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Detroit Tigers: 3 recently DFA’d free agents they should pursue

By Andy Patton

ST PETERSBURG, FL - JUNE 23: C.J. Cron #44 of the Tampa Bay Rays hits a double in the second inning against the New York Yankees on June 23, 2018 at Tropicana Field in St Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
ST PETERSBURG, FL - JUNE 23: C.J. Cron #44 of the Tampa Bay Rays hits a double in the second inning against the New York Yankees on June 23, 2018 at Tropicana Field in St Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images) /
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Detroit Tigers
OAKLAND, CA – JUNE 15: Jose Fernandez #20 of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim hits an rbi single scoring Justin Upton #8 against the Oakland Athletics in the top of the third inning at the Oakland Alameda Coliseum on June 15, 2018 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

Jose Fernandez

The Detroit Tigers already signed a player named Jose Fernandez this offseason, a young left-handed reliever who will compete to be Detroit’s LOOGY next season. However, now that the Angels have released their Jose Fernandez, Detroit should consider adding a name-twin.

Fernandez finally reached the big leagues in 2018, posting a nice .267/.309/.388 slash line with a 94 wRC+ in 36 games. He has always hit well in the upper minors, with a .202 ISO at Triple-A in 2018 (17 home runs in 91 games).

Detroit is in need of a left-handed hitting first baseman – and Fernandez fits the bill perfectly. While Justin Bour, Logan Morrison, Lucas Duda and Luis Valbuena are all options, Fernandez represents a cheap option that has a great chance to outperform all of them.

At age 30, Fernandez doesn’t represent a long-term option for the Tigers. In fact, they’d be lucky to get more than 1-2 years out of him.

However, he represents a nice veteran stopgap that shouldn’t cost much and should give the Tigers solid production at a spot of need. Can’t ask for much more than that.

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