Detroit Tigers: 3 realistic free agents to pursue

Joc Pederson could fill the Detroit Tigers’ outfield needs

Joc Pederson does not exactly answer the Tigers’ upcoming issues up the middle. The 28-year-old has logged plenty of innings in center field, to be certain.

But even before the arrival of Mookie Betts in Los Angeles, the Dodgers made the decision to move Pederson to the corner positions. Pederson played just 21 games in center in 2019.

Maybe that’s not that big of a deal in the long run. Maybe Detroit can afford to carry a little weaker bat in center in the future (and they’ll certainly have some glove guys with weak bats to choose from, like Victor Reyes) if they have Greene and Pederson’s bats in the order.

Or maybe Pederson, who is plenty young still, holds down the center spot, too, even if he’s a little weaker there.

Pederson’s contract shouldn’t be out of line for a Tigers club with a relatively low payroll and no big-ticket pieces to pay beyond Miguel Cabrera and his $32 million per year deal.

MLBTR puts him at two years, $18 million. FanGraphs readers essentially agree: two years, $20 million.

The left-handed batter struggled last season, but his career figures should outweigh a poor 60 games under unique conditions. He doesn’t hit for average (.230, oy) and he strikes out too much (24% last year, 22% for his career), but that power. “Can he ever hit the ball?” has the potential to quickly become “Can he ever hit the ball!” quick. That’s led to a 118 wRC+ for his career.

Certainly, he’s not the kind of solution to the problem Springer may be. But he certainly fits the budget much better and seems a lot more realistic in terms of players who might actually play in Detroit.