Detroit Tigers Must Start Promising Rookie Over Struggling Veteran at Key Position
The Detroit Tigers saw firsthand in 2024 their young players start to take control of the roster and steer the team to the hottest finish in baseball and a playoff appearance against all odds along with a series win.
One of the youngsters who contributed heavily down the stretch was someone they ironically acquired at the trade deadline after selling off their hottest commodity in starting pitcher Jack Flaherty. Part of the Flaherty deal was shortstop Trey Sweeney, who probably was not quite major league ready but took over the position down the stretch because of the disaster that Javier Báez was putting up on a daily basis.
Sweeney's performance at the plate in the 36 games he played for Detroit left some to be desired, but he was lockdown on defense and showed signs that he could be the team's shortstop of the future. Despite that, Scott Harris has given every indication that he is still going to give Báez a chance to earn his spot on the 2025 roster, likely only because of the massive and horrendous looking contract he has. Tony Blackstock of Motor City Bengals says the mistake of the Báez deal should not keep Sweeney from being given the chance to seize the job.
"Though [Sweeney's 2024 performance] may not have usually been enough to earn a starting shortstop role, the alternative is so drastically bad that there needs to be some serious contemplation on this role for next year," Blackstock wrote. "Baez is overpaid, lazy, unaware on the base paths, and extremely undisciplined at the plate. The fact that a 24-year-old kid came up and instantly looked more composed than a 10-year vet is eye-opening. The results, despite not being fantastic, were still better than wet-noodle-swinging Baez, who hit just .184/.221/.294 in 2024. He has become the laughingstock of the league and needs to stop being catered to just because of his contract."
It's not as if Sweeney was a force to be reckoned with at the plate hitting .218 with an OPS below .650, but if no outside acquisition is made then he is absolutely better than the alternative of Báez with a chance to improve by playing every day.
Giving Báez the job solely to try to salvage some value out of a contract that is already an objective failure is going to cost the team wins, so look for Sweeney to try to claim his stake as the Tigers shortstop during spring training.
