Detroit Tigers Listed As Shocking Suitor for Milwaukee Brewers Slugger
The Detroit Tigers already have plenty of money tied up in the shortstop position, but should that keep them from pursuing one of the best players in free agency?
Pitching chaos led the Tigers on their surprising postseason run with the offense trying to keep up. Heading into the offseason, it is clear what Detroit needs the most should they decide they want to compete.
There are only a couple more guaranteed years of Tarik Skubal in a Tigers uniform. He looks the part of a leader for a World Series team, but they have some work to do in free agency if they want to avoid wasting him.
R.J. Anderson of CBS Sports expects Detroit to be active in the free agent market as he listed them among the top landing spots for former Milwaukee Brewers star shortstop Willy Adames.
"For the most part, Adames is the same player he has been for years: he's capable of impacting the baseball frequently enough to overshadow his swing-and-miss tendencies; he's not a Gold Glove-caliber fielder, but he'll remain at shortstop for the time being; and so on," said Anderson. "The one interesting wrinkle he added this season was a newfound willingness and ability to steal bases."
The 29-year-old is coming off of the best campaign he has put together in years. He posted a .251/.331/.462 slashing line with 32 home runs and 112 RBI.
Maybe most impressive is that he played in 161 games. He has been a very reliable player throughout his career.
This season, the Tigers produced a measly .190/.238/.315 slashing line from their shortstops.
A large portion of that underperformance can be tacked on to ultimate failed signing Javier Baez.
Detroit handed a six-year, $140 million deal to Baez out of free agency and it has been one of the worst contracts in baseball history. He has completely forgotten how to hit a ball since putting on a Tigers uniform.
His deal might be bad enough for Detroit to opt not to spend even more money for another player at the same position.
Having over $300 million tied up in one lineup spot is tough, but playing Baez any more seems like sunk-cost fallacy. They simply cannot expect to be serious competitors with him acting as a black hole in the batting order.
Though they have other intriguing young bats in their card, Adames would immediately be one of their best sluggers.
