The Detroit Tigers made a little move after Thursday’s series win over the Minnesota Twins. They transferred Javier Báez to the 60-day IL to open a 40-man roster spot. That spot went to outfielder James Outman, who they claimed off of waivers from those very same Twins.
Báez suffered a high ankle sprain sliding into first base in a game back on April 28. His initial rehab work didn’t progress as the team had hoped, and he was shut down again for a little rest and a round of second opinions at the beginning
of June. With the move, Báez won’t be eligible to return until the end of June, but he wasn’t going to beat that timeline anyway.
As for the 29-year-old Outman, he’s a bit of an odd choice for a claim. One has to assume that the Tigers arelooking for a Jahmai Jones replacement, but Outman hits left-handed. You may remember him from a breakout 2023 season with the Los Angeles Dodgers in which he mashed 23 home runs in a part-time role.
Since that point, Outman’s extremely high strikeout rates have kept him bouncing up and down between the major leagues and the Triple-A level. The Twins deal reliever Brock Stewart to the Dodgers for Outman back at last summer’s trade deadline.
Outman is dangerous against hangers, but has really struggled to drive fastballs the past few years. He swings and misses a ton, and his strikeout rates have been over 40 percent the past two seasons. It’s hard to buy that the Tigers are going to unlock something that the Dodgers and Twins could not, but Outman is a solid corner outfielder who can handle center field, though not notably well, so at least he can handle himself in the field.
Outman is out of options, so he has to be added to the Tigers’ roster. The only sensible corresponding move is a DFA of Jahmai Jones, which would then move Wenceel Pérez and Matt Vierling more to the bench, to be used to pinch-hit again left-handed pitching in Jones’ place. Of course, to DFA Jones would’ve opened up a 40-man spot anyway, so all around this is a bit of a strange one.
We’ll just have to wait and see what corresponding move is to come.
