Detroit Tigers: 4 recently non-tendered free agents to consider

1B/OF Dominic Smith

Smith is a former first-round pick of the New York Mets back in 2013. He was one of their top prospects before debuting in 2017. He, like Rios, really broke out during the shortened 2020 season, putting up a whopping 166 wRC+ in 199 plate appearances. He finished 13th in NL MVP voting that year.

Sadly, he's struggled the last two years with injuries and underperformance, which is why the Mets ultimately decided to move on from him. But with the Tigers potentially looking for a contingency plan at first base in the event Spencer Torkelson continues to struggle, Smith could be a good fit.

He bats left-handed, meaning he could potentially platoon with Torkelson, although he actually hits for a higher average against lefties, though most of his power comes against righties.

If the Tigers are willing to deal with Smith's poor defense, he'd make a good option. He's pretty bad in the field, both at first base and in the outfield. He's been a DH most of his career because of it.

But he is also in need of a change of scenery. Maybe the Tigers' new hitting staff could work on some stuff with him and get him back to that 2020 form.

1B Luke Voit

Speaking of potential first base contingency plans, Voit has been on three teams in the past two years. He *also* had a breakout 2020 season in which he led the majors in home runs and finished ninth in AL MVP voting.

He was traded to the Padres in the 2021 offseason, then traded to the Nationals as part of the Juan Soto deal at the 2022 trade deadline. In 2022, he slashed .226/.308/.402 with 22 home runs and a 102 wRC+.

Voit has a career walk rate of 10.2%, but also a career strikeout rate of 28.5%. If there's one thing he does well, it's hit the ball hard. He's got a career hard-hit rate of 44.7%. Last season he was in the 94th percentile for barrel rate according to Baseball Savant.

You're not going to get much out of him defensively. He's been a DH much of the time anyway the past few years. But ideally he wouldn't play very much, so you wouldn't have to worry about it.

Voit could also be a nice backup plan should Tork continue to struggle. He'll strikeout a good bit, but he'll also provide some power. I think the trade-off could be worth it.

C Jorge Alfaro

The Detroit Tigers are looking for a catcher. They have many options, both in free agency and via trade, but if they want to go a cheaper route, Alfaro could be a decent one-year stop gap.

Alfaro was non-tendered by the Padres after slashing .246/.285/.383 with a 90 wRC+. He strikes out a lot and doesn't walk. But the Tigers wouldn't be signing him for his offense. He's more of a defensive catcher, though he had a pretty high barrel rate last year.

He's very good at throwing out runners, with a caught-stealing percentage of about 38% for his career. What makes him so good at this is his pop time, which is consistently near the top of the league. He would definitely help the Tigers stop would-be base stealers.

There are better options than Alfaro out there. There are also worse options. But if the Tigers just wanted to go cheap at the position instead of going after someone like Willson Contreras, he could be someone they consider.