Detroit Tigers: 3 way-too-early high-impact free agents to target

Based on the comments this week from Detroit Tigers owner Christopher Ilitch, we got ahead of ourselves and provided three free agents’ ideas.

Earlier in the week, Detroit Tigers owner Christopher Ilitch spoke about seeking high-end talent for 2022. So instantly, a few names came to mind, should this scenario happen.

Currently, the Detroit Tigers are ranked 23rd in payroll in baseball per Sportrac at $85 million dollars with Miguel Cabrera being the largest among the contracts.  With the signing of Robbie Grossman in the off-season to a two-year deal, it was at least an indication that Detroit was not thinking about stop gag measures.

What do the Detroit Tigers need?

It is not as easy of an answer as a shortstop and a few starting pitchers. Detroit has to address if Jonathan Schoop will come back and hold down second base. Who will play first base on a regular basis?

Look at the outfield. Do you worry that Akil Baddoo will suffer a sophomore slump? What exactly is Victor Reyes? Daz Cameron has not played enough to show if he can be a regular and Derek Hill continues to improve but the same question arises with him.

Even behind the plate, you can be pretty sure that Jake Rogers and Eric Haase will be there but does Detroit sign a veteran backup in case Rogers has some arm issues.

The outfield and catching situations may be a product of an overthinking mind but looking at how the Twins fell back from last year, while Minnesota may have a better team, the idea is for Detroit to get better and build off this season.

The Tigers have to address a lot that for now, we are not thinking about but let’s just start with three big high-impact free agents.

The Detroit Tigers sign Carlos Correa to be their everyday shortstop

Carlos Correa turns 27 next month and has put up an impressive season as he seems to be hitting his stride on offense and defense.

His slash line has been .272/.367/.478 with a WRC+ of 137 with 17 home runs and 59 RBI so far this season. He hits the ball all over the field with power and his current hard hit% contact rate is just below his high in 2017 of 44.6% and his walk and strike-out rates are below the league average. 

He has had some injuries sure but he has played over 100 games in every season but his rookie season and in 2019. Currently, he has an fWAR of 3.9 and we are all familiar with the fact he once played for manager A.J Hinch.

Whatever the state of Michigan has to do as a collective to make this happen outside of money,  whether its stock in all three automakers, renaming a city “Correa City”, this would be high impactful because it would provide a much needed steady power threat and defense at a position that has been near the bottom as a team in fielding (26th according to FanGraphs) compared to Houston, which is ranked number 6 on the strength of Correa.

As painful as this next sentence is to say, Detroit struggles as a free agent destination because it is in the Midwest however, there is enough talent here that doing whatever it takes to make Correa a Tiger must happen. His impact alone could help Detroit get into playoff contention sooner.

Detroit Tigers sign right-hander Marcus Stroman

Ignore the win loss record because some people believe that is important for a second and look at starting pitching market in the winter. 

• Zach Greinke
• Justin Verlander
• Max Scherzer
• Kevin Gausman
• Clayton Kershaw
• Marcus Stroman

Gausman and Stroman are the youngest ones of that group. All you would need for Stroman to do is to be a middle rotation pitcher who can not only mentor Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal but give you anywhere from 150 to 200 innings.

Storman is a gamer and he shows a flare on the mound. He has played in a tough media market and I think personally here in Detroit, people would love his energy and makeup as a player. He has an ERA of 2.80 (FIP is 3.49) and currently has an fWAR of 2.4.

Verlander coming home to Detroit is a good idea but it can’t be the only one. Look at the way the Dodgers and White Sox loaded on pitching during the trade deadline. For kicks, LA is set to sign Cole Hamles.  As cliche as this is to say, you can not have enough pitching.

Detroit needs pitching and if they could bring back the gang and sign Verlander and Scherzer that would be great to all Tigers fans but that is not reality.