The Detroit Tigers could have kept Gregory Soto.
Left-handed relievers who throw hard with years of team control are some of the most valuable pitchers in any organization. So, to fit the Tigers’ profile: He won’t become a free agent until after the 2025 season, and his fastball often hits triple digits. As the Tigers edged closer, the two-time All-Star hit more than 92% of save opportunities over the past two seasons.
However, the Tigers traded Soto (and utility player Kody Clemens) to the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday in exchange for outfielder Matt Vierlinginfielder / outfielder Nick Maton and receiver Donny Sands. In doing so, Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris finalized his decision on Soto, opting not to wait until the trade deadline this summer.
“Was that a consideration? Yeah, it was,” Harris said. “But we liked this package and felt like it was outdated, and we decided to do it.”
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Soto’s situation is quite simple to understand. He has elite fielding characteristics but has been inconsistent in mastering his arsenal throughout his career, averaging 5.4 walks per nine innings over the past two seasons.
His strikeouts per inning dropped last season — from 10.7 in 2021 to 9.0 in 2022 — not including his once-electric slider. As a result, his swing-and-miss rate fell from an encouraging 31.3% in 2021 to a disappointing 25.7% in 2022. These results, combined with an inflated walk rate, may never improve. .
If the Tigers thought Soto could get his old slider back and limit the walks, they probably would have kept him until the trade deadline.
An improvement there would have skyrocketed its value.
“We had a lot of conversations about him all winter long,” Harris said. “We felt like this deal was over for us, and we wanted to move forward and get the deal done now. Performance next year, or even the first half of next year, is not never a certainty. That’s another risk we would take .
“That’s not a comment on Gregory as a pitcher. It’s just a reality of performance in this industry. We felt like, going into the winter, if we could get a deal that was at the above the line for us, we should be ready to take on. We are also delighted to have reunited with players who have the chance to help us in 2023 and beyond.”
EXCHANGE:Tigers trade Gregory Soto and Kody Clemens to Phillies for three players
Harris made two big trades this offseason, dealing Soto for a trio of position players and Atlanta Braves right-handed reliever Joe Jimenez In winter meetings for third baseman/outfielder Justin Henry Malloy and left-handed reliever Jake Higginbotham.
The Tigers’ bullpen ranked eighth in MLB last season, with a 3.43 ERA. Three of the best pitchers in this group – left-handed Andre Chafin (who exercised an opt-out to become a free agent), Soto and Jiménez – are no longer on the roster.
But the Tigers correct their main weaknesses from 2022.
“We have to reshape the offense,” Harris said. “I’ve been talking about it since the day I got here. I think this trade is a variation of one of those calculated risks that I talked about. You’re never quite sure young players are going to hitting in the big leagues, but you’re a bit more confident when you’ve seen flashes of them playing in the big leagues before.”
What happens next?
After trading Soto, the Tigers have no established closer.
right-handed Alex Lange is the top internal candidate, given his elite odor rates on his secondary throws, but the Tigers won’t put tags on their relievers until spring training in February. On opening day, there may still not be a pitcher tagged with the closest role.
“I don’t think we’re in a position to make decisions on that front,” Harris said. “There’s still a lot of offseason left. We also want to see how all of our pitchers perform when they get to camp in Lakeland.”
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Two more high-leverage relievers – right-handed Jose Cisnero and Jason Foley – could land the closest role. The Tigers, however, lack left-handed pitchers in the bullpen, with a long reliever Tyler Alexander as the only left-handed reliever seemingly guaranteed to crack the Opening Day roster.
The Tigers focused on adding a left-handed reliever in free agency. The best pitchers available include Chafin, Brad’s Hand, Matt Moore and Will Smith with lower level launchers such as Daniel Norris and alex young still hoping to avoid minor league contracts. (Moore and Norris are former Tigers.)
“We’re working hard on that,” Harris said. “We actually worked on that this week, and hopefully we can add someone to our mix soon. It might not be a major league deal, but it might be someone. one that excites us. ‘will bring in the camp.’
So far, the Tigers have spent $18.5 million this offseason on one-year contracts for two starting pitchers: left-handed. Matthew Boyd ($10 million) and right-handed Michael Lorenzen ($8.5 million). They took more than $5 million off their projected payroll by trading Soto and Jimenez because both relievers are eligible for arbitration.
the forecast payroll for 2023, according to Fangraphsis $121 million, with $32 million tied to the final season of Miguel Cabrerathe contract. In theory, the Tigers have the resources to be active in what’s left of the free agent market before spring training begins.
Reliever signs contract in minor league
The Tigers signed a right-handed reliever Zabala aneurysm to a minor league contract at the end of December. He pitched 2⅔ scoreless innings for the Miami Marlins last season with one walk and two strikeouts.
His fastball averaged just over 99 mph last season against the 11 batters he faced, but he lacks command.
Before making his MLB debut, Zabala bounced back in the minor leagues with the Seattle Mariners (2014-16), Los Angeles Dodgers (2017-18), Cincinnati Reds (2018-19), Chicago Phillies Philadelphia (2021) and the Marlins (2022).
The 26-year-old has a 5.71 ERA with 192 walks and 294 strikeouts in 304 innings (191 games) during his eight-year underage career.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter@EvanPetzold.
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