DETROIT — The Tigers’ first big move of the offseason is the kind of trade that president of baseball operations Scott Harris has been hinting at for a while, leveraging the depth of their organization to address their attack. Detroit acquired veteran outfielder Marc Canha from Milwaukee on Saturday in exchange for a relief prospect Blake Holub.
Canha, a nine-year veteran who also spent time with the A’s and Mets, fits the Tigers’ offensive profile, providing double-digit home run power while dominating the strike zone. He owns a .364 on-base percentage and a 120 OPS+ since 2018. He hit .262 last season between New York and Milwaukee with 25 doubles, 11 homers, 62 RBIs, a .355 on-base percentage and a 108 OPS+. .
“Mark is a machine on base,” Harris said in a conference call with reporters. “He steps up to the plate with a plan. It eliminates bats. He never gives in to pitchers. He makes a ton of contacts. He’s been one of the biggest threats in our on-base game over the last four or five years. So I think he immediately makes us better.
Canha is a bit older than the rest of the Tigers roster; he will be 35 in February. But the Tigers hope to use this experience as an advantage for the rest of their club.
“We’re really happy with what it’s going to add to our clubhouse,” Harris said. “It’s no secret we will have a very young team next year. The addition of Mark, who is a character guy who brings grit and tenacity to our team, as a veteran who has seen a lot in this game, will only help our young guys adapt more quickly to the major leagues. I also think adding this type of bat with this caliber of approach at the plate can only help young players. I hope a lot of our younger hitters emulate this type of approach when they see it every day.
In return, Canha allows the Tigers to fill an offensive need without a long-term contract or testing a weak free agent market. His contract has an $11.5 million club option for next season, which the Brewers seemed unlikely to pick up, but the Tigers will.
The Tigers took advantage of the situation by acquiring Holub, a 15th-round draft pick in 2021 who emerged as a relief prospect this year while helping Double-A Erie win its first-ever NHL title. ‘East. The 6-foot-6 right-hander posted a 3.03 ERA and eight saves in 48 appearances between Erie and High-A West Michigan, striking out 76 batters in 65 1/3 innings. With two other big right-handed relievers at the same level, Tyler Mattison and RJ Petit, the Tigers felt they had the depth to make a deal.
“I didn’t want to trade Blake. He’s a talented young reliever who has a chance to pitch in a Major League bullpen in the future,” Harris said. “But in this game, you have to give up something to get something. I think in this case our player development group deserves a lot of credit here. They helped Blake take a big step forward this year. (Vice President of Player Development) Ryan Garko and his staff helped him get in the zone, his stuff improved and he put together a really great year that made him a valuable asset to help us get going. acquire Mark.
The Tigers will integrate Canha into a predominantly left-handed outfield group that includes Riley Greene, Kerry Carpenter, Parker Meadows and Akil Baddoo. Another left-handed outfielder, Austin Meadows, has one more year of team control but could be a non-tender candidate. The Canha trade could also allow Matt Vierling, another right-handed outfielder, to focus more on third base, where he played for much of the summer.
“I think it’s a little early in the offseason to really predict playing time. We have a lot of time left in the offseason to reshape our team,” Harris said. “I see my job as trying to make (manager AJ Hinch’s) life harder, trying to make his decisions a lot harder. I think we made things more difficult today, and I plan to keep it that way and we’ll let AJ put all the pieces together. He’s pretty good at it.
