The Tigers made their first notable splash in the MLB free agent pool this afternoon signing lefty Matt Moore to a one-year deal. The news was first reported by Yahoo’s Jeff Passan who also suggested the deal could be worth in the $2-3 million dollar range.
Left-hander Matt Moore and the Detroit Tigers are in agreement on a one-year deal that guarantees him between $2 million and $3 million, pending a physical, sources tell Yahoo Sports.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) November 27, 2018
Moore is coming off a disastrous year in which the lefty went 3-8 with a 6.79 ERA, 1.657 WHIP and 5.25 FIP though 102.0 innings pitched with the Texas Rangers. Moore’s 2017 wasn’t much better when he finished the year with a 5.52 ERA and 1.532 WHIP.
However the struggles Moore has faced the past couple of season’s won’t mean much to the Tigers who are in a firm rebuilding mode and presumably more concerned with developing a bridge to their next group of high-end pitching prospects making their way through he minors. Moore is a low-risk, high-reward type of singing that the Tigers could potentially tap into given his past.
At one time, Moore was considered one of the top three best prospects in the game (alongside Bryce Harper and Mike Trout) according to Baseball America just prior to the 2012 season. This transcended to a 3.81 and 3.29 ERA in 2012 and 2013 respectively including an All-Star nod during the 13′ campaign. Unfortunately though for Moore his career hit a wall in 2014 when he underwent Tommy John surgery and was never the same since.
Still the Tigers have nothing to lose when it comes to signing Moore when you consider their pitching prospects are still developing and the potential the lefty has shown in the past. If Moore can tap into some of that potential, the Tigers could be the beneficiaries come the trade deadline.
