Detroit Tigers: 3 former players failing miserably on their new teams

3B Jeimer Candelario—Washington Nationals

Candy had a lot of promise following the 2021 season, where he almost put up a 4-WAR season. But his 2022 was a disaster, as he was also below replacement level. He had a year of team control left, but Harris opted to non-tender him this offseason, making him a free agent.

He ended up signing with a rebuilding Nationals team on a one-year, $5.5 million deal. He was pegged to be their starting third baseman. So far, it’s been more of the same for Candelario.

He got off to a good start, but has cooled off considerably. He’s currently slashing .221/.268/.366 with four home runs and a 70 wRC+. His walk rate is a career-low 4.5%.

There was a lot of talk amongst Tigers fans when they let him go and opted to not really fill the void he left. They’ve been platooning at that position with players such as Nick Maton and Andy Ibanez. Tigers third baseman have not been very good this season, but keeping Candelario around would not have been much of an upgrade.

Candelario chose to bet on himself this offseason, and while it’s still early, that bet has not paid off so far. He’s a good guy and I was personally a fan of his for a while, so I hope he’s able to turn it around.