Detroit Tigers: Jordy Mercer should fulfill team’s needs at shortstop
By Brad Faber
The Detroit Tigers needed a new shortstop this offseason. Last week, they found their man.
On Friday, the Detroit Tigers announced that they had signed longtime Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Jordy Mercer to a one-year deal. According to Jon Heyman of Fancred, the deal is worth $5.25 million, with a chance to earn another $250,000 in incentives.
This offseason, the rebuilding Tigers have not been expected to be huge spenders. However, it was a little known secret that they would most likely be shopping for a new shortstop. In early October, former shortstop Jose Iglesias bid farewell to Tigers fans via an Instagram post, essentially closing the door on his return to Detroit.
Previously, Jon Morosi of FOX Sports and MLB.com had mentioned Mercer as a fit for the Tigers, along with Freddy Galvis and Adeiny Hechavarria, all of whom fit the mold of affordable shortstops who could likely be had on short-term deals. Obviously, Mercer was the direction the Detroit Tigers ended up going in.
Of course, Mercer has never particularly been known for his bat. Last season, he hit .251/.315/.381 (91 OPS+) with six home runs and 39 RBIs through 117 games. However, he has been pretty consistent, with his batting average almost hovering somewhere around, and typically above, the .250 mark.
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Mercer has also shown some occasional power, hitting 14 home runs with a .733 OPS as recently as 2017. He will likely deliver similar offense to that of Iglesias, but with potentially more pop. Iglesias has never hit more than six homers in a season.
On the defense end, advanced metrics have not been that favorable to Mercer as of late. Last season, he was pegged with minus nine defensive runs saved and a -0.6 UZR/150. In this regard, he will likely be a downgrade from Iglesias, a defensive wizard at shortstop.
Still, Mercerall-aroundn to be a pretty solid all around player. He was worth 1.0 fWAR last year, marking the fifth time in the last six years that he was worth at least one win above replacement (per fWAR). If he has a solid enough first half, the Tigers may even be able to flip him to a contending team next summer and perhaps receive a decent prospect in return.
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Given the team’s current needs, Mercer should fit in perfectly for the time being. Detroit currently has three up-and-coming shortstops in the minor leagues in Sergio Alcantara, Willi Castro and Isaac Paredes, who are all likely candidates to be making their big league debuts before too long. Mercer should be the perfect candidate to hold down the fort until one of them is ready, whether that be sometime near the half way point of next summer, or in 2020.