Detroit Tigers' Post-Trade Deadline Payroll Is Embarrassing

The Detroit Tigers are not spending their money wisely.

Jul 21, 2024; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Detroit Tigers shortstop Javier Baez loses his batting helmet after striking out. / John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

Now that the dust has settled from the MLB Trade Deadline, it's time to take stock of where the Detroit Tigers stand.

The Tigers' roster looks considerably different than it did on Monday. While Tarik Skubal stayed put, Jack Flaherty was shipped to the Los Angeles Dodgers, Mark Canha was dealt to the San Francisco Giants and Andrew Chafin went to the Texas Rangers.

Not surprisingly, they were three of Detroit's highest-paid players. At $14 million, Flaherty was tied for the second-highest salary on this year's Tigers, while Canha ($11.5 million) was fourth and Chafin was fifth ($4.75 million).

That leaves only two players on the current roster making more than $5 million, and neither one is very good.

Highest Paid Tigers, post-deadline.

1. Javier Báez (lowest OPS in MLB)

2. Kenta Maeda (highest ERA in MLB)

3. Miguel Cabrera (retired) pic.twitter.com/gdLbHNjEJQ

— Justin Spiro (@DarkoStateNews) July 30, 2024

Detroit's highest-paid player is Javy Baez, who more than most of his teammates combined at $25 million. His six-year, $140 million contract has been a disaster since the day it was signed, and it's only getting worse. His OPS has decreased in each of his three seasons with the Tigers, plummeting from .671 to .593 to .484 --the lowest in the majors this year.

The Tigers' second-highest player is Kenta Maeda ($14 million), who's also been horrendous. The 36-year-old righty is in the first year of a two-year, $24 million deal, but his performance has fallen off a cliff. He's 2-5 with a career-worst 6.72 ERA this season -- the highest ERA in the majors.

Detroit's third-highest player hasn't played at all this year, because he's retired. The 41-year-old legend hung up his spikes after last season, but still received an $8 million buyout for his contract option this year. If he had played, he'd at least be better than Baez.

For reference, Skubal is making a relatively paltry $2.65 million this year.

The Tigers don't spend much money relative to other teams, and that's a problem. However, the bigger problem might be that they're not spending their money wisely.