one of MLB’S’s lowest payrolls. The Tigers business model of losing huge buckets of money every year to go “all in” for a Championship will not be the Tigers business model going forward. When Cabrera comes off their payroll, the Tigers probably settle in to a yearly payroll in the low 100 millions. I seriously doubt whether the Tigers, every again, run MLB payrolls in the 210M range and above.
The Tigers will be competing for the playoffs starting in ’23, but never again at the highest salary/luxury tax threshold.
The Tigers being up in luxury tax territory was not sustainable. But remember that they made the playoffs 4 years in a row while staying under the tax threshold. Only after Avila took over as GM did they pay the tax for a couple of seasons.
Where the payroll winds up is anyone’s guess. They can turn a profit up to about $170MM if they get attendance back, and that number is about to jump up after the 2021 season with a new local TV contract. That increase was projected around 50M, above the 50M that their current deal pays them. Half of that, under the current CBA, goes to revenue sharing. If they take an ownership stake in the RSN as more than half of MLB teams have done, their exposure to revenue sharing is reduced.
Paying Cabrera isn’t keeping them from paying other players. The mandate from Chris Ilitch from day one after Mike passed was to cut payroll. And they have, every season. Five years in a row. And it was about money, rebuilding the business model indeed, but about money and not spending on the team. And they’re not the only team doing it, which is the primary issue in the next CBA.
I have no faith in Avila, but they were going to finish last no matter what. the worst thing they could’ve done was to sign a couple of expensive, mediocre FAs. Their focus should be on 2023.
Patrick O’Kennedy seems to think the Tigers should have outbid for JTR and Trevor Bauer, only to finish sub-.500 with a huge payroll. Already been there and it is not recommended. I would be disappointed, however, if they did not bring in one key missing piece next winter.
The thing that’s killed the Tigers are those awful l/t contracts they signed. If I were a Tigers fan, that’s the last thing I’d want.
No, I think no such thing. But I do think they should have begun acquiring SOME players from outside the organization who will contribute to a contender in the next few seasons.
Avila made some good deals and received Isaac Peredes. ,
SS Castro,
Jeimer Candelario,. LHSP Joey Wentz.
Some deals did not pan out. It happens in MLB.
Just bc a team doesn’t spend today doesn’t mean a team won’t ever spend and Detroit will throw some money around.
Picking atop a draft is extremely important. If I’m a GM I’d rather more fans be upset and pick in top 3 than be picking around 10.
Nah. Losing more is never good. The more you lose, the further you are from winning. One player in the first round, say the 3rd pick instead of tenth, is not going to make up that gap. Plus, the difference between such picks might be a big deal in basketball, but not baseball. Losing more is never good. Some think it is, but it isn’t.
No one likes losing, but half the teams have to lose each year.
So the question is, if you have a bad team, would you rather win 68 games, or would you rather trade anyone with value, get a bunch of prospects, and win 55 games instead of 68?
I’d rather win 68 than 55. As I said, the bump in draft position won’t make up for those 13 extra losses. Not to mention that the team is supposed to entertain the fans. Not be less entertaining in order to achieve the minuscule advantage higher draft position gives you in baseball. Lousy trade off and puts the team further from contention. (But I’d still trade everything of value. If that led to more losses, fine. But I’ll always rather win more than less).
Lord. Just as annoying here as you are on twitter. Can’t even imagine you have something positive to say about anything Tiger related.
I gave them a B.
I love Robbie Grossman, esp @ that cost for 2 years. Solid vet presence, walks, has some pop, good across the board, and let’s be honest, isn’t blocking anyone that will have an impact this year and next.
The rest are a bunch of lottery tickets, exactly the type of moves a last-place team with an almost-ready-to-start-competing roster should make.
Maybe they surprise and win 70 games? If they do – it’s a fun summer with some entertaining young players and some vets looking to get that next contract.
If they don’t – even better. Stock another top-5 pick, grab a bat, and let’s get them up in the next 2-3 years when the SP will hopefully be in full swing, we have Castro, Jeimer, Tork, and some vet signings to help (ala 2006) and we can really enjoy being Tiger fans again.
And maybe then PO’K will have something positive to say.
Maybe.
I actually picked the Tigers to win 70 games. That’s 92 losses and 6 games better than they were on pace for in 2020.
You want to go all 2006? Sign a Pudge Rodriguez, and a Magglio Ordonez, Kenny Rogers and Todd Jones. Trade for a Carlos Guillen, Placido Polanco, Nate Robertson, and Bonderman.
Contenders do not live on draft picks alone.
I’ve had plenty to say about the Tigers that is positive and will again, when they DO something positive, other than just slashing payroll and drafting which every team does.
“he was coming off a 4.2 bWAR campaign in his only year with the Padres. In short, he was a get.”
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It amazes me that writers (and fans) still consider a player ‘a get’ off of one big season. Upton had averaged a 2.7 WAR in the three seasons prior his 4.2. He figured to be pedestrian, and has been.
But the Angels, as codified in their statement of operations, felt a pedestrian talent like Upton would blossom at age 36, so why not lock him in?
It’s amazing how often teams simply continue to ignore the age issue.. Locking in a player until age 35, when he is currently 25, is the price a team pays for talent. But Upton was already 30 in his first full season with the Angels. They almost had to know he was going to decline every year.
The Tigers will continue to draft in the “Top 5” for the foreseeable future. The Tigers farm system has gone from bottom 5 in MLB to top 5 by most of the major experts rating services. The Tigers are smart to flood their system with young talent with big upside. In ’21 and ’22,, the young players will get developmental seasoning in the minors and some at the MLB level.
By ’23, I can see the Tiger making huge steps forward and contending in the AL Central..
Starting next year ’22, , the Tigers may start adding free agents if they find the right fits and the right deals.. Draft, trades, free agents, this team will be back in ’23.
lot of great deadline chips, Baddoo was a steal. great offseason, even with the Grossman deal
A couple more nice drafts, with Rocker, Leiter or Lawlar at 3rd overall and the comp pick should yield a nice college arm. A stud OF or SS in free agency will certainly help. Avila has done this carefully. It’s unfortunate that these armchair GMs don’t see the fruits of his labor. Candy for Alex Avila, Castro for Martin. We shouldn’t have to sign a high priced pitcher for some time. Watch out for Nolan Blackwood (Mike Fiers trade) and Alex Lange (Castellanos trade) in the near future out of the bullpen. Tork and Riley will be everyday players if they don’t turn into superstars. Chris Illich is no stranger to the blueprint his old man used to get where they were from 06-15.
Badoo and Victor Reyes were both “Rule 5 Draft” pickups.
Can’t wait to see C Dillion Dingler, Kody Clemens, Daniel Cabrera, Parker Meadows, Daz Cameron Roberto Campos, Trei Cruz, Colt Keith and who ever they pick up in the 2021 drafting in the #3 position.
The Future looks very bright for the Detroit Tigers!
Many of us thought that the Tigers should have started their rebuild a few years earlier like when Max Scherzer turned down his contract extension with the Tigers.
Me and others thought the Tigers should have dealt Max Scherzer at the time for a package of top young players and prospects at that time similar to the Braves/ Rangers blockbuster Mark Teirxeira(sp) deal or the Dodgers/Red Sox Mookie Betts deal..
The market was different and more wide open back then as more teams were trading top 50 prospects for stars and to have a chance to win it all now. instead of many teams now hoarding top prospects, tripping all over their analytics and, at times, too timid to make franchise changing deals.
The Tigers rebuild, retooling would have been over by now had they aggressively retooled when the writing was on the wall and before the roster became too old and too expensive.
Yes, but they wanted to win a World Series for Mr. Illitch before he passed away. It was his team and his money.
People seem to forget the team was owned by a person who spent money to win now.
Too bad they kept that bum Jim Leyland.
Many of us thought that the Tigers should have started their rebuild a few years earlier like when Max Scherzer turned down his contract extension with the Tigers.
Me and others thought the Tigers should have dealt Max Scherzer at the time for a package of top young players and prospects at that time similar to the Braves/ Rangers blockbuster Mark Teirxeira(sp) deal or the Dodgers/Red Sox Mookie Betts deal..
The market was different and more wide open back then as more teams were trading top 50 prospects for stars and to have a chance to win it all now. instead of many teams now hoarding top prospects, tripping all over their analytics and, at times, too timid
The Tigers rebuild, retooling would have been over by now had they aggressively retooled when the writing was on the wall and before the roster became too old and too expensive.
I’m not sure what the author meant when he said that they are fostering a more competitive environment. Does that mean more competitive on the field, which translates into wins? Probably.
I’ll tell you what kind of competiveness they really need. Thats competitiveness at each position. The one thing the Tigers were from 2007 until 2015 was unproductive for the amount of talent they had on the team. I believe that this was because a lack of MLB caliber talent in the farm system that caused complacency. Without the young kids nipping at the heels of underperforming veterans, there was no urgency to produce or lose your job.
Looking forward to a time when we have great players at all positions and bunch of kids ready and able to fill in so the manager can start using his bench when needed.
Didn’t realize Baddoo was a Rule 5 Draft pickup. Makes his fast rise even more exciting.
Ive never been a fan of Al Avila as the Tigers GM. His trades of JD Martinez and Justin Verlander brought back VERY little in return and outside of the 9th round find of Tarik Skubal he’s only had success with the 1st round choices. But this offseason I was happier with, as Schoop, Grossman and especially Teheran and Baddoo I believe will help out alot this year. And watching Akil Baddoo at bat even this spring before his big breakout start to the regular season, he looked like a pro. Not afraid at the plate and plays a good RF. He could be a real find. Here’s to a decent offseason and better things ahead!
My opinion doesn’t matter but, I’ll give it.
The Tigers are preparing to compete by 2024, the first year without Miguel Cabrera.
The Tigers are building themselves into a pitching-first team.
The Tigers need catchers who work well with pitchers and call a good game.
The Tigers have Wilson Ramos and Grayson Greiner as their catchers, one and two of the worst in MLB at what they need in a catcher.
Jake Rogers fits that profile… if he can hit!
Dillion Dingler C draft pick last year out of Ohio State looks live a very good young catcher who can hit for the Tiger.
Yep. Jake isn’t going to make it. Dingler is now the catcher to watch.
Tigers made several cheap minor moves this past offseason, but that is not gonna help them to stay out of the basement from their division. But their rebuilding process is going pretty good. I can’t wait to see what Mize and Torkelson can bring to the team in next couple seasons. I have Tigers finishing last in AL Central.
Let’s hope so. As long as they are still rebuilding, they may as well lose and keep getting those tip top draft picks, which will keep their window of contention open even longer. That’S why you’ll sometimes hear rebuilding GMs say they don’t want to come out of a rebuild too early, despite the temptation.
None of those losses should be notable.
Avila’s free agent signings are improving, but that’s not saying much. He drafts pretty well, but terrible at trading. Two of the three from the JD trade are no longer on the team. (The third will never reach the majors) the JV trade is holding on by a thread before that is considered a dud. Paredes hasn’t proven himself yet and Candelerio needs another good season to show that he didn’t just have one lucky year. So far the Willi Castro trade is the only trade that has panned out thus far to an advantage.
I am 100% behind Patrick in that you cannot rebuild with draft picks alone. The Tigers success in 2006 and beyond was enhanced by additions like Ivan Rodriguez and Magglio Ordonez. in 2004 and 2005. Succesful teams ultimately use a combination of home grown talent, shrewd trades and an occasion contract for a star that is longer than a year or two. That most golden age of Tiger Basebal used all three. It is past time for Chris Illitch to losen the purse strings and add to the team with a solid free agent contract. I would start with a solid MLB catcher, though that position looks thin as far as upcoming free agents
I agree. You can’t build a team with draft picks alone. But, the dynamics of team building are somewhat different today than they were back then. Teams are trying much harder to grow their own talent (or at least become more successful at it). As a result, overall spending on free agents is down. Teams want to be successful longer and to do so without having to spend $200 million to compete.
I’d rather have a team like the Rays that follows that model and competes just about every year versus a team that competes for 5 years and rebuilds the next 5.
The trend is to “retool” rather than rebuild. A complete teardown is sometimes necessary when a team keeps a declining core of high priced veterans together too long (Phillies, Tigers)..
Rays have mastered the retooling.
Dodgers have drafted a long line of Rookie of the Year candidates
while in 1st place and while winning Division Titles.
Yankees have drafted and traded to keep a pipeline of young promising players coming up almost every year without doing a complete teardown.
The trend for many teams is to prioritize profits over winning. The economics are such that it isn’t profitable to win games in MLB for mid to small market teams.