Detroit Tigers: Eddie Rosario should be claimed off waivers ASAP

The Detroit Tigers should take advantage of the Twins putting Eddie Rosario on waivers and claim him immediately.

Per MLB Trade Rumors, the Minnesota Twins put on Eddie Rosario on waivers according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. As we been highlighting for a while now in our free-agent series, the Detroit Tigers need a left fielder as we have discussed in options like Joc Pederson, George Springer, among others, and in this case, based on the recent pattern by Al Avila, claiming Rosario would make a lot of sense for two reasons.

Scared of commitment

If the Detroit Tigers claimed him, it would be for one year for around $9.5 million dollars which if you think about it, could be cheaper based on the market that has some big names like Marcell Ozuna and Michael Brantley, who is still one of my favorites the Tigers should go sign. With Pederson, you would get an outfielder who is a platoon player because he can’t hit left-handed pitchers.

Brantley is a good idea but he may end up going to a bigger market and want a multiple-year deal. If Detroit is not looking to lock up anyone past one year, then Rosario fits in the budget. He is set to be a free agent in 2022.

The numbers are pretty solid

He has had three straight seasons of 20 or more home runs. Based on his numbers, he would have been able to hit 20 or more had there been a full season in 2020 but his career-high came in 2019 when he hit 32. The Tigers’ left-field as a whole, hit just 13 that season. Even this season with his 13, he once again outhomered the Tigers in left-field who just had 9. Ouch.

His splits against lefties and righties are even in terms of batting average, batting .277 from both sides but the power is against right-handers. For his career, he has 104 and walks around a 4% clip, which fits the Tigers’ hitters profile these days well. Also, to boot, he is coming across a wRC+ of 110.  According to FanGraphs ZiPS projections, he is slated to hit .281 with 24 home runs, drive in 87, and produced a WAR of 1.6. Considering all the struggles the Tigers have had at left-field, that would be a welcoming upgrade.

They have until 1 pm Wednesday to make a claim. If Detroit is not looking to go long-term, Rosario could be a short-term solution.