Breaking Down the Four Worst Contracts on the Detroit Tigers’ 2025 Payroll
The Detroit Tigers' magical run to the postseason was kick-started by their sell-off at the 2024 MLB trade deadline.
While they did move three of their aging veterans at the deadline, they do still hold their fair share of bad contracts.
With the offseason in full swing, let's dive into the four worst that are currently on the team's payroll for 2025.
All figures accurate as of December 3, 2024.
2B Colt Keith
Colt Keith was a fifth round draft pick by the Tigers in the 2020 MLB draft.
He made his Major League debut in 2024, batting .260/.309/.380 with 13 home runs, 61 RBI, and a 96 OPS+ across 556 plate appearances in 148 games.
This normally would not be an issue for a rookie year, but the club signed Keith to a six-year, $28.6 million deal before the season.
At league minimum, those numbers above are serviceable; at $2.8 million, not so much.
With five years and $25.8 million remaining, Keith is going to need to figure out how to hit at the Major League level to live up to the contract.
Five-Years, $25.8 Million
SP Casey Mize
Casey Mize was the number one overall selection of the 2018 MLB draft by Detroit and made his Major League debut in 2020.
Since his debut, he has pitched to a 4.36 ERA across 291 innings in 61 games (59 starts), with 226 strikeouts and a 97 ERA+.
Mize made only two starts in 2022, missed all of 2023 with injuries, and pitched in only 22 games this year.
Between injuries and the failure to live up to expectations, Mize can only be seen as a bust and an albatross on the payroll.
Arbitration Projection of $2 Million
P Kenta Maeda
Kenta Maeda signed with the Tigers as a free agent ahead of the 2024 season to a two-year, $24 million deal.
The veteran pitched in 29 games in 2024, making 17 starts, and carried a 6.09 ERA across 112 1/3 innings with 96 strikeouts and a 67 ERA+.
We are far removed from the days when Maeda was a serviceable pitcher, and have now reached the time when it may be better for the club to release him and take the loss on the payroll instead of on the field.
One-Year, $10 Million
SS Javier Baez
After being one of the worst hitters in the sport in 2020, and just barely above league average in the first half of 2021, the Chicago Cubs decided it was time to move on from Javier Baez and traded the shortstop to the New York Mets.
Baez turned things around after the trade, playing to a 140 OPS+ with his new club on his way to free agency.
Detroit won the lottery for the star, signing Baez to a six-year, $140 million deal.
Three years into that deal and one declined opt-out after year two, Baez is now part of one of the worst contracts in the sport today.
In three years with the Tigers, Baez has batted just .221/.262/.347 with 32 home runs, 163 RBI, and a 71 OPS+ across 1,426 plate appearances in 360 games.
His free-swinging ways have even become a meme, as he is incapable of laying off any slider, even if it is on the opposite side of the opposite batter's box.
Once a key part of the Cubs World Series, Baez is now a shell of himself, though he is a generationally wealthy shell of himself.
