Three Free Agents the Tigers Must Sign this Offseason
By Bob Heyrman
Mike Moustakas
You are likely very familiar with the former Kansas City Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas. The Detroit Tigers have failed to surround Miguel Cabrera with any type of power threat since Prince Fielder was dealt to the Texas Rangers.
Detroit since has had a plethora of good players, but an aging Victor Martinez and Nick Castellanos don’t provide the same pop as Moustakas. Mike hit 35 home runs last year with the Milwaukee Brewers. He also drove in 87 runs. He’s not a guy that will own a .300 batting average, but he was able to maintain a .254 average last season with that kind of power — something Detroit desperately needs.
The Tigers weren’t able to get any consistent production from their third basemen last season. Jeimer Candelario has all but faded away after showing some positives in 2018. After hitting .224 in ’18 with 19 home runs and 54 RBI’s, “the candyman” produced a .203 average, only hitting 8 home runs in 2019.
The Tigers hope Isaac Paredes is the third baseman of the future, and this move would allow Dawl Lugo more time to develop but the team would have to anti up around $18 million on a one-year deal for “the moose.” Something Chris Ilitch is like;y reluctant to do. The 31-year old is reliable defensively at the hot corner and was voted to the All-Star game just last season. He’d fit nicely, hitting clean-up behind Miguel in Detroit.