Former Boston Red Sox pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez has agreed to a 5 year/$77M deal with the Detroit Tigers. The 28 year old left hander went 13-8 with 4.74/1.39 ERA/WHIP splits in 2021 with Boston.
Rodriguez instantly becomes one of the more seasoned arms in the Tigers rotation with 6 seasons (he took 2020 off due to complications due to COVID) already under his belt. While not spectacular, his 4.16 career ERA is serviceable and he brings the ability to eat up innings to a Detroit team that had difficulty getting deep into games with their starting pitching last season.
The Tigers fielded the 6th youngest roster in 2021, and are likely to be on the younger side of the ledger in 2022 as well. Rodriguez is expected to slide into a core which includes Skubal, Mize, Manning and Boyd.
After another largely forgettable season where the Tigers went 77-85 and finished 3rd in the AL Central, Detroit appears poised to be one of the more active teams this offseason. Having already acquired Tucker Barnhart from the Reds, Detroit is also rumoured to be in the market for a premier shortstop as well.
Names such as Carlos Correa, Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, Javier Báez, Trevor Story and Chris Taylor have all been linked to the Tigers as the club begins to gear up for 2022. While the Rodriguez signing is nice, don’t be surprised if GM Al Avila has a few more tricks up his sleeve as the free agent market begins to develop ahead of spring training.