The Detroit Tigers are one of the most improved teams in all of Major League Baseball so far this offseason; that point can’t be argued. The Tigers hit free agency hard in the opening months of the 2021-2022 offseason, signing both Javier Baez and Eduardo Rodriguez to significant deals. Both players will certainly bring Detroit closer to contention.
This is all without mentioning their acquisition on the trade market, catcher Tucker Barnhart. Catcher has been a big point of weakness in Detroit for many years, Barnhart will bring the club a gold glove caliber backstop to pair with their Gold Glove-caliber shortstop Javy Baez.
Tigers 2021 cumulative fWAR totals by position:
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Catcher: 2.4
Rotation: 8.1
Shortstop: -0.1
2021 fWAR numbers for additons & reported additions:
Barnhart 1.2
Rodriguez 3.8
Baez 3.6
Detroit still has work to do this winter but this is a good start.
The Detroit Tigers are slowly becoming an exciting ball club and, while the acquisitions of Baez, Rodriguez, and Barnhart together are a good start, there is still more work to be done.