If it was a surprise to some people, it wasn't to A.J. Hinch. When Tigers owner Chris Ilitch voiced his intention this week to start spending again, potentially as soon as this winter, Hinch said this was always part of the plan.
"I’m glad Chris went out and said it," Hinch said Thursday on the Stoney & Jansen Show. "I know it issues a challenge to Al (Avila) and me to figure out how the puzzle gets put together. There’s some obvious places for us to explore, and there’s also maybe some creative ways for us to keep this athletic team together and keep this brand of baseball that we’re playing together and hopefully get a big piece that can take us to the next level."
The most obvious place is shortstop. And the biggest piece might be 26-year-old superstar Carlos Correa who played under Hinch for five seasons in Houston. Hinch was Correa's manager when he won Rookie of the Year in 2015, when he made his first All-Star Game in 2017 and when the Astros won three AL pennants and the 2017 World Series. Is a reunion in the cards?
Depends. It depends on whether Correa can be lured away from Houston. It depends on what he sees in the Tigers. And ultimately, it depends on how much Ilitch is willing to spend. There's an easy comparison here in superstar shortstop Francisco Lindor, who just signed a 10-year, $340 million deal with the Mets entering his age-27 season. Correa turns 27 in September.
The only difference is that the Mets locked up Lindor before he could test free agency. That ups the bill. Correa, who ranks fourth among big-league shortstops in (FanGraphs) WAR this season, is nonetheless sure to command at least $25 million per year on the open market. Too much, too soon for the Tigers? Perhaps. But Ilitch was asked specifically about pursuing 'high-priced free agents,' and he said "undoubtedly" that could start this winter.
"Now, he says that and it immediately rushes everybody to the highest-paid free agents in baseball, and I don’t know where that’s going to be and where they’re going to fit," Hinch said. "But I know Chris wants to establish a winner, and we are close to having a winning team.
"We’re still under .500, we still have a lot of work to do, we still have a couple of young prospects that we can’t wait to get to the big leagues. But we do need to supplement those guys with some talent from outside the organization, and that’s been very consistent since the first day I was here."
There will be a number of big-time shortstops on the market this offseason beyond Correa, and maybe the supply helps suppress the price. Unlikely. If the dollars soar, the Tigers probably aim instead for a stopgap in someone like Andrelton Simmons. But they have to fill this hole eventually. And if Ilitch is serious about pursuing the big fish, this winter's the right time to cast his first line.