The Tigers, Brewers, Athletics and Nationals are among the teams interested in free-agent second baseman Ian Kinsler, according to Jon Morosi of MLB.com. The Brewers have met with Kinsler at the Winter Meetings, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel relays. Detroit’s inclusion on the list is particularly interesting in light of the fact that Kinsler thrived there from 2014-17, before the team traded him to the Angels last offseason. The 36-year-old ended up dividing the season between Anaheim and Boston, where he combined to hit a less-than-stellar .240/.301/.380 (87 wRC+) in 534 plate appearances. But to Kinsler’s credit, he swatted 14 home runs, stole 16 bases and, for the 12th consecutive season, posted at least 2.0 fWAR (2.3).
Tigers Rumors
Tigers Unlikely To Sign Troy Tulowitzki
- Meantime, the shortstop-needy Tigers will consider Tulo, but signing him is “a low probability,” GM Al Avila said (via Jason Beck of MLB.com). Regardless, the Tigers will add a shortstop prior to next season, Avila declared (via Evan Woodbery of MLive.com).
Tigers Interested In Chris Herrmann
- Chris Herrmann is one of several veteran catching options the Tigers are considering for next season, MLB.com’s Jason Beck reports (via Twitter). Grayson Greiner, John Hicks, and recently-acquired veteran Bobby Wilson comprise Detroit’s current catching core, with top prospect Jake Rogers waiting in the wings but still in need of more minor league seasoning. Herrmann was recently non-tendered by the Astros after being claimed off waivers from the Mariners after the season. The 31-year-old is perhaps known as much for his ability to play first base and left field than he is for his work specifically as a catcher, and Herrmann has a career .633 OPS over 898 PA with the Twins, D’Backs, and Mariners since 2012.
Dodgers Interested In Nick Castellanos
- The Dodgers have interest in Tigers right fielder Nick Castellanos, MLB.com’s Jon Paul Morosi tweets. Castellanos “is not their highest priority,” however, as L.A. is exploring a wide range of other trade options. MLB.com’s Jason Beck also reported things were quiet on the Castellanos front, suggesting that Detroit could get more interest after some of the free agent hitters start coming off the board. As you might expect for a rebuilding team, the Tigers are open for business on the trade front, with GM Al Avila telling media (including Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press) that no player on the 25-man roster is untouchable.
Tigers Sign Tyson Ross
6:08PM: The Tigers have officially announced the signing.
2:58PM: The Tigers have struck a deal with free agent righty Tyson Ross, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter link). It’s a $5.75MM guarantee over a single season, with a readily achievable roster bonus that would add another $250K, per Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter).
Ross, 31, finally got back on track last year after a pair of injury marred campaigns. He ended up throwing 149 2/3 innings of 4.15 ERA ball, with 7.3 K/9 against 3.7 BB/9 along with a 45.9% groundball rate.
Clearly, that’s not quite a vintage Ross showing. He was a 3.07 ERA hurler over a 516 2/3 inning run from 2013 to 2015. For a pitcher who once steadily worked in the mid-nineties, it’s hardly promising to see a career-low 91.7 mph average fastball. And he was far shy of his peak strikeout and groundball rates.
All that being said, it’s still rather impressive that Ross was able to turn in a full season after shoulder issues and eventual thoracic outlet procedure sidetracked his career. His prior effort, in 2017 with the Rangers, had fallen notably flat as he struggled to stay in the zone.
For Detroit, Ross will join the recently inked Matt Moore to help fill out the rotation and perhaps provide the club with a summer trade chip. That approach yielded dividends this past season with Mike Fiers.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Central Trade Rumblings: Indians Starters, Castellanos, Cervelli
Let’s round up the latest trade chatter from the central divisions:
- Though he had previously indicated otherwise, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports (subscription link) that the Indians are exploring trade scenarios in which they’d dump a big contract (likely Jason Kipnis or Edwin Encarnacion) while dealing a top starter (Corey Kluber or Trevor Bauer). Clearly, the Indians are still working through scenarios that’ll increase their roster flexibility. Infusing young talent and enhancing payroll flexibility would both be of interest, and it’s not clear that either is a particular priority. It’ll certainly be fascinating to see how the market develops for those high-end righties.
- In talks with the Dodgers, per Jon Morosi of MLB.com (Twitter link), the Indians are showing interest in highly regarded prospect Alex Verdugo. The Los Angeles outfielder is clearly due for a full crack at the big leagues after turning in consecutive strong seasons at the Triple-A level. Still just 22 years of age, Verdugo is noted for his high-end left-handed hit tool and contact ability — not unlike Michael Brantley, who recently wrapped up a successful tenure with the Cleveland organization and who is expected to land a large contract elsewhere.
- The Tigers are “determined to move on” from outfielder Nicholas Castellanos, Antony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press reports. There’s initial interest from other clubs, per MLB.com’s Jon Morosi (via Twitter). It seems the Braves have at least “checked in” on the 26-year-old, who is projected by MLBTR to earn a $11.3MM salary in his final season of arbitration eligibility. The Atlanta organization has an opening in right field and has plenty of assets that’d be of interest to Detroit. Castellanos certainly has produced the kind of offensive output that’d be of interest — he’s slashing .285/.336/.495 over the past three seasons — but comes with anything but a sterling defensive reputation.
- Pirates backstop Francisco Cervelli emerged recently as a possible trade chip, but Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tweets that the market situation may not be ripe for a move. With a $11.5MM salary and history of concussions, Cervelli seems not to be drawing the kind of interest that the Bucs would need to see to make a deal. While the Pirates obviously have confidence in their internal replacement options, Elias Diaz and Jacob Stallings, they surely also value Cervelli. After all, he just turned in one of the best seasons of any backstop in the game in 2018 and the Bucs made a notable pair of win-soon moves at the ’18 trade deadline.
Giants Claim Mike Gerber
The Tigers announced today that the Giants have claimed outfielder Mike Gerber off waivers. He’ll head onto the San Francisco 40-man roster — representing the first such addition of new president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi.
Gerber, 26, only briefly touched the bigs last year and struggled for much of the year at Triple-A. Previously, though, he had been a steady producer on the Tigers farm. Indeed, he produced .800+ OPS figures over each of his first four seasons as a professional.
Tigers Sign Louis Coleman, Bobby Wilson, 2 Others
The Tigers announced today that they have inked four players to minor-league deals with invitations to Spring Training. Righty Louis Coleman, catchers Bobby Wilson and Kade Scivicque are among them, along with and infielder Kody Eaves.
Coleman tossed 51 1/3 frames in the majors for the rebuilding Tigers last year, working to a 3.51 ERA. Despite the good results, Coleman was outrighted after the season, as the club recognized that his underlying mix of 7.2 K/9 and 4.2 BB/9 did not portend the kind of success that would warrant an arbitration deal. The seven-year MLB vet should compete for a bullpen job in camp.
As for Wilson, the 35-year-old has appeared in nine MLB seasons over his career, though he has only ever recorded more than two hundred plate appearances with a single club in one of those (2012 with the Angels). He has compiled exactly one thousand plate appearances, over which he owns a less-than-enticing .208/.263/.313 slash line. Of course, Wilson’s appeal lies not in his bat but in his sturdy reputation behind the dish. He could conceivably crack the Opening Day roster but seems most likely to take up residence at Triple-A.
Scivicque, 25, is still looking for his first shot at the bigs. He was a fifth-round pick of the Detroit org back in 2015. He returned to the organization in 2018 after a stint with the Braves that began when he was sent to Atlanta via trade. Scivicque has a .667 career OPS in both 305 Double-A plate appearances and 218 trips to the plate at the highest level of the minors.
That leaves Eaves, who’s likewise slated for a return to the Tigers organization. The 25-year-old had a nice offensive season in 2017 but scuffled last year, slashing just .198/.283/.298 in 377 plate appearances in the upper minors. He was originally an Angels draft pick who came to Detroit in a 2016 swap.
Tigers Sign Matt Moore
DECEMBER 4: The deal has now been announced.
NOVEMBER 27, 7:06pm: The guarantee is $2.5MM, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com tweets. The contract also includes $1MM in potential incentives.
12:18pm: The Tigers and left-hander Matt Moore are in agreement on a one-year deal, reports Yahoo’s Jeff Passan (Twitter link). Mark Feinsand of MLB.com had indicated that the two sides were in talks just prior to that report (also via Twitter). Specific parameters aren’t clear, but Feinsand and Passan both suggest Moore would be looking at a guarantee in the range of $2-3MM. The deal is pending a physical. Moore is represented by Sosnick, Cobbe & Karon.
Moore, still just 29, has struggled through a pair of awful seasons and would be a buy-low option for the Detroit rotation. Once considered the best pitching prospect in the game — Baseball America rated Bryce Harper, Moore and Mike Trout the game’s top three overall prospects prior to the 2012 season — Moore’s career came to a screeching halt in 2014 when he underwent Tommy John surgery.
To that point, Moore had amassed 347 big league innings with a 3.53 ERA, 8.8 K/9, 4.3 BB/9 and 0.9 HR/9 all before celebrating his 25th birthday. Moore struggled in his return from the ligament replacement procedure late in the 2015 campaign but gave some reason for optimism when he tossed a career-high 198 1/3 innings of 4.08 ERA ball in 2016. His velocity hadn’t quite returned to its peak levels but was on the upswing, and Moore looked to be on the path to reestablishing himself.
Unfortunately for both Moore and the Giants — who acquired him from the Rays midway through that solid 2016 campaign — the left-hander completely unraveled in 2017. Since Opening Day that season, he’s been clobbered for a 5.99 ERA in 276 1/3 innings of work. Moore has averaged 10.7 hits and 1.5 home runs per nine innings pitched during that time, and his strikeout rate has fallen sharply (7.5 K/9). Over the past two seasons, he ranks 123rd of 125 pitchers in ERA (min. 200 innings), 107th in FIP and 117th in xFIP.
Those struggles won’t matter much to the Tigers, who are hoping to catch lightning in a bottle with the once-vaunted left-hander. Moore will slide into the back of a rotation that will be devoid of any expectations. Michael Fulmer, Jordan Zimmermann, Matthew Boyd and Daniel Norris are the top candidates to join Moore in manager Ron Gardenhire’s rotation next year, though the Detroit organization has an extremely promising wave of starting pitching prospects on the horizon. Matt Manning, Franklin Perez, Beau Burrows and 2018 No. 1 overall draft pick Casey Mize are all rising through the ranks and could soon arrive to give the rebuilding Tigers some hope for years to come.
In the meantime, Detroit will turn to low-risk stopgaps like Moore (and, a year prior, Mike Fiers and Francisco Liriano) in hopes of extracting some quality innings at a reasonable price point. Should they succeed in this instance, Moore will quickly become a trade chip next June or July.
Tigers Non-Tender James McCann, Alex Wilson
6:06pm: McCann and righty Alex Wilson will both be non-tendered, Fenech tweets.
3:55pm: The Tigers are likely to non-tender catcher James McCann before tonight’s deadline, per Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press. MLB.com’s Jason Beck offers a similar sentiment, tweeting that McCann will be non-tendered “barring a last-minute surprise.”
McCann, 28, hit .253/.318/.415 with a career-high 13 home runs as recently as 2017, but his offense cratered in 2018 as he slashed just .220/.267/.314 with eight home runs in 457 plate appearances as Detroit’s primary catcher. More troubling, perhaps, was the fact that while the right-handed-hitting McCann had previously been a force against left-handed pitching, he batted a woeful .176/.229/.284 when holding the platoon advantage in 2018.
On the defensive side of the coin, McCann has continually been sensational in terms of controlling the running game. He’s registered at least a 30 percent caught-stealing rate in each of his four full big league seasons, including a 36 percent mark in 2018 and an overall rate of 37 percent. He’s been well below-average in terms of pitch framing across the past two seasons, though, and has struggled similarly in terms of blocking balls in the dirt.
MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz had projected McCann to earn $3.5MM in arbitration, but it seems he’ll instead hit the open market and join a top-heavy but nonetheless crowded crop of free-agent catchers. Yasmani Grandal, Wilson Ramos, Martin Maldonado, Jonathan Lucroy, Robinson Chirinos, Devin Mesoraco, Matt Wieters, Nick Hundley and Rene Rivera are among the available options, to say nothing of trade candidates like J.T. Realmuto and Francisco Cervelli. Suffice it to say, McCann will have competition as clubs weigh their options — especially considering he’s likeliest to be looked at as a candidate to fill a backup role.
