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

There are several recent non-tenders who could be of interest to the Detroit Tigers

The non-tender deadline was this past Friday at 8 p.m., where a bunch of players were not given contracts for next season, becoming free agents. The Detroit Tigers non-tendered seven players, second-most in the league behind the Giants, who non-tendered 10 players.

There were several interesting non-tenders from other teams, headlined by 2019 NL MVP Cody Bellinger, who was non-tendered by the Dodgers after regressing significantly over the past couple of years. I don't think Bellinger would be a good it for the Detroit Tigers simply because he's been so bad as of late.

He's accrued 0.7 fWAR and a 65 wRC+ over the past two years. That's woefully bad. The Detroit Tigers have had enough underachievers on their roster over the past few years, they don't need any more.

With that being said, there were still a few other non-tenders from around the league that would be interesting pickups for the Tigers. We've picked out four that we think would make a good it. Let's get started.

INF Edwin Rios

Rios is an interesting case. He broke out during the shortened 2020 season with eight homers and a 143 wRC+ in 83 plate appearances, but hasn't played a whole lot over the past couple of years due to injuries and just simply falling out of favor. With all the depth the Dodgers have, it's no wonder they cut Rios loose.

The 28-year-old Rios bats left-handed, which checks the box of one of Scott Harris' priorities this offseason—a left-handed hitting infielder. He mostly plays third base, meaning he could potentially replace Jeimer Candelario, but he's also played 1B and little bit of the outfield.

The thing Rios does the best at the plate is hit the ball hard. He's got a 47% hard-hit rate for his career, as well as a .273 ISO. He has a ton of raw power, and unfortunately that comes with a lot of strikeouts. He's struck out at a 32% clip for his career to go along with an 8.6% walk rate. The walk rate is slightly above average, for what it's worth.

Rios is a guy that's seeking a fresh start and fresh opportunity. With the Tigers need for a left-handed bat for their infield, he could fit what they're looking for if they're willing to look past the strikeouts.

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.

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.