Detroit Tigers: Grading Team’s Offseason Moves

Detroit Tigers general manager Al Avila recently completed his second offseason in charge. Avila made minor tweaks to a Detroit roster that returns the same nucleus. Here’s how the team fared.

Detroit Tigers fans could have seen an extremely different offseason.

The names of prominent Tigers players like Miguel Cabrera, Justin Verlander, Ian Kinsler and J.D. Martinez all surfaced in trade rumors.

However, the team mostly stayed together, with another run at the playoffs and the World Series looking like a real possibility.

In addition to the likes of Cabrera, Verlander, Kinsler and Martinez, the rest of Detroit’s high-powered offense returns.

That should mean plenty of home runs and runs scored in general thanks to the offensive firepower provided by Justin Upton, Victor Martinez, Nick Castellanos and others.

The Tigers also bring back a rotation that has exciting potential.

With Verlander heading up a group that also features Michael Fulmer, Jordan Zimmermann, Daniel Norris and Matt Boyd, Detroit has the potential to match up with any team’s rotation.

Avila rightfully deserves credit for keeping the roster intact as the Tigers have a chance to claim some silverware in 2017.

The division will be weakened, with Chicago and Kansas City losing elite performers. Elsewhere, Detroit is probably going to win more than four games against Cleveland.

Here’s a breakdown of all of Detroit’s significant offseason moves and the grades they received.

Trading Cameron Maybin
Grade: B

According to Spotrac, Cameron Maybin will make $9 million next season before hitting free agency.

With JaCoby Jones likely to make his mark as a Major League regular sooner rather than later, it made sense from a financial standpoint to move on from Maybin.

By dealing the outfielder to Anaheim, the team got out of having to pay Maybin $9 million next season.

Despite an excellent 2016 campaign that saw the center fielder hit .315 with a .383 on-base percentage, a 2.0 WAR and a 120 wRC+, the reality is that Detroit can get by with the team’s in-house options until Jones is ready.

What’s more, Jones very well could end up winning the job out of Spring Training, or take over early in the season.

If he can start to contribute right away, the grade for this deal will go up even higher. The sky is the limit for Jones with his blend of raw power, speed and athleticism.

Should he keep the strikeouts down, he can be a dynamic player for Detroit.

Moving Maybin cleared the way for Jones while also netting the franchise an intriguing pitching prospect in Victor Alcantara.

Arguably Anaheim’s best pitching prospect at the time of the deal, Alcantara has a blazing fastball, a promising slider and a changeup in his arsenal.

His numbers in Double-A last season –4.30 ERA, 6.4 strikeouts and 4.6 walks per nine frames in 111 innings—don’t jump off the chart, but the potential is there for Alcantara to make an impact with is power stuff.

Acquiring Mikie Mahtook
Grade: A-

Mike Mahtook was drafted in the first round of the 2011 draft. He is also only 27-years-old and brings some pop and speed to the table.

A solid defender, Mahtook is controllable through 2021 according to Spotrac. What’s more, the outfielder isn’t eligible for arbitration until after the 2018 season.

Considering Al Avila and the rest of the Tigers front office were able to snag Mahtook for a player to be named later or cash, Detroit did extremely well.

The former Rays player made a significant impact in his first taste of Major League action.

In a 41-game stint with Tampa Bay in 2015, the LSU product hit .295 with a .351 on-base percentage.

He also registered an outstanding .619 slugging percentage.

Additionally, Mahtook turned in a 167 wRC+, a .324 ISO and a 1.8 WAR.

Obviously, the outfielder isn’t going to slug .619 over the course of a season, but the breakout stretch showed what the former first-round pick is capable of.

The former Tampa Bay Rays prospect struggled last year with a .523 OPS, a 39 wRC+ and a -0.8 WAR in 65 games.

However, if he can contribute at a level somewhere in between his production levels in 2015 and 2016, the Detroit Tigers will have come away with a steal.

Mahtook will compete with Jones, Tyler Collins and Anthony Gose for the center field job.

Next: Who Starts in Center Field?

Even if he doesn’t win the gig, Mahtook can still provide value as a reserve outfielder.