5:10PM: Kelly’s club option is worth $3.5MM plus incentives, as per Evan Petzold. This is less than the $4.275MM Kelly made in 2023, and less than the minimal raise Kelly would’ve received in arbitration, though it can assumed that Kelly can probably make up that salary if he hits his incentive bonuses.
4:11PM: The Tigers’ deal with Kelly contains a club option for the 2024 season, according to The Athletic’s Cody Stavenhagen (via X). The option essentially formalizes the arbitration control Detroit already held over Kelly’s services, and forces the Tigers to make a quicker decision on Kelly’s offseason fate.
3:26PM: The Tigers have officially announced Kelly’s signing and Haase’s DFA, with the added detail that Kelly has signed a Major League contract.
3:04PM: Carson Kelly looks to have signed with the Tigers, as Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press (X link) was the first of several Tigers beat writers to note that Kelly was on field with the team prior to today’s game. Petzold later reported that the Tigers have created roster space for Kelly by designating catcher/outfielder Eric Haase for assignment.
The Diamondbacks DFA’ed and then released Kelly last week after the catcher cleared waivers, making the 29-year-old a free agent for the first time in his pro career. Formerly a top-100 prospect during his time in the Cardinals’ farm system, Kelly was one of the centerpieces of the trade that sent Paul Goldschmidt to St. Louis, as the D’Backs were hoping Kelly could be their catcher of the future. A strong 2019 season implied that Kelly was breaking out, yet the backstop’s numbers have eroded since he suffered a fractured wrist in June 2021.
Over 618 plate appearances since that wrist fracture, Kelly has hit only .216/.286/.337, translating to a 72 wRC+. It had already appeared as if the D’Backs had moved on at the catching position when they acquired Gabriel Moreno last winter, but Kelly’s playing time was further erased when his right forearm was fractured after being hit by a pitch in Spring Training. As a result, Kelly didn’t make his 2023 debut until June 12, and had only a .580 OPS this season before Arizona cut ties.
The Tigers could view Kelly as a change-of-scenery candidate, and is controlled through the 2024 season via his final year of arbitration eligibility if Detroit opts to tender him a contract. For now, Kelly is ticketed for backup duty since Jake Rogers is having a solid enough year to establish himself as Detroit’s regular starter behind the plate. For much of the season, the Tigers have given Rogers roughly twice as many starts as Haase, with the versatile Haase also getting some work as a left fielder.
A Detroit native, Haase hit .242/.291/.451 with 36 homers over 732 PA in 2021-22, with his power helping generate a 106 wRC+ despite the lackluster average and OBP. Haase was one of the few Tigers players who delivered above-average offense during their disastrous 2022 season, but his own bat went cold this year, as Haase hit only .201/.246/.284 with four home runs over 282 PA. A big dropoff in hard contact led to Haase’s extended slump, and it now might cost him his spot in the organization.
Haase turns 31 in December, though he still has all of his arbitration years, making him controllable through the 2026 season. That control, his past power numbers, and Haase’s ability to play in left field (though the defensive metrics don’t like his glovework on the grass in 2023) could get him a look from another team on a waiver claim, especially with catching depth being even trickier to find post-trade deadline.
Haase is out of minor league options, so the Tigers had to go the DFA route in order to move him off the active roster. Because he was outrighted in the past, Haase has the right to elect free agency and decline an outright assignment to the Tigers’ farm system if he clears waivers.
Enjoyed Haase while he was here, especially since he’s a hometown guy.
That said, I like the move. If there’s a chance Kelly can turn it around why not give him a try?
Haase has been an absolute dumpster fire this year. .200 hitter, few walks, low power and average defense at best. Certainly not what he was two years ago.
True, but why replace him with Carson Kelly?
This is a hail mary type move. Kelly is an average to bad catcher who had one decent year. I had to laugh when I read the tigers were going to “fix his catching”. This is a probably a slight downgrade, but I guess he’s a few years younger than Haase, so the Tigers will have that going for them? There is a reason that the Dbacks cut Kelly (whom they gave EVERY opportunity to succeed, since he was the last tangible piece of the awful Goldschmidt trade), and the tigers will discover this with time.
@DK, they likely already had decided Haase was not in their plans for the future. So giving Kelly a chance to audition during the remainder of this lost season is actually a wise move. If they like what they see they exercise next years option, if not they don’t. If Haase was going to b gone anyways why not give an audition to a potential replacement.
Because the Tigers have decided that Haase isn’t in their future plans. Kelly was available, has potential to be an upgrade. So Tigers six weeks to see what they can do with him. Things work out they are set at catcher for next season. If not, they add catcher to their off season shopping list.
Makes sense, Doc. Here’s hoping the kid turns it back on ….
Kind of surprised they didn’t take a run at Joey Bart.
You mean last year. He was the only player that didn’t slump last year. He was a better C than given credit for in Detroit, and was even penciled in as the starter this year. This doesn’t even give the Tigers more control as Haase had 3 yrs and Kelly only has 1. Just like when he cut Candelario, HARRIS is not looking at the bigger picture. He only sees the current production, and not the player and his capabilities. I’m sure Haase will be valuable to his next team.
He didn’t cut Candelario, he just didn’t sign him after he had a very terrible season, which is too bad. Haase has offered nothing offensively this year unfortunately. You seem to arguing for keeping last years low impact hitters around a lot with the Castros and Candy, based on this years results, and you’re doing the same with Haase. None of them were appealing to keep around last year…Harold had a good year but he wouldn’t be playing on a good team. I like Haase but his time was up. You always say you want Maton gone but besides his avg all his other stats are better than Haase’s. GM’S don’t gave crystal balls and trying out new players to find hidden gems is how the Tigers got Haase for two good years.
Keep your eye on the ball, round and round we go… ok which shell is the ‘might be good’ player under? What a way to run a team! Hope, could be, diamond in the rough,all great strategies. 2023’s version of Eddie Gaedel cannot be far behind.
Candelario was a money saving move. On a team with a below average payroll, they were worried about $8 mil. I fully expect this team to go all in on the young guys next year and save that entire Miggy contract. They might sign a veteran pitcher for a 1 year 10 mil deal like they did Boyd. Maybe hope they can flip him for a singles hitting middle infield prospect like they did Lorenzen.
They will save
Miggy $32 mil
Boyd $10 mil
Cisnero $2+ mil
ERod will probably walk $18 mil
Austin Meadows probably gets cut loose $4+ mil
That’s $66 mil they save. I doubt they spend $20 mil
Javy goes up from 22 mil to 25 mil so there’s 3 mil of that 20 mil.
The Tigers are going to be run financially like the Rays… too bad they don’t have the baseball acumen like the Rays.
But the Tigers player development seems to be trending up. Look at Kerry Carpenter, a bona fide big leaguer who wasn’t even among their top 30 prospects. Now Justice Bigbie is seemingly following the same path.
Didn’t both of them seek help outside the organization? I thought for sure they went to Driveline in the offseason.
Ow!
Why are so many MLB catchers hitting so poorly this year?
Maybe had more off season training to work with the pitch clock changes and with how valuable framing has become, I can see programs focused a bit more on those aspects causing offensive development to fall a bit behind.
Granted Tigers haven’t really had a bat catcher since Pudge tbh (who also played great defense.)
Why do catchers as a position hit so poorly year after year?
@in nurse follars – Because if they are great hitters, they are often moved to a different position at some point to keep their bat in the lineup and reduce injuries (among other similar reasons)
Some examples that spring to mind include Bryce Harper, Carlos Delgado, Joey Votto, but there are many more
Craig Biggio
Kelly is hitting .226 on the year and is a career .223 hitter. He is not hitting particularly poor for the year, it is actually slightly above avg performance for him.
Kelly will be a solid backup option for Rogers. Haase has seen his numbers steadily decline after a breakout 2021, with Catching as thin as it is league wide he’ll land somewhere probably in no time
Haase should get picked up… he’s having a down year, but still halfway decent. He has improved his defense. He has caught 6 shutouts this year including a no hitter. I would guess Astros.
Haase in ’21 and ’22 had an OPS over 100.
Harris gave up on Candelario after he had 2 years over 100… now he’s giving up on Haase. Tigers only had 2 catchers all season. So many teams have filtered through multiple catchers. Harris doesn’t know what he had.
Jeimer Candelario had a poor offensive and defensive year in 2022 and was not worth the amount he would’ve had to been paid. I’m going by my ever diminishing memory but I think it was over $8M. I doubt WSN viewed him as a long term piece either.
Candelario OPS+ was 81 in 2022 after 2 years where he was Tiger of the Year. One bad season and he’s dumped… sends a bad message especially when no one produced and they had no plan B to play 3B. I could see it if you turn around and sign someone or make a deal for a 3B… Gorman… Kim… Justin Turner… Longoria… Max Muncy… make a deal for one of the Reds or Orioles infielders. There were options available. They chose to go with winging it.
I believe Maton was Plan B, unfortunately it just has not worked out so far.
They chose to go young and see what they had instead of wasting money on vets like Longoria or Turner. Spending money like that would have been a waste, given that it was doubtful they could compete this year. Kreidler bombed and Maton hasn’t been great either. McKinistry and Ibanez have had spurts but were never going to be long term solutions, just like Candelario was not going to be. Not every move works out but guys kike Keidler and Maton could still end up being useful. Gorman would have been nice but St Louis would have wanted a lot for him. He didn’t have a great year last year either and look how this year has gone for him. The best solution for 3B next year and beyond is Colt Keith.
Arb eligible players need to play well or get out. You don’t just get to collapse and have a terrible season if you are a veteran on a one year contract. Haase and Candy both did that too late in their Tigers tenure.
$8M is a lot of money. Marching out Nick Maton every game is inexcusable.
If Maton was plan B… then that was a terrible decision. He played a grand total of 2 games in the majors at 3B before going to Detroit. He played 22 games at 3B in the minors.
Colt Keith? The guy they are playing at 2B in AAA? They are doing exactly what the DD and Avila team did with Nick. Bounce him around and he has multiple positions on his resume but he is terrible at all of them. They need to stop playing around with moving players around and have them master a position so they know where they will play. I understand moving guys like Wenceel Perez around… he wasn’t all that great at short. But Keith looked like a perfect 3B. Strong arm… great range… let him settle in at 3B.
Soon to be mlb backup catcher turned talking head on some broadcast team or network.
Or a future Tigers manager. Hinch had similar stats.
Wow did not see this one coming with Haase. Sorry to see him getting axed as he’s a hometown success story but the reality is that he has not hit in 2023 anywhere near we was in21 or22. Wishing him the best at wherever he ends up landing
That’s too bad. I really liked Haase but he has been getting worse all season and his power has disappeared. I was hoping they might take a look at Kelly and see what he can offer with a change if scenery.
His main (only?) calling card was his power. And that went the way of the McDonald’s dollar menu.
So you’re saying his power increased by 25%? 😉
Well played, sir/ma’am.
@palebros, lmao
Fing amazing, Harris DFAs Haase but Maton is still on the roster, as is Baez. Eric has sucked all season but hopefully he takes a minor league assignment and gets another chance next year. Good guy just isn’t hitting, but then that’s the theme in Detroit anymore. Wish him luck finding a new home
Haase has been worse than both. Power stats, walks, OPS et al. He was a nice minor league find out of Cleveland who worked out for a while. Hopefully he catches on somewhere and turns things around.
As is Baddoo, as is Nevin, as is Diaz, Short,Kreidler. All Mendoza line strap hangers. They do little to move the train, but are great at taking up space and riding along.
Why not give Sands or Papierski a shot?
Baddoo and Short have been decent this year. Not great, but good enough to keep their roster spots.
Baddoo just turned 25, was rushed to the bigs…he is not going to be an all star but he has tools that can help a team win games.
If you have a way for the Tigers to get rid of Baez I would like to hear it.
Watch the Giants GM Farhan start sniffing around Haase as he is a multi position player and his contract/control numbers are attractive
Imagine the new faces in Detroit if we DFA’d everyone that sucked! Greene, Carpenter and Verling would be the only holdovers
/Spencer Torkelson has entered the chat
It would be worth doing if Hinch, who sucks, can be DFA’d
I’ve been watching the Tigers since Billy Martin was manager. AJ Hinch is an outstanding manager. That being said, I can’t see the wisdom of Nick Maton playing everyday.
Tork and Rogers too.
Torkelson has an OPS over 100!!!! Finally!!!!! The guy was a strike out machine all year long (and a half) and one great month and he’s earned a spot for next year. Good job Tork.
Tork scares me a bit. It seems many of his HRs have cone in multi HR games. I haven’t got around to looking for a common denominator in those games, but I suspect in many there’s a particular pitch or something from those games pitchers he favored. Which if that is the case, it is something other teams clearly will clue in on and would mitigate if Tigers ever get to a point where other teams view them as a threat. Hopefully tho it’s just been a coincidence and not a weakness that can be exploited.
I had much higher hopes of Tork being a more complete hitter. Hopefully he grows into one, but he seems to have a large swing with little room for adjustment as of now.
Must have been a hell of a month to lead the team in 2B, HR, RBI, W, barrel %, hard hit %, and exit velocity. The last 3 he is in the top 9% of the entire league
Barrel, hard hit and exit velocity… cool stats brah… You must love Daniel Vogelbach too… he has great “means absolutely nothing” advanced stats. He has been in the league 8 years… one day… I tell ya… one day… LOL
I do believe Tork will figure it out. He had a really good May then a great August… nothing like what Miggy has done throughout his entire career… but fans forget these things.
The thing that gets me is Tiger fans get all excited about guys like Malloy and Meadows and every team has guys in their system like them.
Dang… I was just looking at Steven Moya’s exit velos… 92.7. Hard Hit % of 43. Dang, he’s going to break out one day.
I haven’t forgotten Mickey Lolich, Mark Fidrych, Rusty Staub, Ron LeFlore or Lou Whiaker and Allan Trammel but it’s completely irrelevant for the year 2023. Miguel Cabrera is no longer a MLB caliber player regardless his past.
Spencer Torkelson is a good defender and gradually improving his hitting He’s not the weakest link
Miggy is a major leaguer. He outhits many players younger than him.
A good defending 1B… hmmm… he should have been in AAA learning how to hit. Tigers should have signed Josh Bell… flipped him at the deadline for a shortstop prospect like the Guardians did. Then call Tork up.
But that’s what real GM’s do.
Half the things you say (like this) make no sense, the other half do though. Batting .500 is unheard of in baseball 😉
It’s a large sample size considering that everyone is younger than Miguel Cabrera. Other than Nick Maton, who is Miguel Cabrera out hitting?
Carson Kelly isn’t any better…
Watch the Giants GM Farhan start sniffing around Haase as he plays multiple positions and his contract/control issues are attractive.
Another MLB player who’s never come close to sniffing his 2019 juiced ball stat’s. Only his were nothing to write home to mama about. Perplexing move ? Who knows what’s going on in Detroit as there is not a lot of inside baseball published. I’m sure a lot of guys on Detroit’s roster could get this kind of treatment down the road. Save for Dombrowski’s gifts to Detroit, we don’t see a lot of trading partners coming forward, they still have E rod after all.
We just seen a nice interview with Hasse’s wife on T.V. the other day in Boston, I’m sure she’s probably sick to her stomach at this turn of events. I feel bad for her and her family to be treated like this. This stinks to high heaven. Poor showing again by this front office. After the botched no trade of E rod, now this. God only knows how September first will be handled. Not impressed with this move.
Let me correct that for you. Other than Dombrowski, HARRIS can’t find anyone who will trade with him.
Maybe no one wants what the Tigers would like to trade.
Yeah, that probably IS more to the point… ….
I think it’s more like Harris is way over his head. He could have dealt ERod, Cisnero, Shreve, Haase. Who can’t make a deal for a backup catcher or a solid starter or a decent reliever at the deadline? Those types are the easiest to deal. Trying to dump a old high salary player is very difficult… Cohen traded 2 of them.
Harris has shown he has no clue. But it’s the Tigers. The Tigers will let him flop around for a few years and slowly figure out what to do. It will be a team loaded with Avila prospects and Harris will get all the praise for how he revamped the farm. LOL, what a joke.
Maybe some Owners have Blacklisted Illich & the Tigers.
Even Avila had a hard time finding trade partners.
Dodgers will sign Hause. I read somewhere he was included in the Rodriguez trade, so they must have had an interest in him too.
Haase was terrible, time to go. Sorry but guys can’t just stay on MLB ball clubs because they are nice and have families. As a Tigers fan I am done with accepting miserable performances from 30 year olds, the team keeping them, and then wondering why the Tigers are terrible every year. Haase was terrible, time to go.
Sad.
Yes, it was, indeed, quite sad. But it had to happen ….
Good move and the right move. Like Haase, but you lose nothing with Kelly and have the potential to gain something. Haase is what he is. Always been a journeyman and a 4A-type player. Kelly was a respectable prospect who has had better days and maybe we can unlock something with him.
Even if they reject the club option, they still have arbitration control over Kelly. They would still have to nontender him. So it doesn’t necessarily mean an earlier decision.
No. Both decisions would be due five days after the end of the World Series.
The tender deadline this year is November 17th.
Loved Haase. He was one of a very few players in Detroit who actually showed he cared the past few years (Tarik Skubal was one other). I understand the move, but hope they can convince him to go the minors route and work his way back up. He has a few more years of control anyway.
I’ll miss Haase, I wish him well.
I like Haase and rooted hard for him, but this was clearly coming. On the other hand, is this a case of “the grass is always greener”? Is there much difference at this point between Haase and Kelly?
I know in hindsight some people are complaining that by non-tendering Candelario, the Tigers missed out on a possible bounceback season. But they would have had to pay him $5+m to sign him and, if they played him, potentially blocked some younger players.
But Haase was just becoming arb-eligible. I don’t know what the cost of signing him would be (I assume others have a better idea) but I’m sure it’s a couple million tops. At whatever price point that is, it seems worth a coinflip that he has a better 2024 coming. He’s clearly not, even at the decent version of his production, not a super-long term piece in Detroit, at C, 1B, LF, or DH. But he’s cheap, controllable, and would have value in trade with decent production.
As it is, someone else gets him supercheap and gets to make that reasonable bet.
The Tigers are not mathematically eliminated.
None are mathematicians
None are Carpenters’ wife
Don’t know how it all got started
I don’t know what they’re doin’ with their lives
But me, I’m still on the road
Headin’ for another joint
We always did feel the same
We just saw it from a different point
Of view……
Watch Eric sign with the Reds and excel in yet another episode of “What A Difference A Ballpark Makes”…
In 2003, DD went with a youth movement. Got rid of all the aging veterans and started a bunch of youngsters. If Harris would have done that, he wouldn’t be trading for guys like Maton, Veirling and Sands… he wouldn’t have signed a bunch of DFA guys… he would have gone with Wenceel Perez at 2B… Parker Meadows in the OF… Malloy in the OF…. Keith at 3B. Starters like Faedo, Brieske, Olson, Flores would have been in the rotation instead of Boyd and Lorenzen.
That’s how a veteran GM rebuilds a team.
By playing their whole AAA team?????? That’s your solution?
Nothing to loose
Maybe he Haase a chance to catch on with another team?
I loved Hasse. But, it’s time not to think with your heart, and give the next man up a chance. Good luck Eric !