Detroit Tigers thinking about replacing outfielder Victor Reyes

The Detroit Tigers are continuing to go through their offseason, weighing out options and deciding which players they are going to target as a part of this free agency process. One of the things that the organization is rumored to be doing is shopping for an outfielder.

The rumors most recently have had the Detroit Tigers tied to free-agent outfielder Starling Marte. The veteran of the big leagues may not be bad on a one-year deal, but the Tigers are seemingly intent on replacing Victor Reyes from the team’s outfield.

Victor Reyes is a former Rule 5 Draft Pick that has patrolled the team’s outfield for parts of the last four seasons. He’s not been super exciting or panned out to be the player that the Tigers seemingly hoped he would break out to be.

Reyes is coming off a 2021 season where he logged 76 games and slashed .258/.284/.416 with 19 extra-base hits, 22 RBI, and 55 strikeouts over 209 at-bats. The 27-year old outfielder has not been the best addition to the outfield, and it seems the Tigers are done with this experiment.

The Detroit Tigers are exploring new options for the team’s outfield.

It’s already known that Robbie Grossman will be returning for the 2022 season and be patrolling one of the outfield slots while finding ways to get on base miraculously. Besides that, a new Rule 5 Draft Pick is heading into his sophomore season with the Tigers, Akil Baddoo.

With the assumption being that Grossman is an everyday player and Baddoo is a nearly every day player that leaves one more sport, likely two more players who will be in the rotation. The way it stands, there are some internal options if the team feels Reyes needs to be gotten rid of or pushed into a bench role only.

With Daz Cameron in the minors, he is likely going to keep fighting for a bigger change to finally break out, if that ever happens. But Derek Hill, a former first-round pick who’s been a late-bloomer, deserves to get some serious looks out there.

Even if you consider Hill to be one of the players, it seems like the Tigers will want to add another outfielder to the mix. While shelling out millions on someone like Marte may be a way to prove they are competing, Riley Greene is going to be here sooner than later, and it seems silly to spend when the outfield’s future is likely going to be something to address down the line.

It’s easy to understand why the Tigers may want to replace Reyes; the question is if now is really the time to do so.