Detroit Tigers: Predicting the Opening Day Roster for 2017
By Matt Snyder
Bench Position Players
At this point the roster is full, save for four spots on the bench for position players. One of those spots will go to:
Romine has become a valuable bench asset with his positional versatility, solid glove, and (mostly) playable bat. He’ll see a small salary bump as a second year arbitration player but won’t break the bank.
The three other bench spots are up in the air. The leading candidate for a reserve outfield role is probably Tyler Collins. He struggled with the bat at times, but he’s playable versus right-handed pitchers and can play center field in a pinch (if you squint).
Other candidates include Steven Moya and Anthony Gose, who both find themselves out of options. Moya showed himself to be a bad defender, even in the corner, and Gose did not respond well to a minor league demotion.
The roles of backup catcher and reserve infielder will probably be filled from the outside. These are really the only two spot the Tigers need to address externally this offseason.
An ideal backup catcher would be solid defensively and hit from the left side (to platoon with McCann). An upcoming free agent who fits that profile is old friend Alex Avila. Avila had a .732 OPS in just over 200 plate appearances with the White Sox in 2016.
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That leaves one spot for a cheap, glove-first fielder who offers positional flexibility. Dixon Machado will probably get a chance to win the job — he’s out of options as well — but he’s probably not capable of posting even a .600 OPS in the major leagues.