Detroit Tigers executive vice president of baseball operations and general manager Al Avila could do with more depth signings. Here are two fits in O’Koyea Dickson and Jonathan Aro.
Detroit Tigers fans have seen plenty of change over the past few months.
From in-season trades of franchise stalwarts like starting pitcher Justin Verlander and outfielders J.D. Martinez and Justin Upton to the recent offseason departure of utility ace Andrew Romine, there have been plenty of long-time Tigers departing.
More change could be coming this winter as second baseman Ian Kinsler, closer Shane Greene, reliever Alex Wilson and shortstop Jose Iglesias are all conceivable trade chips.
While it remains to be seen just what exactly Avila and the rest of the Tigers’ front office will do this offseason, Detroit is in need of more depth pieces.
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From the in-season deals to the likes of Romine, Alex Presley, Jim Adduci, Bryan Holaday, Efren Navarro, Tyler Collins, Jeff Ferrell, Myles Jaye and Kyle Ryan all being removed from the 40-man roster, the Tigers need players capable of slotting in at the Triple-A level.
Ideally some of these players could conceivably become a contributor or even an eventual trade chip for the Tigers.
Once again, this is all speculative, but here are a pair of hypothetical depth adds for the Detroit Tigers.
O’Koyea Dickson
A 12th-round pick in 2011, Dickson has more often than not raked at the Triple-A level.
In 1,255 plate appearances spread across three minor league seasons, Dickson is a .275 hitter with a .341 on0base percentage, a .499 slugging percentage and an .840.
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He’s also added 190 RBI, 181 runs scored, 77 doubles, 55 home runs, seven stolen bases and four triples as a Triple-A player.
With most other organizations, Dickson’s Triple-A stats likely would have gotten him an extended shot at playing time in the Majors.
However, in the Los Angeles orginization he was blocked by Adrian Gonzalez and then Cody Bellinger.
With the Tigers, Dickson could provide an alternative to Miguel Cabrera at first base if the team moves the future Hall of Famer to designated hitter full time.
As an added bonus, Dickson has also spent significant time in the outfield corners during his minor league career, so he could provide plenty of value as a versatile bench bat.
Jonathan Aro
A 27-year-old right-hander who was part of the ill-fated—at least for Seattle—Wade Miley and Carson Smith swap, Aro spent the bulk of 2017 pitching for the Mariners’ Triple-A affiliate in Tacoma.
While with the Rainiers, the reliever soaked up 42.2 frames in 25 appearances.
Along the way he punched out 10.1 batters per nine frames to go along with a 3.16 ERA, a 3.84 FIP and a 3.95 xFIP.
All told, the ex-Red Sox prospect did a solid job of limiting mistakes, with just 2.3 he walks and 1.1 home runs allowed per nine innings.
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Armed with three pitches and still relatively young, Aro could be a useful depth addition to stash at Toledo.