Detroit Tigers Reportedly 'Want To Give' Their High-Priced Flop Another Opportunity

The Detroit Tigers are poised to play their high-priced shortstop this season even with a potentially better option in place.

Aug 22, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Detroit Tigers shortstop Javier Baez (28) is seen during the eighth inning against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field | Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images

There's plenty of excitement surrounding this Detroit Tigers team even if the front office doesn't make that high-profile move that many expected to come this winter.

With a late-season charge that got them into the playoffs, they ended the record-setting run of seven straight American League Championship Series appearances by the Houston Astros when they swept them out of the playoffs.

Then, they were one win away from making their own ALCS appearance.

One thing that is the biggest question mark coming into the spring is who going to be the starting shortstop of the Tigers.

Ahead of the trade deadline, Detroit shipped Jack Flaherty to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for star prospects Trey Sweeney and Thayron Liranzo. When Javier Baez had to undergo surgery on his hip that caused him to miss the rest of the year, Sweeney was called up for his debut.

That was part of the spark that propelled the Tigers forward.

While Sweeney wasn't quite a head turner at the plate, he was better than Baez offensively and provided solid defense at the position.

With the recovery of Baez still ongoing and the timeline still a bit murky when it comes to his readiness for Opening Day, Sweeney would very well be the starting shortstop for Detroit. However, if the previous high-priced free agent is healthy, Evan Petzold of The Detroit Free Press says he is going to retake his place in the starting lineup.

"If the surgery fixed the problem, the Tigers will want to give Báez an opportunity to reclaim his role as their starting shortstop, especially since there isn't a clear-cut better option," he writes.

Maybe that shouldn't be too surprising, but considering this organization has a prime opportunity to pull themselves out of their prolonged rebuild if they can put together back-to-back successful seasons, they should be wanting to play their best players.

In 2024, Baez slashed .184/.221/.294 with six homers, 37 RBI and an OPS+ of 46 in 289 plate appearances.

Sweeney slashed .218/.269/.373 with four homers, 17 RBI and an OPS+ of 81 in 119 plate appearances.

Of course, this is professional sports and money is always a factor, so trying to see what Baez and his remaining $73 million can do is something that happens across Major League Baseball.

It will be interesting to see what happens if the slugger struggles again, though.

With Sweeney now a real option waiting to take over as the shortstop of the team's future, they might have no other choice than to go with the rising star instead of their flop of a free agency signing.