Javier Baez

Poll: Is Javier Baez Back?

By Nick Deeds | May 14, 2025 at 4:03pm CDT

During the 2021-22 offseason, the Tigers felt they were close enough to competing that it was time to start spending. Then-GM Al Avila signed two major free agents that winter: southpaw Eduardo Rodriguez and shortstop Javier Baez. Those offseason moves did not work out, generally speaking. The Tigers lost 96 games in 2022 as Rodriguez posted below-average numbers in an injury-marred season while Baez put up the worst full season by wRC+ of his career with a figure of 89. Avila was fired that August, giving way to a new regime under president of baseball operations Scott Harris.

Baez, meanwhile, went on to have a pair of disastrous seasons marred by injury and ineffectiveness in 2023 and ’24, hitting a combined .208/.251/.315 (56 wRC+) while being limited to just 216 games by hip and back issues. Those injuries eventually required season-ending hip surgery last year, leaving Baez on the sidelines while his team went on a miracle run last September that led them to Game 5 of the ALDS. Entering 2025, there were heightened expectations for the Tigers following that September surge.

For Baez personally, however, expectations had never been lower. The 32-year-old had multiple All-Star appearances and Gold Glove awards under his belt, but he entered 2025 without a specified role in Detroit despite the three years and $73MM remaining on his contract. Injuries during Spring Training paved the way for Baez to have a clearer role in Detroit, but even on Opening Day he was limited to a utility role where he would mostly face left-handed pitching.

Things changed once the season began, however. Baez took quite well to both center field and third base despite having virtually no experience in the outfield and only sparing appearances at the hot corner. In more recent weeks, his role has moved from a part-time utility role to being the club’s go-to option in center field, where he’s started 16 of the club’s last 20 games. Baez has always been an impressive defender anywhere he plays when healthy, so perhaps the veteran taking to new defensive positions isn’t exactly surprising. More shocking than his glove work this year has been his impressive offensive production: he’s hit a whopping .319/.357/.513 with a wRC+ of 148 across 126 plate appearances.

Even when Baez was at his best, he was a somewhat fickle hitter. While some seasons saw Baez hit extremely well, such as his 2021 (117 wRC+) and 2018 (131 wRC+) campaigns, he was actually below average at the dish in three of his six seasons as an everyday player for the Cubs. Given that unevenness, Baez’s 89 wRC+, two-win performance during his first season with Detroit wasn’t incredibly shocking. And when the injuries began to pile up in 2023 and ’24 and his offensive numbers began to rapidly decline, few expected him to ever return to the above-average form he showed during his days on the north side of Chicago.

Is 126 plate appearances of strong production enough to change that narrative? The underlying numbers offer mixed reviews. Baez’s 24.6% strikeout rate and 4.0% walk rate this year are virtually identical to his 23.9% strikeout rate and 4.3% walk rate across his first three seasons in Detroit. That strikeout rate is actually five points lower than his strikeout rate with the Cubs, but the main red flag in Baez’s performance with the Tigers wasn’t his free-swinging approach. After being a consistent power threat during his days in the National League, where his ISO is an impressive .212, Baez saw his power evaporate over his first three seasons in Detroit as his ISO plummeted to just .126.

Going from 2024 Elly De La Cruz to 2024 Alex Verdugo in the power department is a drastic downturn in performance, and while Baez’s .193 ISO this year hasn’t gotten all the way back to his previous heights, it’s a big step in the right direction. That renewed power might not be entirely sustainable, however. Baez is posting his lowest hard-hit rate since 2017, his 6.8% barrel rate is actually lower than last year, and he’s hitting more grounders (51.6%) than ever before. That suggests his current power output (five homers and eight doubles) may not be entirely sustainable, and his massive .398 BABIP surely isn’t either for a player who routinely posted BABIPs in the .340 to .350 range at his peak.

Perhaps that means Baez’s return to form this year is nothing more than a mirage, but there are some positive signs in his underlying data. Baez is swinging outside the strike zone less than ever before in his career, and his in-zone contact rate is also the best of his career. That improved plate discipline may not be showing up in his walk rate at this point, but better pitch selection could be allowing him to avoid making the worst types of contact; his 3.4% infield fly ball rate is tied with 2019 for the best figure of his career, and his 12.5% soft-contact rate would be 40th best in the sport if he had enough plate appearances to qualify.

Those subtle improvements don’t support his star-level production so far, but his .291 xwOBA is a perfect match for the wOBA he posted for Detroit back in 2022. Perhaps that means offensive production on the low-end of what was expected of him at his peak, in line with the 2016, ’17, and ’22 seasons, could be sustainable for the veteran. Given that Baez was a potential DFA candidate just a few months ago, the Tigers would surely take that sort of solid, two-to-three win production from their $140MM man very happily.

How much do MLBTR readers buy into Baez’s resurgence? Will he be able to continue tapping into his power enough to float above-average offensive numbers despite shaky peripherals? Will he fall back to Earth and be a replacement level player going forward, as he was the past two years? Or will he find a middle ground as an average to slightly-below average hitter who remains valuable thanks to strong defense? Have your say in the poll below:

Tigers Recall Jace Jung

By Anthony Franco | April 21, 2025 at 5:03pm CDT

Jace Jung is back in the big leagues, as the Tigers recalled the third base prospect from Triple-A Toledo. Detroit optioned Ryan Kreidler in a corresponding move.

It’s the second major league call for the 24-year-old Jung. Detroit selected his contract last August. The 2022 first-round pick got regular run at third base down the stretch. He reached base at an excellent .362 clip over his first 94 big league plate appearances. Jung struck out 29 times without hitting a home run, though. The Tigers made a run at Alex Bregman over the offseason, confirming they weren’t firmly committed to Jung as their starting third baseman going into this year.

Once Bregman signed with Boston, Jung projected as the starting third baseman entering camp. He didn’t perform during Spring Training, hitting .121 with one longball in 14 games. The Tigers optioned him midway through camp. With Matt Vierling on the injured list, they went with a nearly even playing time split between Andy Ibáñez, Javier Báez and Zach McKinstry. They’ve used McKinstry in right field over the past few days.

Báez seems likely to join him in the outfield. He’s starting in center field tonight against Padres righty Randy Vásquez. Chris McCosky of The Detroit News relays that Báez is likely to play regularly in center for the near future. That’d push Riley Greene back to left field while leaving third base to a Jung/Ibáñez platoon. Kreidler had started 14 games in center field this season, but he’s out to an untenable .105/.190/.105 start at the plate.

Jung brings a lot more offensive upside than Kreidler offers. He’s a .257/.379/.467 hitter over parts of four seasons in the minors. He put his underwhelming spring behind him and was off to a strong start to the year in Toledo. Jung has three homers with a .239/.409/.463 slash through 88 plate appearances. He has fanned 22 times while drawing 20 walks — the second-most of Triple-A hitters.

An outfield of Greene, Báez and McKinstry was certainly not Detroit’s plan entering Spring Training. They’ve needed to adapt with four outfield options (Vierling, Parker Meadows, Wenceel Pérez and Manuel Margot) on the injured list. It seemed Kerry Carpenter might join them after he departed yesterday’s game with right hamstring soreness. Carpenter is not playing tonight but was not immediately placed on the injured list, as he remains day-to-day.

Parker Meadows Ruled Out For Opening Day

By Darragh McDonald | March 14, 2025 at 5:50pm CDT

Tigers center fielder Parker Meadows won’t be ready by Opening Day, manager A.J. Hinch tells Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press. Meadows has been having issues with the musculocutaneous nerve in his upper right arm, which the club can’t seem to activate at the moment.

It seems to be a frustrating situation with little clarity. Hinch said earlier this week that they are trying to “wake it up,” referring to the nerve in Meadows’ arm. In the meantime, Meadows can do some things but can’t throw. He can take some swings, but with just one hand. Once his nerve is awoken, he’ll need to take some at-bats and get back into game shape.

With Matt Vierling set to start the season on the injured list due to a rotator cuff strain, the Tigers will be down two outfielders to start the year. Wenceel Pérez would be a logical fill-in with Meadows on the shelf but he has his own issue. Pérez has been dealing with some back tightness lately. The club announced today, per Evan Woodbery of MLive Media Group, that Pérez received a cortisone injection to address his lingering discomfort. The club still believes Pérez will be ready by Opening Day, per Chris McCosky of Detroit News, but it’s clearly not ideal for so many injuries to be occurring simultaneously.

If Pérez is able to take over in center, he will be flanked by Riley Greene on one side. Kerry Carpenter could perhaps be in the other corner. Carpenter once projected as the regular designated hitter but him taking the outfield more regularly could perhaps open more playing time for Spencer Torkelson, who is having a great spring. The Tigers signed Gleyber Torres to man second base and then bumped Colt Keith to first, squeezing out Tork. But he’s hit four homers in 12 games and could perhaps find himself taking some of those DH at-bats.

Since Pérez is sort of a touch-and-go situation, the club will have to think about backup plans for center field. Greene could perhaps be an option there, with someone like Justyn-Henry Malloy stepping into a corner. They also have utility guys Zach McKinstry and Andy Ibáñez on the roster.

There’s also one other creative solution that is getting some consideration. Hinch tells Jason Beck of MLB.com that he is thinking about getting Javier Báez some action in center. “I’m flirting with the idea of putting Javy out there and getting him a few reps,” Hinch said, “just in case something happens during the season where we end up with that need.”

Báez has just 4 2/3 innings of outfield experience in his big league career, with all of that coming in the corners. He has primarily been a shortstop in his career but his offense has fallen off a cliff in three straight years. Trey Sweeney showed some potential at shortstop last year while Báez was out recovering from hip surgery. Perhaps there’s a scenario where Sweeney takes over the shortstop job for the long term and push Báez into something of a super utility role.

As mentioned, Báez has primarily been a shortstop in his career. But he also has over 2,000 innings at second base, more than 600 frames at third, and brief showings at first and in the outfield corners. Adding center field to his repertoire would make him capable of playing anywhere except the battery. The Tigers are surely hoping their outfield can get healthy enough that they don’t have to consider such a scenario, but there’s no real harm in having it available to them.

Petzold suggests an external addition could be considered if the injuries linger. There aren’t many notable free agents on the market right now but the end of spring always leads to a few players getting cut from other clubs. Players like Kevin Pillar, Trayce Thompson and Travis Jankowski are currently in camp with other clubs as non-roster invitees. A few such players will end up back on the market soon if they don’t get roster spots on their current minor league deals.

The Tigers’ Shortstop Situation

By Darragh McDonald | February 19, 2025 at 7:37pm CDT

The Tigers have clearly been focused on upgrading their infield this offseason. They signed Gleyber Torres to take over second base. It’s only a one-year deal but they are nonetheless willing to bump Colt Keith over to first and Spencer Torkelson into a part-time role or maybe even the minors. They hung around in the Alex Bregman market, indicating some desire to install him at third and block Jace Jung, though Bregman ultimately landed with the Red Sox.

None of that addresses the shortstop situation, however, so the club will seemingly head into camp with a positional battle there. That’s a risky but defensive strategy, as the winter market didn’t feature many better alternatives. On the trade market, Bo Bichette was in a few rumors but never seemed to be truly available.

In free agency, Willy Adames was the only healthy everyday shortstop. He signed a seven-year, $182MM deal with the Giants. The Tigers certainly could have matched that, given their fairly clean future payroll ledger, but it never seemed likely that they would. They already have a lot of money dedicated to the position, as the one big deal still on the books is for a shortstop, and they also have some potential long-term solutions just a bit over the horizon.

Let’s take a look at the current picture, the short term and the long term, as spring training is ramping up.

The Expensive Bounceback Candidate

Javier Báez

The struggles of Báez in Detroit are no big secret at this point. The Tigers signed him to a six-year, $140MM deal going into 2022. He had just finished a six-year stretch in which he hit .271/.312/.490 for a 107 wRC+ with strong defensive and baserunning grades, allowing him to produce 21.9 wins above replacement, per FanGraphs.

In his first year as a Tiger, he hit .238/.278/.393 for a wRC+ of 89, a disappointing but not disastrous performance. He fell even further in 2023, producing a .222/.267/.325 line and 63 wRC+. Another drop came last year, with Báez coming up with a dismal line of .184/.221/.294 and a 48 wRC+. His defensive metrics have also fallen in that time.

The most favorable view of Báez right now is that his recent nosedive has been health related. He only got into 80 games last year, missing time due to lumbar spine and hip inflammation. He underwent season-ending surgery in August. It didn’t come out of nowhere. Back in February of last year, Báez told Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press that he dealt with lower back discomfort throughout the 2022 and 2023 seasons.

That probably sounds like a convenient excuse but it could perhaps explain why his performance has dropped so precipitously. If the surgery has addressed his issues and he can get back to full strength in 2025, that could allow him to reverse his recent trends. Even if he doesn’t fully return to All-Star form, there would be value in simply being less bad.

If the struggles continue, the Tigers could face a tough choice. Teams are generally reluctant to give up on players when there’s still so much of the deal remaining. It’s pretty rare for a guy on an eight- or nine-figure deal to be released with more than two years left on the deal. Báez still has three years left on his pact but that will gradually move closer to two as the summer rolls along. Even if he doesn’t get released, there’s a chance he gets pushed into being an expensive utility/bench player.

The Possible Short-Term Alternative

Trey Sweeney

Sweeney, 25 in April, served as a passable fill-in while Báez was recovering from surgery last year. He made his major league debut by getting into 36 games down the stretch as the Tigers were engineering their amazing comeback. Sweeney slashed .218/.269/.373 for a wRC+ of 81. His defense was graded as above average, in a small sample of 294 innings.

That was far better than anything Báez has done recently, but was also significantly less than Báez at his peak. Whether Sweeney is the best option likely depends on which version of Báez is going to show up in 2025.

Sweeney’s not really considered a top prospect. Baseball America currently ranks him eighth in the system. He’s has some good numbers in the minors but there are some concerns about the strikeouts. He slashed .267/.345/.450 in Triple-A last year but was punched out in 26.7% of his plate appearances. In his brief big league time, he had a similar 26.9% strikeout rate.

The ceiling isn’t as high as some of the other players mentioned here, but Sweeney has been to the big leagues and handled himself well enough. If things go south with Báez again, the Tigers will have a fallback. But since he has options, he might be playing every day in Triple-A to start the season while Báez tries to get back on track.

The Immediate Depth

Zach McKinstry/Ryan Kreidler

McKinstry, 30 in April, isn’t a huge bat but is a fine bench/utility guy. He has 1,207 major league plate appearances to this point in his career with a .220/.285/.357 line and 79 wRC+. But he has also stolen 40 bases, including 16 in each of the past two years. He got those 16 bags last year without getting caught. He has also lined up at all three outfield spots and the three infield positions to the left of first base, with pretty solid marks all over. Despite the tepid bat, FanGraphs has credited him with 3.0 wins above replacement in 323 games over the past three seasons. He’s out of options and will be on the big league bench.

Kreidler, 27, is still looking to get to that level. He has a line of .147/.212/.193 in his three-year big league career, though in just 167 plate appearances. But his shortstop defense has been considered above average, in addition to playing second base, third base and a bit of outfield. He had a rough showing offensively in the minors last year but has been better in the past. He still has an option and could be ticketed for Triple-A to start the year.

The Possible Shortstops Of The Future

Kevin McGonigle/Bryce Rainer

On Baseball America’s Top 100 list, there are two Detroit shortstop prospects. McGonigle has the #23 spot with Rainer at #60. The brief take on the situation is that McGonigle is the better pure hitter, and closer to the majors, but there’s more of a risk that he’ll need to move off shortstop in the future.

Just 20 years old right now, McGonigle was taken 37th overall in 2023 with a competitive balance pick. Since that draft selection, he has played in 95 minor league games, stepping to the plate 421 times. A massive 15.2% of those plate appearances have resulted in a walk, compared to a strikeout rate of just 9%. There were only six home runs in there but his .310/.412/.443 combined line nonetheless translates to a 143 wRC+. He finished last year at High-A, so getting to Double-A and/or Triple-A in 2025 seem like realistic outcomes.

Rainer is only 19, having just been drafted a few months ago. The Tigers took him with the 11th overall pick in 2024 out of Harvard-Westlake High School in Los Angeles. They didn’t get him into any minor league games after that draft, so he still has no college or professional experience to speak of.

Still, the expectations are high. As mentioned, BA has him 60th overall already. MLB Pipeline has him at #53, ESPN at #79 and Keith Law of The Athletic at #70. He didn’t crack the FanGraphs list but that outlet highlighted him as a player who has a strong chance of charging into the top 100 once he makes his professional debut. There are some questions about contact ability but his power and throwing arm are considered to be huge assets.

Defensively, McGonigle is considered to have the arm for shortstop but his range and motion are more questionable. Rainer is perhaps a better bet to stick at short but he also still needs to get his feet wet as a professional.

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Neither McGonigle nor Rainer have even reached Double-A yet, so there’s still some time before things get really tight. But Báez has three years left on his deal and many fans already calling for him to go. There’s no way for the Tigers to get any of that money back, so the best-case scenario would still be a Báez bounceback. If that doesn’t come to pass, the club could pivot to Sweeney in the short term and then McGonigle and Rainer in the long term. Though prospects don’t always work out as hoped, so there are no guarantees there.

How the chips fall should be impactful for the future of the Tigers. They have no serious commitments on their long-term payroll apart from Báez. Their recent six-year offer to Bregman shows they are willing to get more aggressive. If they can find an internal solution at short, there should be resources available for other parts of the roster.

Tigers Notes: Carpenter, Baez, Maeda

By Nick Deeds | February 15, 2025 at 8:47pm CDT

Heading into 2025, Kerry Carpenter is one of the Tigers’ most accomplished young hitters. A career .276/.338/.512 hitter across 236 games in the majors, Carpenter missed time last year due to a lumbar spine stress fracture but raked when healthy, crushing the ball to the tune of a .284/.345/.587 slash line with 18 homers in just 87 games. For all of Carpenter’s success as a hitter, however, he’s been limited almost entirely to work against opposite-handed pitching. The lefty slugger has just 134 total plate appearances against southpaws during his time in the majors, only 32 of which came in 2024. As noted by Chris McCosky of The Detroit News, that’s an area Carpenter is hoping to get more opportunities in this season.

It’s a proposition that manager A.J. Hinch appears at least somewhat open to, with Hinch noting that Carpenter is “going to get opportunities and probably more opportunities moving forward.” Hinch also cautioned that those opportunities won’t just be gifted to Carpenter once the regular season begins, however.

“But more doesn’t mean every one. And more doesn’t come for free,” Hinch said, as relayed by McCosky. “There is a cost that comes with every decision and we will be weighing that. Last year’s evaluation doesn’t have to be this year’s evaluation. We have an open mind as to how to use our roster. But I stand behind that my job is to use the roster the best way we can.”

Concerns about Carpenter’s ability to produce against southpaws are understandable despite his minimal opportunities against them. He’s a career .202/.286/.303 hitter against lefties in the majors, with a 23.9% strikeout rate, a walk rate of 6.7%, and just four extra-base hits. Those strikeout and walk figures are actually pretty close to Carpenter’s career numbers of 25.6% and 6.9% respectively, but the complete disappearance of Carpenter’s trademark power will need to be overcome in order for the 27-year-old to be a valuable offensive presence against left-handed pitching.

In addition to more opportunities against southpaws, Carpenter is hoping to more frequently work his way into the lineup as an outfielder in 2025 rather than being limited to DH-only duties. Matt Vierling and Wenceel Perez will give Carpenter some competition for that job with Riley Greene and Parker Meadows entrenched in left and center field respectively, but if Carpenter can prove himself a viable option in the field and begin providing at least passable power output against southpaws, the platoon slugger could begin to put together a more well-rounded profile in 2025.

While Carpenter is attempting to carve out a larger role for himself in the outfield, the Tigers are trying to assess the future of veteran Javier Baez on the infield. Baez, 32, missed the club’s surprise playoff push last year after undergoing hip surgery in August. The six-year pact Detroit gave Baez coming off his impressive run with the Cubs from the breakout 2018 season that saw him finish second in NL MVP voting to a 2021 season where he was traded to the Mets and caught fire down the stretch has not gone according to plan.

Since arriving in Detroit, Baez has hit just .221/.262/.347 in three seasons. He remained a plus defender at shortstop for the club in 2022 and ’23, but even his glove took a step back last season and a strong late-season performance from Trey Sweeney as the club’s shortstop has left Baez without a clear role on the team going forward. As noted by McCosky, Baez has resumed swinging at 100% strength but has not yet begun to face live pitching. Even so, he’s on track to begin the season on time, and Hinch made clear that the club is glad to have him healthy and in the fold for 2025 even if his role can’t be determined until after he’s put rehab fully behind him.

One place where Baez appears to be a clear fit for the club’s needs is against left-handed pitching. The Tigers’ offense is heavily left-handed even after adding Gleyber Torres to the lineup at second base, and a right-handed hitter who can help to spell southpaws around the infield like Sweeney and Colt Keith should have plenty of value for Detroit. Baez has been a perfectly acceptable hitter against lefties even during his time in Detroit, slashing .268/.314/.433 (108 wRC+) with a strikeout rate of just 20.1% and 24 extra base hits in 284 trips to the plate against lefties between 2022 and 2023. If he can get back to that level of production against southpaws, Baez could be a key asset for the Tigers this year even if he doesn’t bounce far enough back to reclaim an everyday role.

Baez isn’t the only veteran attempting a comeback after struggling badly in 2024. Veteran right-hander Kenta Maeda is expected to get “every opportunity” to rejoin the club’s rotation after pitching to a 6.09 ERA last year and getting kicked to the bullpen after 17 starts, and news of an injury that will keep veteran righty Alex Cobb off the roster to start the season leaves two open spots in the club’s rotation behind Tarik Skubal, Jack Flaherty, and Reese Olson. Maeda figures to be in competition with Casey Mize, Keider Montero, and Jackson Jobe among others as he tries to earn one of those two spots.

In hopes of proving himself capable the soon to be 37-year-old hurler changed up his offseason routine this winter. According to MLive’s Evan Woodbery, Maeda began his offseason work with eight bullpen sessions during his time in Japan this offseason despite the fact that he’s typically waited until he returns stateside for Spring Training to resume throwing. The early start to his throwing program, Maeda noted, is in order to make sure he’s putting his best foot forward as he tries to recapture his rotation job this spring. In addition to starting his preseason regime earlier than usual, Maeda notes that he believes he’s fixed some mechanical issues he dealt with last year after working with the Tigers’ pitching development staff this offseason.

A return to form for Maeda would be a major help for a Tigers club with plenty of upside but little certainty in the rotation. Dominant as Skubal was in his Cy Young award-winning season last year, he’s dealt with plenty of injury issues throughout his career. The same can be said for Flaherty, Mize, Jobe, Matt Manning, and a host of other potentially key pitchers for the Tigers this year. Maeda’s own injury history is far from clean, but having an effective veteran starter at the back of the rotation should nonetheless be a major help for the club as they look for better results out of a rotation that saw only Skubal make more than 22 starts and only Mize and Olson join him in making at least 20 last year.

Tigers To Pursue Right-Handed Bat, Additional Pitching Help In Offseason

By Steve Adams | October 14, 2024 at 2:50pm CDT

The clock struck midnight on the Tigers’ Cinderella run in Game 5 of the American League Division Series when Guardians outfielder Lane Thomas swatted a backbreaking grand slam off likely American League Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal, fueling what would eventually become a 7-3 Cleveland victory.

Detroit’s blazing finish to the regular season and spirited postseason run that saw them sweep the Astros in the Wild Card round of play raised expectations surrounding the club and left no doubt about their status as hopeful contenders heading into the offseason. President of baseball operations Scott Harris met with the Tigers’ beat today, discussing the team’s sensational second half and taking a look at the offseason to come (links via Chris McCosky of the Detroit News, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com and Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic).

Among the more prominent takeaways are that the Tigers will pursue a right-handed bat to augment a lineup that Harris believes became too left-handed, as well as additional support on the pitching side of things — both in the rotation and in the bullpen. Harris also downplayed the possibility of cutting ties with struggling veterans Javier Baez and Kenta Maeda. The third-year Detroit president suggested he expects Baez to be in spring training and added that he can see a role for him on the 2025 roster. He added that the Tigers “could have done a better job preparing” Maeda for the 2024 season and that there’s “absolutely” a place for him on the 2025 roster.

Tigers fans have already bristled at the idea of Baez and Maeda returning, although there’d be little point in Harris broadcasting that one or both will be cut loose at this time. Maeda, in particular, is only a year removed from a nice season. With just a year and $10MM remaining on his deal, he could potentially be swapped for another onerous veteran contract if such an opportunity presents itself. The Tigers won’t find a taker for Baez after he’s floundered throughout the first three years of his six-year contract in Detroit, but releasing the remaining $73MM left on that deal is likely more an ownership call anyhow.

Neither of the items atop Detroit’s offseason wishlist should come as a surprise. Detroit struggled against southpaws for much of the season, finishing in the bottom-third of the league in terms of overall production against left-handed opponents. As a collective unit, they slashed .229/.298/.362 versus lefties. The resulting 88 wRC+ indicates that Tigers hitters were 12% worse than league-average against southpaws.

Matt Vierling, Parker Meadows, Colt Keith, Spencer Torkelson, Andy Ibanez and Justyn-Henry Malloy were the only current Tigers with at least 50 plate appearances and better-than-average output against lefties. Each of Keith (27.3%), Meadows (32.3%) and Malloy (34.4%) found that success despite massive strikeout rates against lefties. Each posted a BABIP of .385 or better in those matchups. Some regression should be expected. Among Tigers expected regulars, all of Meadows, Keith, Riley Greene, Kerry Carpenter and Trey Sweeney swing from the left side of the plate. That’s also true of top prospect Jace Jung, who’ll be in the mix for third base reps next year, depending on how the offseason shakes out.

The good news for Harris and the Tigers is that the upcoming class of free agent bats is far superior to last year’s crop. Among the notable right-handed bats on the market are Alex Bregman, Pete Alonso, Willy Adames, Teoscar Hernandez, Christian Walker, Tyler O’Neill and switch-hitters Anthony Santander and Jurickson Profar.

Broadly, Harris voiced confidence that ownership would afford him resources to be active in the market, though he also cautioned that he’s less concerned with pursuing payroll upgrades than he is talent upgrades; put another way, the trade market could well come into play as the club seeks upgrades in the lineup and on the pitching staff. Further, the Tigers’ baseball ops leader touted the flexibility that someone like Vierling gives him in looking to address the lineup. The versatile Vierling’s ability to handle both third base and any spot in the outfield means Harris can pursue upgrades at multiple positions. Hypothetically, Vierling could man the outfield in the event that the Tigers took a massive swing and signed Bregman to handle third base. Similarly, Vierling could take a significant portion of the workload at the hot corner if the Tigers instead wind up adding an outfielder like Hernandez, Santander or O’Neill.

On the pitching side of the coin, additions have seemed like a foregone conclusion. The Tigers utilized only one traditional starter during the playoffs — Skubal — and otherwise went with an all-hands-on-deck approach that manager A.J. Hinch termed “pitching chaos.” Bullpen games were the norm throughout September and into October, with relievers like Tyler Holton, Beau Brieske and Brenan Hanifee all getting into the act. While that made for an entertaining brand of baseball, it also puts a lot of strain on the staff as a whole and requires leaning heavily on a typically volatile group of pitchers (relievers) in terms of year-to-year performance.

Entering 2025, Skubal will be back to reprise his role atop the rotation. He’ll presumably be joined by Reese Olson and Casey Mize, with other rotation candidates including Maeda, Matt Manning, Keider Montero, Ty Madden, Brant Hurter and top prospect Jackson Jobe. Even though the club surely anticipates a huge role for Jobe in the very near future, there’s still room for upgrades while keeping those other arms involved. Hurter has shown plenty of aptitude for relief work during the “pitching chaos” experiment, and he has minor league options remaining — as do Hurter, Montero, Madden and Jobe. Manning will be out of options next season and will be in something of a make-or-break scenario next spring. Speculatively, he could also be someone who draws trade interest if/when Detroit adds to the rotation via free agency or trade.

As is the case with position players, the 2024-25 crop of free agents offers a relatively deep class of arms. Corbin Burnes, Blake Snell, Max Fried and old friend Jack Flaherty headline the pitching class, but there are other notable free agents including Sean Manaea, Luis Severino, Yusei Kikuchi and Nathan Eovaldi — to say nothing of older short-term vets who know a thing or two about pitching at Comerica Park (i.e. Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer).

From a pure payroll vantage point, there shouldn’t be much that’s off the table for Detroit. The Tigers have previously run player payroll up to the $200MM mark — albeit under the late Mike Ilitch’s ownership; his son, Chris, is now the team’s control person — and currently have only $38.5MM on the books in player salary next year. That comes in the form of a $25MM salary for Baez under his ill-fated six-year deal, a $10MM salary for Maeda and a $3.5MM salary for Keith.

Detroit’s arbitration class features 11 players and is projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to cost $27.4MM, though a couple non-tender candidates in the group could cut that by a few million. Add in a slate of league-minimum salaries (or close to it) to round out the roster, and the Tigers are looking at about $75-78MM in player salary as things currently stand. That’s not to say fans should expect an all-out blitz in free agency and earnest pursuits of Juan Soto, Burnes and Bregman in conjunction with one another. At the same time, the team’s wide-open payroll outlook would make a legitimate run at Bregman or any other free agent possible.

That applies to potential extension talks as well. Asked specifically about Skubal, Harris instead spoke in generalities about his desire to avoid publicly commenting on individual players’ contract statuses (X link via Woodbery). “You saw what we did with Colt Keith,” said Harris. “We started discussions privately, came to an agreement, and announced it. I don’t think it’s constructive to comment on individuals, and it’s not fair to the players given the sensitivity of those talks.”

Beyond Skubal, there are a handful of logical extension candidates on the Tigers. Brieske and Vierling are reaching arbitration for the first time this winter, and the Tigers could look into modest deals to secure cost certainty and perhaps buy out a free agent year or two. Players like Carpenter, Meadows, Greene, Olson or even Jobe could all be targets as the front office looks to establish a core of long-term contributors in the Motor City. More broadly, Harris emphasized the importance of some of those young players taking the very same type of step that Skubal did in 2024.

“There are too many young players on this roster that can and must improve this offseason,” said Harris. “The gains that they access this offseason with the help of this coaching staff; when we add all those things up when we get to Lakeland in February, they have to outweigh anything we do via external additions. Because there is just too much opportunity on our roster.”

Javier Báez To Undergo Season-Ending Hip Surgery

By Darragh McDonald | August 26, 2024 at 5:30pm CDT

The Tigers announced a series of roster moves today, including the selection of right-hander Ty Madden, which was reported yesterday. The club also recalled right-hander Mason Englert from Triple-A Toledo. To open active roster spots for those two, the club placed right-hander Will Vest on the paternity list and optioned left-hander Bryan Sammons to Toledo. To open a 40-man spot for Madden, infielder Javier Báez was transferred to the 60-day injured list. Manager A.J. Hinch informed reports that Báez will undergo right hip surgery and is done for the year. Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press was among those to relay the news on X.

Báez was placed on the 10-day injured list a few days ago, with what the Tigers described as lumbar spine and hip inflammation. It’s possible the issue has been bothering him for a while, as he also missed close to a month earlier this year due to lumbar spine inflammation. He previously told Petzold that he has dealt with lower back discomfort throughout his time with the Tigers.

Perhaps the back/hip issues provide some kind of explanation for his precipitous drop-off in terms of performance since coming to Detroit. Through the end of 2021, he had a career batting line of .264/.307/.477 for a wRC+ of 104. When combined with his strong shortstop defense and baserunning, he had produced 21.6 wins above replacement in the eyes of FanGraphs.

The Tigers signed him to a six-year, $140MM deal going into 2022 but he has hit just .221/.262/.347 over the life of that deal for a wRC+ of 69. That includes an atrocious .184/.221/.294 line and 41 wRC+ this year. Among players with at least 250 plate appearances this season, only Brandon Drury has a lower wRC+. Báez has also had less impressive numbers on defense in recent years and his contract is considered one of the worst in the sport at the moment.

Ideally, the surgery will address the issue and allow Báez to put this miserable stretch behind him, but there’s no guarantee that will come to pass. He’s now 31 years old, turning 32 in the offseason. That means the rest of the contract will see him trying to battle against the standard effects of time, in addition to overcoming this back/hip problem.

Even if he doesn’t get all the way back to his pre-Tigers form, there’s a lot of room for improvement over his current results, which the Tigers would happily take. They are pivoting to a young crop of position players, giving lots of playing time to infielders Colt Keith, Jace Jung and Trey Sweeney. The Tigers likely view that group as a more significant part of their next competitive window than Báez, but even if he could become a solid utility/bench player, that would likely be viewed as a nice consolation relative to how rough things have gone over the past three seasons. His deal will still have $73MM and three years remaining after the conclusion of the 2024 season.

AL Central Notes: Baez, Gray, Correa, Twins, Moncada, Soroka

By Mark Polishuk | August 24, 2024 at 2:55pm CDT

The Tigers placed shortstop Javier Baez on the 10-day injured list yesterday, calling up Ryan Kriedler from Triple-A to fill the void in the infield. It is the second time this season that Baez has been sent to the IL due to lumbar inflammation, though this latest placement also involves inflammation in his right hip. Tigers manager A.J. Hinch told reporters (including Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press) that “we haven’t gotten the full diagnosis” on Baez’s injuries yet, but the team should shortly “know a little bit more about what the next month looks like and what, if any, baseball activity he’ll be able to do.”

That doesn’t sound like it bodes well for Baez’s chances of returning in 2024, as the Tigers have only the faintest hopes of a wild card berth and might just choose to shut Baez down to get him ready for next year. While injuries have contributed to Baez’s struggles this season, his .184/.221/.294 slash line over 289 plate appearances marks the third straight disastrous year for Baez since coming to Detroit on a six-year, $140MM free agent deal in the 2021-22 offseason. With $73MM still owed to Baez over the 2025-27 seasons, the contract is already an albatross, and it remains to be seen exactly how much longer the Tigers still stick with Baez as a regular part of their lineup (or whether they could release him altogether).

Tigers Select Brenan Hanifee, Sean Guenther

By Darragh McDonald | August 1, 2024 at 2:45pm CDT

The Tigers announced they have selected the contracts of right-hander Brenan Hanifee and left-hander Sean Guenther. They also reinstated shortstop Javier Báez from the medical emergency/bereavement list. They will take the open roster spots of Jack Flaherty, Mark Canha and Andrew Chafin, who were all traded away on deadline day. Evan Woodbery of MLive Media Group relayed the news about Hanifee on X prior to the official announcement. Chris McCosky of the Detroit News relayed Guenther’s selected earlier on X.

Hanifee, 26, got a brief look in the majors last year. The Tigers selected his contract in September and he tossed five innings over three appearances, allowing three earned runs. He was non-tendered at the end of the season but then re-signed with the club on a minor league deal.

This year, he has tossed 47 innings over 34 Triple-A appearances. He has allowed 5.17 earned runs per nine innings but he has likely deserved much better. His 26% strikeout rate, 6.9% walk rate and 56.1% ground ball this year are all strong marks. If it weren’t for a .315 batting average on balls in play and 61.6% strand rate, which are both on the unlucky side, fewer runs would have crossed the plate. His 3.86 FIP is more than a run better than his ERA and perhaps a better reflection of his performance this year.

With the trades of Flaherty and Chafin, as well as recent injuries to Reese Olson, Casey Mize and Matt Manning, the Tigers could have some rope for Hanifee, especially since he’s been averaging more than an inning per appearance in Triple-A this year. He still has a full slate of options and just a few days of service time, so he could stick around on their roster for a while if the Tigers so choose.

Guenther, 28, made 14 appearances for the Marlins in 2021 with a 9.30 ERA. He underwent Tommy John surgery in April of 2022 and spent that entire season on the injured list before being claimed off waivers by the Tigers in November. He was outrighted off the roster shortly thereafter and has been with the Tigers in a non-roster capacity for almost two years now.

He has thrown 95 minor league innings in that time with a 3.69 ERA, 26.9% strikeout rate, 6.5% walk rate. He had a 47.1% ground ball rate at Triple-A last year and has a 55.5% rate at that level this year. Like Hanifee, he has a full slate of options but his service time clock is over the one-year mark, due to spending all of 2022 on the IL.

Tigers Recall Dillon Dingler, Select Bryan Sammons

By Darragh McDonald | July 29, 2024 at 1:37pm CDT

The Tigers announced a series of roster moves today, recalling catcher Dillon Dingler and infielder Ryan Kreidler. They also selected the contract of left-hander Bryan Sammons. One active roster spot was opened by last night’s Carson Kelly trade. The Tigers opened two more spots by optioning left-hander Easton Lucas and placing shortstop Javier Báez on the medical emergency/bereavement list. To open a 40-man spot for Sammons, right-hander Casey Mize was transferred to the 60-day injured list. Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press reported last night that Dingler would be coming up to the majors for the first time.

Dingler, 25, was a second-round pick of the Tigers in 2020 and has been considered one of their top prospects since then. His defense behind the plate is considered strong but there’s more uncertainty with his offense, as he can hit for power but also strikes out a lot.

He has stepped to the plate just under 1500 times in his minor league career thus far, getting punched out in 27.5% of those. But he’s also displayed that power with 59 home runs. Overall, he’s hit .257/.344/.459 for a wRC+ of 114.

It appears he has made notable strides in the strikeout department this year, as he has only been punched out in 20.3% of his 301 Triple-A plate appearances. But he’s still hit 17 home runs and drawn walks at a 10% clip. All that leads to a .308/.379/.559 batting line and 137 wRC+. With Kelly now out of the picture, Dingler figures to get a decent amount of playing time, sharing the catching duties with Jake Rogers.

Sammons, 29, gets the call for the first time as well. He was drafted by the Twins back in 2017 and has never really been a top prospect. But he has been starting in the minors and might be needed to soak up some innings. Jack Flaherty was supposed to start tonight but was scratched as he’s likely to be traded at any moment. Beau Brieske is starting tonight in what is likely to be a bullpen game.

That could leave Sammons taking on some bulk innings. He has made 17 Triple-A starts this year with 84 innings pitched. In that time, he has a 4.18 ERA, 21.8% strikeout rate, 9.5% walk rate and 36.4% ground ball rate.

As for Mize, he landed on the IL July 3 due to a left hamstring strain. He’ll now be ineligible to return until 60 days from that point, which would be early September. Manager A.J. Hinch said it would be a “photo finish” to get back by that time, per Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic on X, so he might be able to return when first eligible.

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