Detroit Tigers should sign top prospect Kevin Maitan

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DETROIT, MI – APRIL 7: A general view of Comerica Park prior to the start of the opening day game between the Boston Red Sox and the Detroit Tigers on April 7, 2017 at Comerica Park in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images) /

Kevin Maitan is perfect fit for the Detroit Tigers rebuild

In a post on MLB.com, columnist Jonathan Mayo explained how the teams could sign Maitan and the other prospects who are no longer Atlanta farmhands and are now international amateur free agents again.

Teams would need to use their bonus pools to sign the players.

"“Any team wanting to pursue any of these prospects will get a little help. Major League Baseball has given an exemption to any team signing players who become free agents. The first $200K of the subsequent bonuses for any of the 12 former Braves prospects will not be subject to signing pools. In addition, as a special stipulation for these players, teams have the option of counting the bonus toward the current (2017-18) signing period or the following (2018-2019) one, though teams can’t combine pool money.”"

Detroit generally hasn’t splashed the cash in international free agency.

However, the opportunity to sign a player with Maitan’s ceiling now is too good of an opportunity to pass up—especially considering the team can use the next signing period’s bonus money to ink the free agent.

While not all prospects pan out, the fact that the 17-year-old has already been compared to Miguel Cabrera only speaks to his promising upside.

The timeline

Considering Maitan is still a teenager and years away from the Majors, he fits perfectly with the Detroit Tigers rebuild.

In an ideal world, a core featuring the likes of Michael Fulmer, Perez, Candelario, Stewart, Daniel Norris, Burrows, Matthew Boyd, Gerber and Joe Jimenez will make strides and expedite the rebuild significantly.

However, the team has a wave of elite prospects in the lower minors who could form an exciting core in their own right.

In terms of reaching the Majors, the timelines of Manning, Faedo, Paredes, Paredes, Funkhouser, Cameron, Rogers, Derek Hill, Sam McMillan, Baez, Jose Azocar and Alcantara line up more with the ex-Atlanta minor leaguer than prospects like Perez, Stewart and Gerber, who could all debut in the Majors at some point in the next calendar year if not by 2018 at the latest.

Long-term, a left side of the infield featuring Paredes and Maitan holds plenty of appeal.

The same can be said of a middle of the order that features the two along with power threats like Stewart and Rey Rivera.

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