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What are Tigers’ options in center field?
- Updated: January 6, 2017
DETROIT — The quiet Tigers offseason, if it carries over into Spring Training, will leave a lot of familiar names in the lineup come Opening Day. That’s the upside of Detroit’s inability to find common ground on trades in the team’s long-term movement to get younger and leaner.
The downside could be seen in center field, where the Opening Day starter is anyone’s guess.
Last year’s primary center fielder, Cameron Maybin, is now an Angel, traded at the start of the offseason. That was expected to be the first step for general manager Al Avila in revamping the roster and trimming the payroll.
The follow-up deals obviously haven’t happened. But somewhere in those trades, Avila anticipated an opportunity to acquire a center fielder, either a young player to test out or a stopgap until prospect JaCoby Jones is deemed ready.
If they’re going to make one more run at contention with the current squad, that’s going to be a problem.
“We will look at all reasonable options,” Avila said Wednesday, “including in-house.”
The word “reasonable” should be noted. While the Tigers look like they’re keeping the band together, they still have payroll issues that limit what they can offer. Ben Revere signed with the Angels last month for a $4 million contract.
On the flipside, the in-house options all have some concerns:
Jones: While the athletic 24-year-old can play several positions, Tigers officials have identified him as a potential long-term answer in center, having shifted him there for the bulk of his 2016 season at Triple-A Toledo. Jones went 6-for-28 with three doubles in a late-season stint with the …