Kansas City Royals: Making the case, Tigers free agents

Ahead of Kansas City Royals free agency, let’s take a look at the Detroit Tigers’ upcoming free agents and decide whether the team should pursue any.

As we continue the “Kansas City Royals: Making the case” series we turn our attention to American League Central rival, the Detroit Tigers. Following a nice 11 year run from 2006-2016 that saw the Tigers make two World Series’ and three other playoff appearances, tough times have fallen upon Detroit.

The Tigers record the two seasons prior to 2019 were both at 64-98, their worst since losing 119 contests back in 2003. The Royals lost 103 games this season and still finished 11.5 ahead in the standings of the team from Motown to let you know how bad it was from them.

The home run leader for Detroit was Brandon Dixon with 15; yes you read that correctly, 15.  Hard to believe on a roster with players like Miguel Cabrera and Nicholas Castellanos.  The only player with enough at-bats to qualify for rating that had an OPS+ over 100 was Castellanos at 105 and he was traded to the Chicago Cubs before the deadline.

The pitcher with the most wins was Matthew Boyd with nine and it took him 32 starts to accomplish that.  Four hurlers lost double digits in games, including Boyd, and that was led by Spencer Turnbull who posted a 3-17 record.  In his defense, Turnbull’s FIP was 3.99 so many of his losses occurred due to poor run support.

These facts may make you believe there is little value left on a time full of again veterans and young players trying to prove they belong on the big league roster.  However, as Kansas City looks to improve with a new owner and manager taking over, finding pieces that can make them competitive in 2020 is important.

Reviewing the list of free agents for Detroit per Spotrac we will take a look to see if there are any players that would be a good fit for the 2020 Kansas City Royals.