The Tigers have signed free agent Keston Hiura, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. It’s a minor league deal, per Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press. Petzold adds that the CAA Sports client will earn $2MM plus incentives if in the majors.
Hiura, 27, has put up huge power numbers but also worrying strikeout totals. The Brewers selected him ninth overall in 2017 and he debuted in the big leagues with that club in 2019. He hit 19 home runs in just 84 games in what was later revealed to be the “juiced balls” season. His 30.7% strikeout rate was on the high side but he was a 22-year-old rookie and it was hoped he could bring that down as he matured and got more exposure to big league pitching.
But instead, the opposite happened. The strikeouts kept mounting and he was frequently optioned to the minors. He got into 200 big league games from 2020 to 2022, hitting 31 homers but also getting punched out in 38.5% of his trips to the plate. He came up as a second baseman but his glovework was considered poor. He gradually spent more time at first base and left field, less-demanding positions from a defensive point of view but ones where the offensive expectations are higher.
Going into 2023, he had exhausted his option years while the Brewers had Rowdy Tellez and Luke Voit blocking his path to playing time at first base and an abundance of corner outfielders as well. They put him on waivers at the end of March and he passed through unclaimed. He and the club had already agreed to a $2.2MM salary and no other club was willing to take that on. He technically had the right to reject an outright assignment since he had over three years of service time, but he lacked the five years of service time necessary to both reject the assignment and keep the money.
Instead, he reported to Triple-A Nashville in order to keep that salary in place. He made a few trips to the minor league injured list and played 85 Triple-A games last year. He hit 23 home runs in that time while keeping his strikeout rate to a 24.5% rate. That’s obviously far better than his time in the major leagues, but a more modest improvement compared to his previous Triple-A stints. From 2019 to 2022, he struck out in 29.1% of his 508 Triple-A appearances.
Hiura never got the call to the big leagues and qualified for free agency at season’s end. For the Tigers, there’s little harm in bringing him aboard via this minor league deal to see how he looks. The power potential is unquestionable and he could be a nice under-the-radar pickup if he’s able to get the strikeouts under control.
He actually has tremendously reversed splits for his career, so would be best served being in the lineup against righties, despite being a right-handed hitter. He’s hit .201/.283/.323 against southpaws in his career but .253/.332/.508 the rest of the time, leading to a split of 64 versus 122 in terms of wRC+.
The Tigers have Spencer Torkelson at first base while their corner outfield and designated hitter time should be split between Riley Greene, Mark Canha and Kerry Carpenter. Torkelson has hit lefties better in his career thus far: .225/.299/.458 batting line and 106 wRC+ compared to a .220/.304/.379 showing and 91 wRC+ against righties. That arguably creates a path for Hiura to earn some at-bats but the Tigers won’t be eager to platoon Torkelson since he’s a former first overall pick and still developing, with the potential to be a key part of their future. Canha and Greene both have fairly even splits while Carpenter is best against righties.
Hiura is somewhat blocked at the moment but injuries are inevitable in a long baseball season. If he’s mashing in Triple-A again and the Tigers find themselves with a hole in their lineup, he might get a shot at filling it. If he’s selected to the roster, he is out of options but he could be controlled beyond this season if things go especially well. He has three years and nine days of service time, meaning that he would be three years from free agency even if he made the Opening Day roster. If he were added a few weeks into the season, he wouldn’t be able to reach the four-year mark this year, thus pushing his free agency back another year.
I figured someone eventually would. A reasonable low-cost flyer for the Tigers. I don’t know what the chances are that he figures out major league pitching.
Surely a hedge against inevitable injuries. Unclear how well Malloy does at DH, or how long Greene stays healthy and avoids running into things and doing swan dives on routine fly balls…
111 Ks in 234 ABs and still had a 113 OPS+. Hard to do.
I hope he does well. Change of scenery will be good for him as the Brewers, noticeably Counsell, misused him. Remember, hits right handed pitchers much better.
Maybe just as depth or 3B platoon? Doubt he’ll take ABs from Colt Keith.
He wouldn’t. We still don’t know how Colt will do at 2B, but as long as he’s hitting, they’ll find a place for him.
Hiura will take a lot of ABs from Keith…in Toledo! This move strongly suggests the Tigers plan to bring Keith north with him rather than dropping him off in Toledo!
In spite of being a decent athlete, he is not a good defender. Anywhere. A team could choose to ask him to play where ever, but the defense is going to be ugly.
He is a DH or 1B only. His arm is terrible. He would be all time bad at 3B. Maybe LF could work. He is a weird combo of absolutely hammering the ball when he hits it vs going through huge stretches where he can’t touch it. He looked like he was going to be an elite hitter just 1st year in Milwaukee and it just disappeared.
Fan favorite.I hope a switch turns on for him. Definitely worth a shot for a team like the Tigers.
Didn’t read it, huh? 2B has nothing to do with Hiura anymore.
Maybe I posted before the extended article was written, huh? If anything we’re all in agreement except one of us threw a temper tantrum about it. Chill out.
He had good numbers in the minors. Hopefully he can put it together in the majors
AAAA guy. He deserves a comeback.
An excellent player to sign.
The betting market on Toledo winning the international league championship just went nuts
Lots of K’s and lots of power. Still not the answer at 3B. It looks like HARRIS is trying, but he doesn’t recognize talent.
I’m curious….what is the deal with always spelling Harris’ name in all caps? The routine got old shortly after you started doing it. All it is now is annoying and it cheapens the value of your comments. I used to take you seriously but not since the third or fourth time you did this.
It was supposed to give him the ultimate respect that he thinks he deserves, sarcastically. He hasn’t earned it because he’s made a lot of mistakes, IMO, probably due to never having this level of responsibility before. I was never doing it to be annoying. Thank you and 7 others for the feedback. I will save it for rare occasions.
It’s very immature and childish. In my opinion you’ve gone and lowered yourself with this behavior from informative and knowledgeable to being a true jerk. I know you don’t care what our opinions are which makes you insufferable. Try acting like an adult, you might find you like it STYMEEDONE!
Not a bad player, just needs to cut down considerably on his K’s,
Maybe in the tigers organization he can figure out how to hit breaking balls consistently
Fastball middle and up, he absolutely cannot touch. He’s got a big hole in his swing with the upper cut but hits the snot out of it when he does. Unsustainable k rate and can’t play d. I hope he figures it out. Good dude.
His defense is atrocious. Put him anywhere in the infield and it’ll be a comedy of errors
When Keston Hiura was called up by the Brewers as a 22 y/o in the middle of 2019, he looked like a first ballot HOFer. 51 runs, 23 doubles, 19 HR, 49 RBI, and a .938 OPS in 314 AB. The 107/25 K/BB during that time should have been a harbinger for things to come. He’s a .205 hitter since in 624 AB with a God awful 273 K’s. Maybe he needed this change of venue but I don’t see a clear path to playing time in Motown. Have a feeling that this won’t be the last stop for Hiura this offseason.
Not a bad add. I liked him a lot in his rookie year but he fell off a cliff after that. Not really much risk and still young enough to return to form. He basically replaces Maton at AAA.
He needs a full year in AAA, maybe even AA.
Replace him with Baez at shortstop please
The guy truly can hit. He’s not the biggest guy. He’s got great power and will add some quality to the Tigers if they don’t put him in the field . Always liked him.
“juiced balls”. LOL
Get your mind out of the guttter!
Tigers stubbornly sticking to all young guns approach may hurt them in this very winnable division. They’d be better off signing Cooper or Solano as a good bench stick…
Ibanez is just as good so why would they sign either of them when they have a comparable option who can play more positions?
Andy won the 2B job outright in 2023, and it’s someone else’s burden to beat him out or justify a platoon. No guarantees.
Andy won half of the job. He was still platooning.
They should have sent some arms to the cards for Nolan Gorman and signed a good starting pitcher.
Lefty power bat at 3b would be a huge plus.
Gorman would be a nice add for sure.
Why isn’t Malloy trying on a 1B glove? He’s played 3rd. Torkelson played 3B in college. I thought Malloy’s problem at 3rd was his throwing accuracy. I think, even in LF, his arm is his problem.
Nevertheless, Hiura seems like a safe signing and 3rd choice at 1B.
1. Tork
2. Canha
3. Hiura
Though I bet McKinstry can play 1B and even Ibanez if they have to.
Malloy can hit but he can not field..he won’t be up til June at the earliest…
Hiura is nice depth for 1B. Tigers have Tork and then no one after that. Wouldn’t have minded Vogelbach as a 1B depth guy also.
Uggghhhh, not Vogelbach!
Isn’t Canha supposed to backup Tork?
Yes, and I’m sure you could throw Ibanez, McKinstry or Vierling there in a pinch as well.
He will be a platoon player against right handers if he makes the team…he’s really just a depth
He needs to work on those strikeouts….
Hiura is Milwaukee’s version of Jo Adell, but a year ahead.
A first round bust. Hey, it happens.
The Tigers seem to have their share of bad defensive players and out of position players.
I don’t know why Harris gets so much flack on this site? He hasn’t been around long enough to have made that many mistakes, and even the few signings he’s made haven’t been awful? Yes, we haven’t spent major money on “major” FAs, but outside of Otahni (which we were NEVER going to get) who did you truly want to sign this offseason? He is doing exactly what he said he was going to do, which is get our young positional players ABs this year. Would you rather see older, washed up FAs have ABs this season and have Keith, Malloy and possibly others mash in Toldeo? I believe this upcoming offseason will be the year we need to bring in pricier FAs, only IF we show we are close enough to relevancy during the 2024 season. I save my judgements of the Tigers Front Office until that point.
I like the fact this guy has some HR power…..something The Tigers could still use this year….