The Tigers are signing outfielder Manuel Margot, according to a report from Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The Athletic’s Cody Stavenhagen, meanwhile, reports that it’s a major league deal for Margot. Financial terms have not yet been disclosed.
Margot, 30, was released by the Brewers yesterday after signing a minor league deal with the club last month. Margot posted a decent .250/.314/.375 slash line in camp with Milwaukee but was squeezed off of a roster already populated with four outfielders, with a fifth on the injured list ready to join the club when healthy. That left Margot to pursue greener pastures, which he’s now found in Detroit. The Tigers’ outfield mix has been ravaged by injuries this spring, with center fielder Parker Meadows and right fielder Matt Vierling both set to open the season on the injured list. For a team that was already in search of an additional right-handed bat, that made adding Margot something of a no-brainer for the Tigers.
Obvious a fit for the club’s needs as Margot might be, however, that doesn’t necessarily make him a slam-dunk solution. After all, the 30-year-old is coming off a career worst campaign in Minnesota where he slashed .238/.289/.337 in 343 trips to the plate across 129 games. Margot split time between all three outfield spots last year, but looked overmatched according to defensive metrics with a -4 Outs Above Average overall and negative numbers at all three outfield spots. That may suggest he’s ill equipped to contribute at least in center field on a regular basis at this point in his career, although Margot’s outstanding defensive numbers with the Rays and Padres over the years could easily justify giving him an opportunity to prove himself capable of handling center once again.
Wherever he ends up in an outfield mix that figures to include Zach McKinstry, Kerry Carpenter, and Wenceel Perez in addition to incumbent left fielder Riley Greene, Margot will need to post stronger numbers with the bat this year. While beating last year’s 79 wRC+ shouldn’t be an especially tall order, the most important piece of the puzzle for Margot this year figures to be getting back to hitting well against lefties. Margot is a career .279/.338/.415 hitter against southpaws, but last season he posted just a .269/.322/.391 line against lefties. Getting that number back to above average would be a huge boon for a heavily left-handed Tigers lineup that posted a wRC+ of just 88 against southpaws last year.
The addition of Margot to the fold appears to leave just one open spot on the club’s position player staff headed into Opening Day. Slugger Spencer Torkelson, outfielder Justyn-Henry Malloy, and non-roster utility man Jahmai Jones appear to be the final three candidates for that spot as things stand, with Torkelson standing out as the likely favorite given that both Carpenter and Torkelson himself are tentatively expected to get looks in the outfield as the Tigers attempt to piece together production without Meadows and Vierling in the fold. Torkelson lost his job as the club’s incumbent first baseman to Colt Keith when the Gleyber Torres signing pushed Keith to first base, but Torkelson’s right-handed bat offers more big league success and a higher ceiling than those of either Malloy or Jones.
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