Javy Báez's comments on possible position change will send Tigers fans into a frenzy

Detroit Tigers manager AJ Hinch made a surprising lineup decision ahead of Thursday's Grapefruit League game against the Tampa Bay Rays, slotting shortstop Javier Báez in as the club's starting third baseman.

The Tigers' failure to land Alex Bregman in free agency and the subsequent injury to Matt Vierling put Detroit's third base situation in flux. Initially it was assumed Vierling would split time at the hot corner with rookie Jace Jung, but Hinch made it clear early on that Jung would have to earn his innings.

That left utility man Zach McKinstry as the only other obvious alternative to play third base, though the Tigers don't view him as an everyday starter.

All the while, Báez has remained the $140 million elephant in the room. The highest-paid player on the Tigers' roster (by a lot) was limited to just 80 games last season due to injuries and hit an abysmal .184/.221/.294. Even when healthy, Báez has hit just .221/.263/.347 in three years as a Tiger, turning his contract – under which he is owed more than $20 million in each of the next three seasons – an even bigger nightmare for Detroit.

Shortstop prospect Trey Sweeney, acquired last season from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Jack Flaherty deal, earned his first big-league call up in August and took Báez's place at shortstop down the final stretch of the regular season. Sweeney hit .218 with four home runs and 17 RBI in 36 games for the Tigers and went on to be the club's starting shortstop for the entirety of their playoff run that ended with a loss to the Cleveland Guardians in the ALDS.

Javy Báez's comments on possible position change will send Tigers fans into a frenzy

If the Tigers' starting shortstop position were to be awarded based on merit alone, it would be Sweeney's without question. But the club doesn't plan to buy out the remainder of Báez's contract, so the veteran is expected to be on the Opening Day roster – presumably, as the team's primary shortstop.

The injury to Vierling creates a scenario in which Báez, Sweeney and McKinstry can be on the Tigers' Opening Day roster, but questions remain as to where (or if) each of them will play. Hinch may view Báez as an option to split time with Jung at third, as evidenced by Báez's start at third base in Thursday's spring training matchup. But according to Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press, Báez has yet another potential position change in mind.

"One of my dreams," Báez told Petzold, "is to play center."

In his entire 11-year MLB career, Báez has logged a total of 2 2/3 innings in left field and two innings in right field. He hasn't played a single inning in center.

Admittedly, the injuries to Parker Meadows and Wenceel Pérez in spring training could send the Tigers scrambling for alternative options at center field to open the season. But it may not behoove them to give the position that requires a lot of running to cover a lot of ground to the 32-year-old coming off of season-ending hip surgery. Just a thought.

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