The Tigers have signed infielder Kevin Newman to a minor league deal, as noted this evening by Chris McCosky of The Detroit News. Newman has already reported to Triple-A Toledo and is in tonight’s lineup for the Mud Hens.
Newman, 32, was a first-round pick by the Pirates back in 2015 who made his big league debut during the 2018 season. He appeared in just 31 games during that first taste of the majors and didn’t hit much at all, but earned a regular role with the Pirates in his first full big league season the following year and hit quite well across 130 games. Then 25 years old, Newman impressed with an above-average .308/.353/.446 slash line (109 wRC+) in 531 plate appearances as Pittsburgh’s starting shortstop. Unfortunately, that excellent rookie season proved to be an outlier. Over his next three years with the organization, Newman hit just .240/.283/.323 (64 wRC+) in 270 games.
Newman’s lackluster work following his rookie campaign led the Pirates to part ways with Newman following the 2022 season. In November of that year, he was shipped to the Reds in a minor trade just before the non-tender deadline. With Cincinnati in 2023 and Arizona in 2024, Newman showed a form similar to the one he showed with the Pirates during the 2022 campaign as he hit a below average .267/.311/.370 (84 wRC+) with strong enough infield defense to be a quality bench bat and role player. His value was further augmented by his ability to put up respectable numbers (including a 114 wRC+ from 2022 to ’24) against left-handed pitching.
That solid work in a part-time role over the past few years was clearly enough to convince the Angels to sign Newman to a one-year, $2.75MM guarantee this past offseason. He was part of the club’s infield mix alongside a number of newcomers like Yoan Moncada, Scott Kingery, Tim Anderson, and J.D. Davis. The majority of those players are no longer on Anaheim’s roster, and Newman himself was designated for assignment on the day of the trade deadline after the Angels acquired Oswald Peraza in a trade with the Yankees. That DFA came after Newman appeared in just 33 games with the club and hit a paltry .202/.209/.272 (27 wRC+) in the 116 plate appearance he received during his time in California.
That weak offense wasn’t enough to keep a job on Anaheim’s big league staff, but Newman has now attracted interest from the Tigers as a minor league depth piece. By joining his new organization prior to the start of September, Newman remains eligible to play in the postseason for the Tigers in the event he gets added to the roster at some point. Javier Baez, Zach McKinstry, and Trey Sweeney have split time at shortstop this year for Detroit, but it’s possible that Newman could make his way into that group if one of that trio suffers an injury or the Tigers decide they’d prefer to get both Baez and McKinstry more time at other positions.
This is probably nothing more than a Ryan Kreidler replacement for Toledo
Exactly what it is. Someone to play shortstop or 3B should something happen. Too bad he doesn’t play CF, unless I’m ignorant.
Baez has played good defense in CF, Perez is doing well and Parker is working his way back. I’d say he is just an emergency reacement if needed and this indicates we won’t see any young guys getting called up for the playoffs their first taste of MLB.
Should have went to KC so Newman and Frazier could have been reunited
“Hello Newman…”
Acoss – I recently saw the unrated version of Basic Instinct for the first time, and I couldn’t believe Newman (Wayne Knight) was in it!!
Fever,
He’s had an interesting career. From Seinfeld, to Jurassic Park to Space Jam!
Acoss – There were 20,000 fans lined up at Yankee Stadium 2 hours early on Friday because the Yankees gave away George Sleeping Under His Desk bobblehead dolls.
Too bad Giolito didn’t pitch that night!
Don’t forget, a year before Seinfeld, Knight played a member of Jim Garrison’s team in Oliver Stone’s “JFK,” the bizarrely-named “Numa.”
For comedy purposes, we need to get Newman on the same team with Jason Alexander and Dean Kremer. Andy Benes can be the pitching coach.
Benes…well played, Rox!
Maybe Jerry im Seattle can acquire them all…
Okay. But Mike Costanzo gets to be a coach.
Rox – Can we lure Lloyd’s brother Ryan Braun out of retirement?
I think we could
Dude was absolutely dreadful here. Found a way to hurt the team night after night on both sides of the ball.
The most ironic part is that he was seen (when drafted and in the minors) as a bat first prospect. He crushed opposing pitching at every level until he came to the MLB. The early knock on him was poor defense and lack of power. He developed the defense but forgot how to hit.
Newman had 2 good years in the show, more than most prospects can say, made a few million while he was at it.
Javy in CF
Scott Harris must have shopped at thrift stores during his youth
And been good at finding great deals!
I’d rather have Kreidler than this guy. I hope the Tigers are never in a position where they need to bring him up.
I’d rather have neither one! Hopefully they call up Jung or Lee ahead of them…if needed.
You will probably still have Ryan if he clears waivers. I expect the Tigers to outright him back to Toledo if he goes unclaimed.
As a Tiger fan I’ve been very impressed with Baez in center and Zack at short. They both are doing so well it’d be a shame to not go forward like that. The Tigers are playing so well, and each day it’s a new hitting or pitching star. This is a very exciting season, GO TIGERS !!!
Baez and Zack have earned their roster spots this year, including the rest of the season and postseason.
Only non-pitching roster spots I see possibly changing prior to postseason is Sweeney.
I was at his professional debut, the inaugural game for the West Virginia Black Bears