There have been rumors floating around that the Detroit Tigers are interested in Ian Desmond being their left fielder. Yes, you read that correctly: left fielder.
Desmond, a shortstop by nature, is one of the better power bats at his position (or former position?). He infamously turned down a $100 million extension from the Washington Nationals once upon a time, and now finds himself stuck in free agent purgatory as most teams loaded up on pitching to the tune of $1.2 billion.
What does this mean for Detroit? The Tigers are solid up the middle, so Desmond doesn’t fit. I have no clue if he’d be a decent left fielder, and when you think about paying someone $80+ million over a minimum of five years, you might want to make sure he’s serviceable at a new position. Sure, the Tigers could use a little more thump up and down the order, but when I take a real hard look at Desmond’s splits, I don’t see him being a player that ages well. Do the Tigers want to be stuck with that kind of money on the books for a guy who has steadily declined in producing the number that they need most?
In 2015, Desmond put up an ISO of .151, which is below the league average, saw his strikeout rate continue to climb at an alarming rate to 29.2 percent. His 83 wRC+ is also a four-year low, and while below-average offense isn’t necessarily a death knell for shortstops (he ranked 10th), it’s a whole different story with left fielders, where Desmond would have ranked 15th out of 16 qualifying players.
All this tells me that he’s on a decline, and he’ll be on the wrong side of 30 in just one season.
The Tigers could use some power, but wouldn’t Justin Upton or Yoenis Cespedes make much more sense? They’re natural fits in the OF and are guys who I think will age a little better. Both of their markets continue to decline too so if I’m Al Avila, I’m going after one or the other.
Desmond is going to get paid by someone, and I believe that someone will end up being extremely unhappy. The Tigers must avoid that scenario by targeting an actual outfielder instead.
