Friday night the Tigers opted to cut bait with catcher James McCann and pitcher Alex Wilson choosing not to tender either player contracts making them free agents this offseason.
The Tigers will non-tender catcher James McCann and right-hander Alex Wilson, I'm told.
— anthony fenech (@anthonyfenech) December 1, 2018
Not a whole lot about Wilson’s non-tender is being said other than he had a serviceable 2018 finishing with a 3.36 ERA and 1.05 WHIP in 61.2 innings.
As far as McCann goes, his first full season as the Tigers’ primary catcher could be seen as nothing more than a complete failure. In 2018, the 28-year-old slashed at .220/.267/.314 with eight home runs down from the career high 13 home runs and .253/.318/.415 slash line he managed while splitting time with Alex Avila in 2017. Moreover though after hitting the lights out of left-handed pitching prior to this past season, McCann was a huge disappointment against lefties in 2018 hitting .176/.229/.284.
Nonetheless, the Tigers will have some options at the position as the catching free agent pool is pretty plentiful this offseason with the likes of Yasmani Grandal, Wilson Ramos, Martin Maldonado, Jonathan Lucroy, Robinson Chirinos, Devin Mesoraco, Matt Wieters, Nick Hundley and Rene Rivera hitting the open market.
