Tigers officially say goodbye to longtime outfielder in surprising Brewers deal

Longtime Tigers Quad-A outfielder Akil Baddoo elected free agency on Oct. 14 to leave the organization after five seasons with Detroit. Baddoo, a Rule 5 steal from the Twins in 2020, was electric on the day of and in the days following his major league debut in April 2021 — he hit a home run in his first ever at-bat, a grand slam the next day, and his first walk-off the day after that.

But he burnt hot and very, very fast. After hitting .259 with .766 OPS in his rookie season, he hit .204 with a .558 OPS between demotions in 2022, and then he spent the rest of his tenure in Detroit going back and forth from the minors to the majors. He only played in 31 games in 2024, and then seven in 2025.

It wasn't surprising that he elected free agency, but Tigers fans certainly didn't think that he was going to get a major league deal. If anything, he was probably going to end up back in Detroit on a minor league deal.

However, he actually managed to find a team to take a flyer on him — and for a fully-fledged major league job. Per Ken Rosenthal, he signed a one-year, big league deal with the Brewers.

Brewers sign former Tigers outfielder Akil Baddoo to major league contract

Baddoo caught the injury bug that afflicted the majority of Tigers outfielders during spring training this past year. He, Wenceel Pérez, Matt Vierling, and Parker Meadows all started the season on the IL, decimating Detroit's outfield depth. They were forced to carry Ryan Kreidler on the roster as their Opening Day center fielder. As much as Baddoo ended up disappointing Tigers fans, there was never nearly the same amount of vitriol directed toward him as Kreidler.

The Tigers have now lost both Baddoo and Kreidler, which might officially consign Justyn-Henry Malloy to the role of eternally temporary outfield option (at least Malloy can kind of play first base too).

Baddoo will always be remembered in Detroit for those barnstorming first few days in the majors, but there's been little to write home about ever since that first week as a major leaguer. But he'll get a lot more chances to redeem himself with the Brewers, even if it's just as a bench or platoon bat, and it's hard for Tigers fans not to root for him.