March 24: The Tigers have now officially announced Margot’s signing. They also announced that he’ll make $1.3MM in the majors and $200K in the minors. There are also bonuses available, with Margot to get $300K for reaching 200, 300, 400 and 500 major league plate appearances this year.
To open a roster spot, the club placed Meadows on the 60-day injured list. He’s been battling an issue with his musculocutaneous nerve in his upper right arm. It was recently reported that he will be shut down for about four weeks. At that point, he will effectively need to restart his spring ramp-up. Based on today’s IL move, he can’t rejoin the big league club until late May.
March 23: The Tigers are signing outfielder Manuel Margot, according to a report from Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The Athletic’s Cody Stavenhagen, meanwhile, reports that it’s a major league deal for Margot. Financial terms have not yet been disclosed.
Margot, 30, was released by the Brewers yesterday after signing a minor league deal with the club last month. Margot posted a decent .250/.314/.375 slash line in camp with Milwaukee but was squeezed off of a roster already populated with four outfielders, with a fifth on the injured list ready to join the club when healthy. That left Margot to pursue greener pastures, which he’s now found in Detroit. The Tigers’ outfield mix has been ravaged by injuries this spring, with center fielder Parker Meadows and right fielder Matt Vierling both set to open the season on the injured list. For a team that was already in search of an additional right-handed bat, that made adding Margot something of a no-brainer for the Tigers.
Obvious a fit for the club’s needs as Margot might be, however, that doesn’t necessarily make him a slam-dunk solution. After all, the 30-year-old is coming off a career worst campaign in Minnesota where he slashed .238/.289/.337 in 343 trips to the plate across 129 games. Margot split time between all three outfield spots last year, but looked overmatched according to defensive metrics with a -4 Outs Above Average overall and negative numbers at all three outfield spots. That may suggest he’s ill equipped to contribute at least in center field on a regular basis at this point in his career, although Margot’s outstanding defensive numbers with the Rays and Padres over the years could easily justify giving him an opportunity to prove himself capable of handling center once again.
Wherever he ends up in an outfield mix that figures to include Zach McKinstry, Kerry Carpenter, and Wenceel Perez in addition to incumbent left fielder Riley Greene, Margot will need to post stronger numbers with the bat this year. While beating last year’s 79 wRC+ shouldn’t be an especially tall order, the most important piece of the puzzle for Margot this year figures to be getting back to hitting well against lefties. Margot is a career .279/.338/.415 hitter against southpaws, but last season he posted just a .269/.322/.391 line against lefties. Getting that number back to above average would be a huge boon for a heavily left-handed Tigers lineup that posted a wRC+ of just 88 against southpaws last year.
The addition of Margot to the fold appears to leave just one open spot on the club’s position player staff headed into Opening Day. Slugger Spencer Torkelson, outfielder Justyn-Henry Malloy, and non-roster utility man Jahmai Jones appear to be the final three candidates for that spot as things stand, with Torkelson standing out as the likely favorite given that both Carpenter and Torkelson himself are tentatively expected to get looks in the outfield as the Tigers attempt to piece together production without Meadows and Vierling in the fold. Torkelson lost his job as the club’s incumbent first baseman to Colt Keith when the Gleyber Torres signing pushed Keith to first base, but Torkelson’s right-handed bat offers more big league success and a higher ceiling than those of either Malloy or Jones.
Tigers do need Outfielders and Margot is an Outfielder…
Meets the minimum requirement.
Isn’t Margot a girl’s name?
And?
He’s a Kidder.
He’s a maroon.
Just because a guy has a girl’s name doesn’t mean he’s a maroon.
It’s his last name.
Yes it means his last name is a girl
And his daughters name is Margot Margot
If your last name is robbie, and that’s probably not her birth name.
What?
You wouldn’t understand.
I wouldn’t assure their gender.
Would you prefer it if his last name was Labor?
Yes. Great baseball name. Much better than Transmission.
“why is the carpet all wet Todd?”
“I don’t KNOW Margot!”
I mean… it’s much better than having McKinstry or Kreidler out there.
It keeps Greene in left where he’s a an excellent defender and can reduce injury chances. It moves Wanceel to RF where he is better defensively. It gives the Tigers a very solid defensive OF.
When Meadows returns, Margot becomes the 4th OFer or gets DFA’d if he’s really bad.
I’m not excited about it, but it could be much worse.
Margot was a top defender a few years back. He has had a couple bad seasons since then. I hope he can reclaim the defense and hit a little.
They need mckinstry at 3rd because Jung isnt starting the season at 3rd
I think McKinstry and Ibanez will platoon at 3B.
Wenceel has been terrible this spring… he may be headed to Toledo. He may still have some health issues. Malloy has been great… I wonder if he gets the RF spot? Malloy is not very good on defense but his bat is pretty solid. Good eye… Good OBP… a little power.
Good defensively but bad offensively. I guess they are prioritizing defense over offense and Malloy will be in AAA. I’d have preferred Malloy or Jones over Margot but maybe it will work out and he’ll contribute on offense until Meadiws and Vierling are back.
Yep… certainly not a plan A option, but it’s a band aid fix for now. I hope the whole season isn’t like this.
It’s a shame, they have excellent players in Greene, Carpenter, Skubal, Olson, Flaherty and the bullpen and the rest of the roster is a cobbled mess of quick fixes.
I was ridiculed mercilessly for suggesting going after Cody Bellinger for 1B/OF. Tiger fans said it was redundant. “Another lefty bat in the OF.” I would love an outfield of Greene, Meadows and Bellinger right now. With Meadows out, Bellinger can move to CF and Perez or Carp or Malloy could be in right. It filled one of the holes.
This team has so many holes right now.
Perez has been awful and should not be on the opening day MLB roster…
I’d rather give it to Malloy or even Jones, but when I seen that Milwaukee released him, I actually wondered if he was someone Harris would be interested in because of his CF experience and them not being too thrilled with the thought of the fragile Greene out there.
If Malloy ends up odd man out this sucks. He is a major league ready bat without a position . But for now why not out greene back in center? A corner is easier to hide
Margot is a decent CF, runs decent, but is a very weak hitter especially vs RHP’s. Should be strictly a platoon player until Meadows returns.
Was Jamai Jones not a decent option for CF? I was rooting for him a former top prospect who seemed to be finally figuring things out enough to be a major leaguer.
Jones hasn’t hit since the “never going to make the team” pitchers disappeared. He started great but has done nothing for the latter part of spring. Would have preferred waiting to see if Jankowski became available.
Since STYMEEDONE doesn’t approve, Margot is the correct move!
Hey STYMEEDONE! Jones homered today. Just sayin’
Was it against a MLB pitcher, or a filler?
Doesn’t matter. What matters is you’re wrong yet again STYMEEDONE!
Styme, Funny you mentioned Jankowski. He seems like one of those guys who everytime I notice him, he’s getting hits and steals. Makes me wonder why a bad team doesn’t give him an everyday gig, at least.
dsett, STYMEEDONE is waiting for his check to be deposited. Better do it sooner than later!
Sometimes Jankowski hits for average, and sometimes, he doesn’t. He’s been inconsistent. At this point in spring training, the Tigers are not going to find consistent.
Another “who cares” signing. This org sucks.
After the way last season went, I can’t believe we didn’t do anything with the offense. Torres wasn’t needed and Cobb, Brebbia and Kahnle definitely weren’t. Talk about putting all your eggs in one basket with the Bregman situation.
Jones has had a hot and cold spring. Problem is, he hasn’t played much CF since 2017. He may not be an option for CF.
Heck, why not Max Clark? He’s excellent defensively. Stick him batting 9th and any offense you get from him would be a plus.
He just turned 20 years old… only played 130 games in professional ball. None above A ball.
If he’s overwhelmed, send him down when Meadows or Vierling are ready. 4 to 6 weeks… that’s doable.
I’d rather see Clark than Margot…
Because he just made High A last year. He isn’t ready for the major leagues. Plus it starts his clock for service time and roster options. He is going to be special but he needs time to develop.
I agree… can’t rush him. Let him spend a year at AA and maybe some AAA. He might make it up some time late next year. Hopefully
I couldn’t agree more but bare in mind that if it was the Piratres or Angel’s organization he would all ready be up.
Yeah, and the Pirates and Angels are abysmal. Following their blueprints is probably not the best approach.
Service time probably prevents that. Bringing him up before he’s ready to perform at a high level could cost a peak year later.
He’ll have a chance to make the team next year probably. If he has another good year. He hasn’t gotten high enough up in the system yet though, to warrant going north. Unless he was hitting 400 with 6-8 Jack’s or something crazy where it was just unavoidable. Like back in 06 with Verlander and Zumaya. They were so dominant they had no choice.
I think McGonigle will force his way onto the roster before Clark and push Baez off the roster. Maybe even later this year if he keeps it up. Clark is likely a factor in 2026 or 2027.
I think so, too. McGonigle and Clark are 2 legit prospects. They’ve looked quite comfortable playing with the big club in spring. Yes, I agree they need to develop more on the farm, but they are not far off from what I’ve seen.
I wondered if the Tigers might pursue Margot when I heard he was released. I don’t know how this will work, but with both Vierling and Meadows out adding a veteran OF makes some sense.
Still, would have rather they gave JHM the chance to show what he can do in an extended look.
Toledo is going to have a good team. There are some benefits to having that group build chemistry. We’ll see Malloy during the season and hopefully, September call ups will be a boon.
I basically said this exact thing, lol. I wondered when i read it with his CF experience if Harris would bite considering they don’t want Greene and his fragile self out there. I’d rather have Malloy or even Jones though probably, but there’s not much, if any, production differences in them.
In breaking news, Malloy was removed from today’s game after an outfield collision with Max Clark. Stay tuned…
Uggggh. Guess that cements Torks place on the roster.
Tork was good anyway. This probably cements Perez even with his bad spring.
Or maybe they give Jones a shot. Perez has been horrible this spring.
Tork had a pretty good spring. With one exhibition game left, he leads the team in home runs and is batting over .300. I usually don’t put much stock in the preseason stats but his numbers sure are encouraging and may have saved his 2025, heading south with the team. (feels weird to talk about the team heading south)
Clark and Malloy just collided in the OF vs the Phillies. Malloy taken out of game. Who knows. Margot could be on the ML roster vs the Dodgers this week.
Ja Jones probably makes team. Greene, Carpenter, Perez as other OF.
Mitch Haniger on line 1.
I’d rather see Navigato make it.
Since STYMEEDONE endorses Navigato, I’d rather see anyone else. STYMEEDONE knows nothing.
Signing a throw away is a great idea. It gives Malloy the playing time in Toledo. Platoon is the system in Detroit. .
Margot is a pretty uninspiring player but the Tigers had a clear need in CF and no realistic time table for Meadows return. The notion that Perez could be a valuable regular in center is entirely misguided, he needs to go to Toledo. Greene is exclusively a corner OF. Jones isn’t good enough, Toledo for him. Baddoo is has repeatedly proven he’s a minor leaguer and yet he still lingers in the organization. I believe Tork makes the team and ultimately becomes the regular RF.
As to third base, I think it’ll ultimately be Sweeney or Baez getting the majority of the innings there. McKinstry is a fine utility man, Ibanez is an adequate sub, but neither are everyday regulars, and for good reason.
It’ll be Ibanez and McKinstry at 3B and Sweeney and Baez at SS. Although everyone will contribute to CF, it appears. Barring a last minute signing/trade. Perez will miss a month so Kriedler looks like he’ll be in CF alot too. This offense will be horrible. They should check in with Pittsburgh and see what they’d want for Reynolds. He’s one of the few good hitting OFers available for the right price. They need his bat above all and he’s played CF in the past. Him and Greene and someone else can rotate CF until Meadows gets back. IF he gets back because I have a feeling this’ll linger as long as his brothers issues…..possibly forever.
It’s that time of year, when the Brandon Drury’s of the world get cut, and the Manuel Margot’s get signed.
Drury broke a bone. Margot just sucked but knows how to play defense.
Terrible move by the Tigers.
Detroit had the leverage and prospect capital (e.g., from their farm system, ranked mid-tier but deep) to pursue a distressed asset via trade—say, a corner outfielder with a 110-120 wRC+ ceiling languishing on a rebuilding club (think a Kyle Tucker-type from Houston, or even a lesser-known name like Lane Thomas from Cleveland). Such a move would’ve addressed the right-handed bat need with greater impact and longevity, while preserving flexibility to option or trade later. Instead, they’ve anchored themselves to Margot, whose upside is a return to his 2020-2022 form (100 wRC+, 1.5 WAR), not a breakout.
I agree with this take… I’ve be saying they should be making a deal for Luis Robert, but they’re not going to. Margot can’t hit league average and he’s not some defensive wizard in CF either. I do think they can and would cut him at any time, as they owe him pretty much nothing, but they’re obviously planning on getting Meadows back at some point. Vierling who knows…
Again. WSX would be selling really low on Roberts right now. So they are not likely to move him unless they get a real haul for him.. And there is no way the Tigers or any other team is going to pay that until 1) Roberts can show he can stay healthy and 2) That he shows he is going to be a productive player.
To get Roberts you are probably looking at giving up one of Max Clark/McGonigle, Josh Randall and Robert Campos just as the entry fee to the table.
It’s irrelevant, it’s never happening.
Clark and McGonigle would be a non-starter since they are expected to be on the big team as soon as next year. Some combo of Hamm, Jung, Lee, Melton, Briceno might be in play.
White Sox wouldn’t trade within the division and Cleveland definitely won’t. Plus, White Sox want a peak Robert return or they’ll hang onto him hoping he bounces back. Maybe Reynolds from Pittsburgh? He’s one of few available with so many WC hopefuls. I don’t think they’d want Marte unless NY paid all but a couple mil.
The idea that somehow teams don’t make inter-division trades is purely fiction. Every team is willing to trade with every team if the deal is acceptable to both teams. Tigers have made plenty of inter-division trades over the years.
One significant stat not included in the article is that Margot set the MLB record for futility last year with MIN when he went 0-30 as a pinch hitter.
well at least he has that going for him.
Could have hired the Superfife. $$$$$
5’10” ~235 lbs doesn’t smell like a CF, but then again….. I usually don’t argue with guys that are 5’10” ~235 lbs…..
Shorter than me and 50 lbs heavier. You’re playing one of the corners, bud, lol. That’s infield corners, by the way.
Back at the drivel again Stuperfife? Idiot.
Then why is the floor all wet, Todd?
Im going to pretend AJ has told Carpenter, who only plays half a season as it is, not to dive for anything while he’s playing D. Bummed for Jones, but understandable signing.
Margot better be at least a really good outfielder his batting stats aren’t much to brag about.
If he can hit .250, and once in awhile walk into one, he could contribute….
Let’s give him a chance, we really don’t have any choice.
He looked pretty terrible in RF last night against the Giants. We really didn’t have anything better in the minors?
Here we go again with this bad writing.“Meanwhile” has to start the sentence, not come in the middle between commas.
“Obvious a fit for the club’s needs as Margot might be” is NOT PROPER ENGLISH. You can’t just leave “as” out to begin the sentence. It’s not optional! Grammar is not optional when you’re being paid to write.