Detroit Tigers: 5 shortstop trade targets

Detroit Tigers Shortstop Trade Option Number 2 – Paul DeJong

Paul DeJong has had a very interesting MLB career. As a rookie in 2017 he looked overmatched at shortstop, but the Cardinals lived with it because he hit .285 with 25 home runs in just 108 games. His offensive production predictably slipped due to some correction in his batted-ball luck, but at the same time he was making huge strides on defense. In 2019 he hit just .233, but he made the All-Star team and played plus defense at shortstop while bashing 30 home runs, easily the most ever by a Cardinals shortstop.

Things haven’t been so great since then, though. DeJong still played strong defense this year, but his offense dropped dramatically, with career lows in batting average (.197) and wRC+ (86). Cardinals fans discussed moving on, and then the team seemingly did. Edmundo Sosa saw more starts at shortstop in September/October than DeJong.

Complicating matters is DeJong’s contract, which guarantees him $6 million in 2022 and $9 million in 2023, with club options for 2024 and 2025. That’s a bargain for the 4-5 WAR player he was in 2019, but a bit rich for the 1.6 WAR player he was this season. It would be a calculated risk for the Tigers, but they probably wouldn’t have to part with much to land DeJong:

Michael Fulmer developed into Detroit’s most reliable bullpen stopper this year, and while he would add more depth to St. Louis’ strong bullpen, the Cardinals could also transition him back into a starter, or use him in a hybrid role. Jacob Robson is a bit of a throw-in here, as he’s likely to be removed from Detroit’s 40-man roster soon, and would provide some emergency outfield depth for the Cardinals.

Detroit Tigers Shortstop Trade Option Number 3 – Joey Wendle

Strictly speaking, Joey Wendle isn’t a shortstop. For the majority of his career he has played second or third base, and he was actually a Gold Glove finalist at third base this year. But let’s ignore that for now and do some speculation. Wendle does have 414 career innings at shortstop, and he graded out pretty darn well there in 2021, so why not give it a shot full time?

Wendle isn’t a stellar offensive player, and he struggles against left-handed pitching, but he has some pop, some speed, a career 103 wRC+, and in the two seasons in which he has seen 500 plate appearances he produced 3.8 fWAR and 2.6 fWAR. Joey Wendle turns 32 next April, he’s heading into his 2nd year of arbitration, and the Rays have a small army of potential replacements for him, so they may be motivated sellers.

Gage Workman would aid in Tampa’s never-ending quest to free space on their 40-man roster, and he also happens to be a pretty solid prospect. Tampa can afford to bring him along slowly for a few seasons, and he has the upside of an everyday regular.

Detroit Tigers Shortstop Trade Option Number 4 – Kyle Farmer

Is it exciting to trade for a 31-year-old shortstop with a career 84 wRC+ and 4.7% walk rate? No, not exactly, but Kyle Farmer is another seemingly available option with a strong glove and a little bit of pop. Last year he batted .263 with a career-high 16 home runs while ranking among the league leaders in Outs Above Average. That’s pretty impressive given Farmer was primarily a catcher in the minor leagues.

There’s not much upside with Farmer, but he’s under team control for three more years, and he could theoretically move back to catcher if things go sideways. Meanwhile, the Reds are clearly undergoing some form of a rebuild, and they seemingly already have Farmer’s replacement in the form of top prospect José Barrero. Cincinnati is losing its best hitter, and they probably need some young bodies in the outfield:

Daz Cameron hasn’t hit enough in his short MLB career, but he’s shown flashes of power and speed, and he can capably handle all three outfield positions. The Reds had one of the worst defensive outfields in baseball last year, so even if Cameron doesn’t hit right away he could still provide some value to the club.

Detroit Tigers Shortstop Trade Option Number 5 – Kevin Newman

Arguably the most uninspiring player on this list, Kevin Newman has been the least productive regular in baseball over the last two seasons, and he just put together his first positive defensive season. Newman is also 28 and heading into his first arbitration-eligible year, so he’s going to get slightly more expensive. So why even consider trading for him?

Well, not everything about Kevin Newman is bad. He’s a plus runner, he struck out in just 7.4% of his plate appearances last year, and he has some history of positive play. He won the Cape Cod League batting title twice, and as a rookie in 2019 he batted .308 with 12 home runs and 16 steals in 130 games, for a wRC+ of 109. The last two seasons make 2019 appear to be a fluke, but maybe there’s a way to meld Newman’s decent offensive 2019 with his decent defensive 2021 and end up with a solid player?

In any event, it probably wouldn’t cost much at all for the Tigers to land Newman from a clearly rebuilding Pirates team that likely wants to figure out if Cole Tucker or Oneil Cruz can handle shortstop on a regular basis at the MLB level.

The Tigers just added Elvin Rodriguez to their 40-man roster the other day, and while he probably doesn’t project as a starter at the MLB level, the Pirates might have the luxury of giving it a shot for a year or two. And if that doesn’t work out he has a decent enough arm to potentially carve out a role in the bullpen.