The Detroit Tigers made a rather noteworthy transaction on Wednesday regarding their depth at outfield. They have agreed to a deal with the Tampa Bay Rays to acquire outfielder Mikie Mahtook in exchanged for a player to be named later.
The Tigers announced today that the club has acquired OF Mikie Mahtook from Tampa Bay in exchange for a PTBNL or cash considerations. pic.twitter.com/TWbyweCMGm
— Tigers PR (@DetroitTigersPR) January 18, 2017
As the Tigers PR team details above, to make room on the 40-man roster for Mahtook, Detroit has decided to cut loose with outfielder Anthony Gose, designating him for assignment.
To create room on the 40-man roster for Mahtook, the Tigers have designated for assignment the contract of outfielder Anthony Gose.
— Tigers PR (@DetroitTigersPR) January 18, 2017
Mahtook, who turned 27 this last November, was the No. 31 overall pick in the MLB Draft back in 2011 out of LSU. The Lafayette-native broke through to the majors in 2015 where he had a very solid rookie showing, albeit a small sample. In 41 games (115 plate appearances), Mahtook hit .295 while registering a .970 OPS, with nine home runs and 19 runs batted in. That production dipped severely this past season, however. Despite playing in more games (65) than his debut season, Mahtook in 2016 hit just under .200 and his OPS got chopped down to a measly .523. Mahtook in his parts of five minor league seasons has a career .272/.338/.410 slash line.
Defensively, he’s capable of playing all three outfield positions, but he’s played the bulk of his time in either center or left field (playing at least 200 minor league games at each position). He’s also played at least 30 games in all three positions of the outfield at the big league level and rather well, posting a .994 fielding percentage (174 total chances).
As for Gose, his brief tenure with Detroit will end, at least for the time being. After a very adequate campaign in 2015, his first season as a full-time center fielder, Gose struggled mightily with the Tigers this past season. He played in just 30 games and barely hit .200 before being optioned to the minors. It didn’t get much better there for the 26-year-old Gose. In 90 games between Triple-A Toledo and Double-A Erie, he hit just .203. Without question though the biggest thing surrounding Gose was when he and Mud Hens skipper Lloyd McClendon got into a verbal altercation during a game, resulting in his demotion to Erie.
Anthony Gose has never been outrighted, so he could stay in the organization if he clears waivers.
— Evan Woodbery (@evanwoodbery) January 18, 2017
