Detroit Tigers

While the Detroit Tigers have been heavily linked to Carlos Correa this offseason, it appears the club is also considering another free-agent shortstop. 

The Tigers have reportedly had contract discussions with Javier Baez over the last several days, according to MLB Network's Jon Morosi. It's unclear what this means for the club's pursuit of Correa. 

Correa is believed to be Detroit's top target at shortstop this winter because of his relationship with former Houston Astros manager A.J. Hinch, who managed him from 2015-19. 

However, it's not surprising the Tigers are seeking out other options, especially with the possibility that Correa signs somewhere else. 

Baez is also drawing interest from many teams, including the New York Mets, who he spent the 2021 campaign with, and the Boston Red Sox. So, the Tigers will face some stiff competition for the veteran. 

According to SNY's Andy Martino, the two-time All-Star could sign before a potential lockout at the beginning of December. 

The 28-year-old hit .265/.319/.494 with 31 home runs and 87 RBI in 138 games last season between the Mets and Chicago Cubs. He performed better once he was traded to the Mets, hitting .299/.371/.515 with nine home runs and 22 RBI in 47 games. 

Baez would represent a significant upgrade at shortstop for Detroit. In 2021, the Tigers posted a minus-0.1 fWAR at the position, the third-worst in MLB, per FanGraphs.

If Detroit were to not sign a shortstop this winter, the team would have to rely on a combination of Zack Short and Harold Castro in 2022. Short slashed .141/.239/.282 with six home runs and 20 RBI in 61 games with four errors at short. Castro, meanwhile, is not primarily a shortstop. 

In addition to Correa and Baez, the team could also consider Trevor Story, Marcus Semien and Corey Seager.  

The Los Angeles Angels made waves when they reached an agreement with Noah Syndergaard on a one-year deal, per ESPN's Jeff Passan, but it doesn't seem like they will make more headlines by signing Justin Verlander.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported club officials believe Verlander is more likely to sign with the Detroit Tigers or an East Coast team than joining Los Angeles.

Whichever team signs Verlander will be embracing an element of risk.

After all, the right-hander will be 39 years old next season and didn't make a single start in 2021. He also made one appearance in 2020 and will be coming off Tommy John surgery at an age when he figures to be on the decline.

Still, he is one of the best pitchers of his generation and has a Hall of Fame resume that includes an American League MVP, two AL Cy Young Awards, a World Series championship, an ERA title, an AL Rookie of the Year and eight All-Star selections.

It is notable some believe he could return to the Tigers considering that is where he spent the 12-plus years of his career before Detroit traded him to the Houston Astros during the 2017 campaign.

While he won the World Series and one of his Cy Young Awards with the Astros, six of his All-Star seasons and his MVP came when he was with the Tigers.

Detroit has already made some noise this offseason by trading for catcher Tucker Barnhart and agreeing to a deal with pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez.

It is clear the Tigers are looking to contend in 2022 after missing the playoffs the last seven seasons, and Verlander is a high-upside play who could immediately bolster their chances if he resembles his past form when he returns to the field.              

The Detroit Tigers and pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez agreed to a five-year, $77 million contract Monday.

Jeff Passan of ESPN reported the terms of the deal, though it has yet to be finalized. Jon Heyman of MLB Network reported Rodriguez's contract includes an "opt out after Year 2, plus incentives."

Rodriguez, 28, spent his first six MLB seasons with the Boston Red Sox. He posted a 13-8 record with a 4.74 ERA and 1.39 WHIP in 2021.

Detroit is hoping Rodriguez's underlying numbers from 2021 are a better indicator of his performance than his raw stats. His 3.32 FIP was the lowest of his career, and he posted the best strikeout-to-walk ratio of his time in Boston. Rodriguez's bad luck continued into the playoffs, when he allowed seven earned in 12.2 innings pitched despite allowing only 12 total base runners. 

The Tigers are in the midst of a multiyear rebuild but showed some promise with a 77-85 regular season in 2021. Rodriguez is the youngest starter on the open market this offseason, allowing him to fit within the team's contention timeline while also serving as an immediate-impact splash.

The Tigers could continue adding pieces to their roster this winter in hopes of pushing up their rebuild by a year or two. Their payroll ranked just 24th in baseball last season—much of that going to Miguel Cabrera, who will make $32 million each of the next two years. 

Free-agent pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez is receiving interest from the Toronto Blue Jays, Los Angeles Angels and Detroit Tigers, according to MLB Network's Jon Morosi. 

The news comes after the Boston Red Sox extended an $18.4 million qualifying offer to the left-hander last week. He has until Nov. 17 to accept or decline that offer. If he declines, the Red Sox will receive draft compensation.

Morosi reported Nov. 9 that the Angels were showing interest in Rodriguez as they aim to upgrade their rotation this winter. L.A. has also reportedly been linked to Robbie Ray, Marcus Stroman and Noah Syndergaard. 

The Angels had one of the worst pitching staffs in MLB last season, recording a 4.69 ERA, the ninth worst in MLB, and a 1.38 WHIP. 

Shohei Ohtani, Jose Suarez and Patrick Sandoval figure to be atop L.A.'s rotation in 2022. However, the Angels need replacements for Dylan Bundy and Alex Cobb, who struggled in 2021 and are now free agents. 

As for Toronto, the Blue Jays actually had one of the better pitching staffs in baseball last season, finishing with a 3.91 ERA (10th in MLB) and a 1.23 WHIP (eighth in MLB). However, with Ray now a free agent, the team could very well need to replace him this winter.

As it stands, the Jays' rotation includes Hyun Jin Ryu, Jose Berrios, Alek Manoah and Thomas Hatch. 

Like the Angels, Detroit's pitching staff was subpar in 2021, finishing with a 4.32 ERA and 1.37 WHIP. The Tigers have a relatively young rotation with Casey Mize, Tarik Skubal and Matt Manning onboard for 2022, and they could benefit from adding a veteran like Rodriguez. 

However, Rodriguez struggled in 2021 after missing the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign due to myocarditis related to his COVID-19 diagnosis. The Venezuelan went 13-8 with a career-worst 4.74 ERA and 1.39 WHIP. 

The 28-year-old's best season came in 2019, when he finished sixth in American League Cy Young voting. He went 19-6 with a career-best 3.81 ERA, in addition to a 1.33 WHIP and 213 strikeouts in 203.1 innings across 34 starts. 

Despite his struggles, Rodriguez is a solid candidate to have a bounce-back season in 2022, and he's among one of the best free-agent pitchers available this winter.  

The Detroit Tigers are reportedly in the market for one of the top shortstops available in free agency.

According to MLB Network's Jon Morosi, the Tigers have checked in with the agents of several available shortstops, including Carlos Correa, Corey Seager, Trevor Story, Marcus Semien, Javier Baez and Chris Taylor.

Detroit showed some improvement last season, finishing third in the American League Central with a 77-85 record, but it has missed the playoffs in each of the past seven seasons.

The Tigers entered last season having won less than 40 percent of their games in four consecutive seasons, but they upped their winning percentage to .475 in 2021.

While that was partly to do with playing in a weak division, the Tigers benefited from solid offensive production from several players, including Jeimer Candelario, Miguel Cabrera, Jonathan Schoop, Akil Baddoo, Robbie Grossman and Eric Haase.

The biggest issue for Detroit offensively was its middle infield, as none of Niko Goodrum, Willi Castro, Harold Castro or Zack Short put up particularly good numbers.

Because of that, it isn't surprising that the Tigers are looking to pluck a player from perhaps the greatest shortstop free-agent class of all time.

Any of the best free-agent shortstops available would improve Detroit greatly, but Correa may make the most sense given his ties to Tigers manager A.J. Hinch.

Correa spent his first five MLB seasons from 2015-19 playing under Hinch with the Houston Astros. They enjoyed a great deal of success together, winning a World Series in 2017.

The partnership was cut short last year when Hinch was suspended by MLB for the entire 2020 season because of his role in the Astros' illegal sign-stealing system. He was then subsequently fired by the Astros.

Hinch undoubtedly had a positive impact on the Tigers last season, and one can only assume the team would make even greater strides with a two-time All-Star like Correa in the fold.

Many of the other available shortstops would be significant additions as well if the Tigers are unable to secure Correa.

Seager is a two-time All-Star and earned the World Series MVP for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2020; Story is a two-time All-Star and two-time Silver Slugger award winner; Semien finished third in the AL MVP voting with the Oakland Athletics in 2019 and could have another high finish in 2021 after clubbing 45 home runs for the Toronto Blue Jays; Baez won a World Series with the Chicago Cubs in 2016 and finished second in the NL MVP voting in 2018; and Taylor is a one-time All-Star and World Series winner with the Dodgers.

It has been quite some time since the Tigers were legitimate playoff or World Series contenders, but Hinch seems to have them on the right track, and a marquee signing could get them in the playoff conversation next season.

The Detroit Tigers reportedly have interest in Houston Astros shortstop Carlos Correa, who's scheduled to become a free agent after the 2021 season.

Jon Heyman of the MLB Network reported Friday the Tigers could face competition from the Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees and Texas Rangers, who'll all be in the market for a shortstop upgrade during the offseason.

Correa has been one of the league's most productive shortstops since making his debut with the Astros in 2015. His .835 OPS over the past seven years ranks sixth at the pivotal position, per FanGraphs.

The 27-year-old Puerto Rico native posted a career-low .709 OPS during the coronavirus-shortened 2020 campaign, but he's bounced back with an .843 OPS and 25 home runs across 146 games in 2021. He ranks third among all hitters in WAR (7.0), according to ESPN.

He played a key role in Houston (93-66) winning the AL West division title to secure a franchise-record fifth straight postseason berth.

"That sounds pretty special," Correa told reporters Thursday night.

In early September, the two-time All-Star confirmed he didn't want any contract talks during the season and expressed interest in re-signing with the Astros once the playoffs end.

"If they want to keep me here, I'll be happy to stay here. If they don't see me here long term, I'll go play for somebody else," Correa said. "That decision is out of my hands. The only thing that's in my hands is the way I perform on the field and the way I help my team win ballgames."

He'll have plenty of potential suitors if an extension isn't signed with Houston.

The Tigers make a lot of sense on paper. Heyman mentioned the connection to Detroit manager A.J. Hinch, who served the same role with the Astros from 2015 through 2019, and the club received mediocre production from the shortstop trio of Harold Castro, Niko Goodrum and Zack Short in 2021.

Meanwhile, the Yankees thought they had their shortstop of the future in Gleyber Torres, who crushed 38 homers in 2019. His numbers have plummeted over the past two years, however, including a .701 OPS and just nine long balls in 124 games this season. New York has shifted Gio Urshela to short for the time being as it attempts to secure a wild-card berth.

The Twins will have an opening at shortstop with the defensive-minded Andrelton Simmons also set to hit the open market, while the Rangers could move the versatile Isiah Kiner-Falefa to another position if they can land Correa to provide a much-needed boost to their offense.

Other clubs would likely get involved if Correa becomes available, but it wouldn't be a surprise if the Astros make one final push to re-sign him before he can hit the free-agent market.

The Chicago White Sox earned a road win over the Detroit Tigers 8-7 on Monday in a makeup game from September 22. The American League Central division champs held off a late rally by the Tigers to secure the win.

The White Sox used a six-run fourth inning to jump out to an early lead. Eloy Jimenez added a two-run homer in the seventh.

Hi, Mom! Bye, baseball!@The_bigbaby74 | @NBCSChicago pic.twitter.com/RgmjwrYJ6U

— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) September 27, 2021

Detroit came out with five runs in the eighth inning to make it a one-run game. 

There was a benches-clearing incident in the top of the ninth when White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu slid hard into second while attempting to advance after a pitch in the dirt was blocked. Abreu had been hit by a pitch by Tigers reliever Alex Lange. There weren't any ejections from the incident, but both benches were warned.

We’ve got cleared benches in Detroit 👀

(via @NBCSWhiteSox) pic.twitter.com/R9CcbZ7X3H

— B/R Walk-Off (@BRWalkoff) September 27, 2021

Chicago closer Liam Hendriks shut the door in the ninth to stave off Detroit's comeback attempt.

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Notable Performers

White Sox LF Eloy Jimenez: 3-for-4, 2-run HR, 2 R

White Sox C Zack Collins: 2-for-3, double, 2 RBI, R

Tigers 1B Jonathan Schoop: 2-for-4, solo HR, 2 RBI

Tigers SS Niko Goodrum: 1-for-3, triple, 2 RBI, 2 R

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Keuchel Continues to be Steady

Dallas Keuchel had his third straight start allowing two or fewer earned runs. Prior to this run, Keuchel had four straight starts with five or more earned runs.

Keuchel started the season with a 6-1 record. After Monday's win, he is 9-9 in 2021. The 2015 AL Cy Young winner will need to be in top form at the back end of the starting rotation for the White Sox to make a run in the playoffs.

Dallas Keuchel went 5 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, HR, 52 of 91 pitches for strikes, with 10 swinging strikes.

He finishes the regular season with a 5.13 ERA in 161.1 IP

— James Fegan (@JRFegan) September 27, 2021

Starting pitcher Carlos Rodon has been dealing with arm soreness and was removed from his outing last Monday after just three innings. Rodon is scheduled to start Wednesday against the Cincinnati Reds in what would be his last opportunity to test his arm before the postseason.

The White Sox are also monitoring starter Dylan Cease, who was hit in his pitching arm by a comebacker on Friday. The team said Cease has a right triceps contusion and X-rays came back negative.

Keuchel's recent run of success should inspire confidence from the team. Keuchel looks to be ready if he's called on to move up in the rotation.

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Matt Manning Doomed by Lack of Control

Tigers starter Matt Manning gave up six earned runs on four hits and five walks in the loss. He struggled with control for most of the day, throwing just 46 strikes in 82 pitches.

Things fell apart for Manning in the fourth inning. He had thrown 24 pitches in the second and third innings combined but labored in the fourth with 33 pitches before being pulled from the game.

Matt Manning across 3.1 innings today:

First inning: 25 pitches.
Second inning: 13 pitches.
Third inning: 11 pitches.
Fourth inning: 33 pitches.

— Evan Petzold (@EvanPetzold) September 27, 2021

After surrendering a solo home run to Yasmani Grandal, Manning allowed three consecutive walks and then gave up back-to-back two-run hits.

https://twitter.com/whitesox/status/1442559685215735812

Entering Monday's game, Manning had three straight starts with three or fewer earned runs. His ERA on the season ballooned to 6.16 after the loss. He will have one more chance to turn things around, as he is scheduled to start against the White Sox again on Saturday in the second game of their three-game season-ending series. 

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What's Next?

The White Sox return home Tuesday for a two-game series against the Cincinnati Reds. Reynaldo Lopez will take the mound against Riley O'Brien. The Tigers begin a three-game tilt against the Minnesota Twins with Tyler Alexander scheduled to make the start.

Detroit Tigers relief pitcher Jose Cisnero required eight stitches in his right elbow after he slipped on the stairs in his home, per Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press.

"The before and after picture were both awful," Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said Tuesday. "He's doing better today. He's in some obvious pain and can't really do much for the next few days. Not a text you like getting (from athletic trainer Doug Teter) on an off day, and certainly not with Jose, who has done such a great job this year at the back end."

Detroit placed the right-hander on the 10-day injured list and recalled pitcher Jason Foley from Triple-A Toledo in a corresponding move.

Cisnero has been a solid contributor for the back end of the bullpen this season and has a 3.65 ERA, 1.33 WHIP and 62 strikeouts in 61.2 innings. He was also impressive during the shortened 2020 campaign and posted a 3.03 ERA and 1.11 WHIP, which were both career-best marks.

Prior to the injury, Cisnero hit something of a rough patch on the mound and allowed a combined seven earned runs in two appearances and one total inning against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Detroit is playing out the string at this point of the season with a 68-76 record. It is in third place in the American League Central and 12 games out of the final wild-card spot.

With that as the backdrop, the Tigers likely won't look to rush Cisnero back until he is completely ready. There is no playoff push to return to, and he struggled in his last two outings during a season that has seen him throw a career-high in innings.

Next up for the Tigers is a two-game set against the Milwaukee Brewers starting Tuesday.

Detroit Tigers star Miguel Cabrera reached a major career milestone, hitting his 500th home run Sunday against the Toronto Blue Jays.

The 28th player in MLB history to hit 500 home runs.

Congrats, @MiguelCabrera! pic.twitter.com/ajmOAbVeZg

— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) August 22, 2021

That total puts him 28th on the all-time home run list behind Eddie Murray (504).

As he approached the 2021 season, this was one of two big benchmarks within Cabrera's reach. Now, the question is how long until he registers his 3,000th hit, with 45 standing between him and one of the more legendary offensive stats in baseball history.

The 38-year-old has fallen victim to Father Time in recent seasons. He slugged a then-career low .399 in 2017 before appearing in just 38 games the following season. The two-time MVP proceeded to finish with 12 home runs, 59 RBI and a .282/.346/.398 slash line in 2019.

Opening Day raised hopes of at least one more strong season from the future Hall of Famer as he homered in his first at-bat.

Petition to put this in the Louvre. pic.twitter.com/bKrBSgwrd5

— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) April 1, 2021

That was a bit of a mirage as he has a .246/.312/.375 slash line through his first 98 appearances.

Cabrera makes $32 million in each of 2022 and 2023 before the Tigers have an out thanks to his $30 million mutual option in 2024. Unless he retires or the team absorbs a lot of dead money, he isn't going anywhere before 2024.

As the last vestige of the franchise's four-year run of success that included an American League pennant in 2012, Cabrera remains a fan favorite in Motor City. Even in a diminished form, his presence makes the Tigers' general rebuild a little more tolerable in the short term.

Former Detroit Tigers catcher Bill Freehan died at the age of 79 on Thursday, the team announced.

Freehan spent his entire career with the Tigers, a period that spanned 15 seasons. Over that time, he was an 11-time All-Star and five-time Gold Glove winner.

"Off the diamond, Freehan made a positive impact in the southeast Michigan community, including as a player and then coach at the University of Michigan, where he changed the lives of many for the better," the Tigers said in a statement. "Our thoughts are with Bill's wife, Pat, and the entire Freehan family."

The Detroit native was the runner-up to teammate Denny McLain in the voting for the American League MVP in 1968. He finished that year with 25 home runs, 84 RBI and a .366 on-base percentage, and he was behind the plate as the Tigers bested the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games to win the 1968 World Series.

Freehan's 200 homers are 10th-most in franchise history, and he's fifth among Tigers in defensive WAR (12.0), per Baseball Reference.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRxeai5TNNY

"Arguably the best catcher in the history of the organization, and deep Michigan roots," manager A.J. Hinch said to MLB.com's Jason Beck. "I had a chance to meet him. [Pitching coach] Chris Fetter actually coached his grandson at the University of Michigan. Anybody that’s been around the organization a long time has a heavy heart today. Obviously a true Tiger."

Freehan sits 16th among catchers in Baseball Reference's JAWS metric, ahead of some Hall of Famers including Roy Campanella, Buck Ewing and Roger Bresnahan.

https://twitter.com/jay_jaffe/status/1428380691067293704

Pat Freehan confirmed in October 2018 her husband was placed into hospice care after being diagnosed with dementia. He had been unable to partake in the Tigers' 50th-anniversary celebration of their World Series title.