Detroit Tigers Manager Hints at Role Change for Struggling Slugger
Coming into the spring, there were questions about who would be the starting shortstop for the Detroit Tigers on Opening Day.
Trey Sweeney was promoted following Javier Baez's season-ending hip surgery, and that coincided with their magical run to the playoffs and subsequent Wild Card win over the Houston Astros. After that occurred, there was some thought that the Tigers might move off the high-priced slugger who has been a flop since inking his deal with the team.
But that wasn't rooted in reality.
Detroit was never going to flat-out cut Baez with how much money he is still owed on his contract, and there aren't many teams -- if any -- knocking on the door to add him to their rosters via a trade.
So, after he returned to spring camp healthy following his procedure, it looked like he would take over his spot at shortstop once again with Sweeney serving in a bench role or even beginning his 2025 campaign in the minors.
However, manager A.J. Hinch has introduced a new wrinkle into the mix.
During the Tigers' spring training game on Thursday, the skipper put Baez at third base, opening up the possibility of a role change that would allow both the rising star and veteran slugger to be in the lineup at the same time.
"A scenario comes into play where Trey and Javy are both in the lineup, whether that's starting the game or whether that's an in-game move," Hinch said after the game, per Evan Petzold of The Detroit Free Press.
That would certainly be interesting.
Detroit was in the running for Alex Bregman until the end, wanting to add the superstar third baseman to take over their spot at the hot corner with top prospect Jace Jung looking like he could use some more time to develop.
When Bregman signed with the Boston Red Sox, the plan then seemed to shift to platooning the left-handed-hitting Jung with right-hander Matt Vierling.
Then, the veteran utility man got hurt, keeping him on the shelf for Opening Day which changed their plans once again.
Their updated strategy seems to involve playing Baez at the hot corner at times.
He's no stranger to third base, having gotten into 104 MLB games with 629.1 innings logged at that position during his career. But he also hasn't played there since 2019 when he only got into one contest while he was still with the Chicago Cubs.
Hinch isn't worries about the lack of reps there, though.
"I think once he gets on the field, he's going to be fine. This guy is a baseball player. A lot of his natural instincts will take over," the manager stated.
If and when this new lineup gets deployed will be seen.
Baez is a right-handed hitter while Sweeney is left-handed, so conventional wisdom would suggest there would be a platoon split between the two instead of both being on the field at the same time.
However, Hinch has shown that he wants to have as much roster flexibility as possible, and with Jung still needing to prove he can be the everyday guy at third base and Vierling dealing with an injury, the way to accomplish that is by having Baez change his role.
