Detroit Tigers: Mikie Mahtook is perfect example of why team should take fliers on young talent

Detroit Tigers fans have seen Mikie Mahtook thrive in his first season in the Motor City. Brought in as part of an under-the-radar deal, Mahtook is the perfect example of why the Tigers should buy-low.

Detroit Tigers front office members have found a few gems in the outfield over the past few seasons.

First there was J.D. Martinez, who signed with the team after being let go by Houston.

Martinez turned in an ISO north of .200 and never saw his wRC+ dip below 135 in his time with the Tigers.

In two of his three full seasons in Detroit, the outfielder had WAR stats of 4.0 and 5.0.

It also didn’t hurt that he mashed 99 home runs for Detroit.

Mikie Mahtook hasn’t quite reached Martinez’ level in terms of impact and WAR, but he’s off to an excellent start.

Mahtook and Martinez are obviously different players, but Mahtook is faring well in his first season in Detroit.

Mikie Mahtook

Acquired for minor league reliever Drew Smith, the ex-Rays player is hitting .288 with a .338 on-base percentage and a .464 slugging percentage. He’s sporting a 1.6 WAR, a 112 wRC+, a .341 wOBA and a .176 ISO.

A former first-round pick, Mahtook flashed talent in the Majors with Tampa Bay, notching a .970 OPS, 19 RBI, nine home runs, five doubles and four stolen bases in 114 plate appearances.

That was in part fueled by a .338 BABIP, but the talent was there.

However, Mahtook struggled in his second season. He batted just .195 with a .523 OPS, 12 extra-base hits and 11 RBI in 196 plate appearances.

Again, this was partly due to his BABIP, which ended up at .287.

Detroit acquired Mahtook following that season, and he’s now flourishing with the Tigers.

Players like Martinez and Mahtook aren’t going to become available on a consistent basis in Major League Baseball, but the Detroit Tigers should still be taking fliers off players hitting waivers, or players who can be acquired in minor trades.

Waiver claims

One way the Detroit Tigers could add talent is through waiver claims.

With waiver claims, Detroit wouldn’t have to give up any prospects or players in trades to acquire younger talent. The team simply would have to submit a claim.

Dating back to 2015, the Tigers have made few waiver claims. These include Josh Zeid, Marc Krauss, Donn Roach and John Hicks.

Past examples

Zeid turned in a 4.46 ERA, a 1.514 WHIP and 5.0 walks per nine innings in 70.2 frames for Toledo in his lone season in the Detroit organization.

Meanwhile, Krauss helped fill in for Miguel Cabrera in 2015. He collected just five hits in 33 plate appearances, with a .394 OPS while wearing a Detroit uniform.

Roach was successful in five starts for Toledo in 2016 (3.03 ERA, 21 strikeouts in 29.2 innings), but was soon lost on waivers to Oakland.

Hicks has been the only real bright spot of the group, hitting .311 with an .879 OPS, 16 RBI, 11 doubles and four home runs in 110 plate appearances.

That limited playing time has also seen the former Seattle farmhand turn in a 130 wRC+, a .368 wOBA, a .223 ISO and a 0.6 WAR.

Those four examples somewhat summarize waiver claims in general. Many probably aren’t going to stick or work out. However, there are useful contributors to be found.

The more waiver claims a team makes, the more likely they are to hit on a player who can improve the roster.

Detroit Tigers and waiver claims

In terms of claiming players on waivers, a team must have a free 40-man roster spot or else they need to remove a player from the 40-man unit to make room.

As it stands, it isn’t as if the Detroit Tigers have a full 40-man roster.

The team currently has 39 players on the 40-man roster. Detroit could be saving the open roster spot for a prospect not on the roster who will be called up in September.

That being said, the 40-man roster count could conceivably go down as well.

Detroit could try and sneak Arcenio Leon (12.15 ERA in 6.2 innings for Detroit, 5.24 ERA currently for Toledo) or another struggling pitcher through waivers.

Regardless of the state of the 40-man roster, the Tigers should be looking to take fliers on players via waivers.

Considering the Detroit’s low spot in the standings, Al Avila and company are high up the totem pole when it comes to priority for players designated for assignment by other teams.

Depth

The front office should be using this to their advantage to find added depth ahead of the 2018 campaign.

Not only can Detroit find talent via waiver claims, but the team can also find depth pieces via the waiver process.

If a team claims a player who was recently designated for assignment and later designates the same player for assignment, they can try sneaking him through waivers.

Should this happen, the franchise has a depth piece to stash in the high minors.

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The Tigers have been burned by lack of Major-League ready depth in the past, but with waivers claims, the team should be able to add better depth for the future as the team’s reconstruct the roster.