Detroit Tigers: Can Pete Kozma fill team’s need for a utility player?

The Detroit Tigers still need to find a utility player for the 2018 season. Can Pete Kozma be the man for the job?

Early this offseason, the Detroit Tigers lost utility man Andrew Romine on waivers to the Seattle Mariners. Over four seasons with the Tigers, Romine hit .236/.293/.313 with 10 home runs. His most significant asset to the team was his versatility in the field. Late last season, Romine became just the fifth player in MLB history to play all nine positions in a single game.

With Romine now in Seattle, the Detroit Tigers need to find a new utility player. One candidate for the job would have been Dixon Machado. Following the trade of Ian Kinsler, however, Machado is now the favorite to take over at second base. It is possible that the Tigers’ new utility man could be Pete Kozma, who was signed to a minor league deal in early January, as reported by Chris Cotillo of SB Nation.

Kozma came up with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2011 and remained in the organization through 2015. He saw playing time in the postseason from 2012-14. Kozma also appeared in a career-high 143 games during the 2013 campaign. Since moving on from St. Louis, Kozma has seen big league time with the New York Yankees and Texas Rangers.

Admittedly, Kozma probably won’t be able to provide much at the plate. He has slashed only .215/.282/.285 in his major league career. He hasn’t fared too much better in his minor league career, hitting just .234/.306/.337 across nine years.

Kozma can, however, offer a certain amount of value in the field. Kozma can help out at shortstop as well as second and third base. He has also appeared in a handful of games at first base, and he has a couple of outfield appearances to his credit as well. When he was the Cardinals’ primary shortstop in 2013, he had an 8.0 UZR/150 and eight defensive runs saved.

Potential competition

The Tigers will also have a couple of other players in camp who could challenge Kozma for the utility role. In addition to Kozma, the Tigers have also signed Niko Goodrum and Ronny Rodriguez to minor league deals this offseason.

Goodrum, a switch-hitter, was formerly a member of the Minnesota Twins organization. Goodrum had a pretty decent season in Triple-A last year, slashing .265/.309/.425 with 13 homers and 66 RBI over 127 games. He came up for a small cup of coffee in the Big Leagues but batted only .059/.111/.059 through 11 games.

Rodriguez, formerly a member of the Cleveland Indians organization, batted a healthy .291/.324/.454 with 17 homers and 64 RBI in Triple-A Columbus last season. Like Goodrum, Rodriguez has experience playing all four infield positions as well as some outfield.

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While Kozma’s defense and previous MLB experience could come in handy, Goodrum and Rodriguez might be able to do a little bit more with the bat. If Kozma doesn’t make the Detroit Tigers, he might be a nice guy to have in Triple-A Toledo for additional depth. While the Tigers probably don’t have anyone who could become a super-utility player, like a Ben Zobrist, they do have a few solid candidates for the job. It will be fun to see who impresses newly-hired manager Ron Gardenhire the most in Spring Training of 2018.