This afternoon while the Detroit Tigers were wrapping up their Grapefruit League game against the Philadelphia Phillies, reports came out that RF Steven Moya was placed on outright waivers. The move came after a bevy of moves this morning to trim the roster down to 25 — 26, with J.D. Martinez on the disabled list.
Moya has been a guy that has been on the Tigers radar for a few years, who possess tons of pop, but not a lot else. Last season in 31 games with the club he had 91 at-bats and 38 strikeouts to go along with 5 home runs and 11 RBI. With the injury to J.D. Martinez, Moya had the opportunity to compete for his spot, however, he’s hitting just .192 on the spring, with 1 home run, 5 RBIs, and 11 strikeouts in 52 at-bats.
Check that Steven Moya note. 2nd source says Moya was not placed on release waivers. He's on outright waivers to get him to minors
— Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) March 29, 2017
By placing him on waivers, Moya could be picked up by another team that would be willing to give him an opportunity, however, if he should clear them he will again wind up in a minor league clubhouse to start his 2017 season.
Maybe it was just a matter of circumstance for Moya, playing behind guys like Torii Hunter and J.D. Martinez, never really giving him the opportunity to breakthrough Toledo; or maybe it was just too much hype to begin with. We have never really seen the type of “can’t miss” stuff that has always surrounded Moya, and should he go to another team, maybe we’ll be wishing he’d had been a Tiger longer, or maybe we won’t. Either way, with him being put on waivers this afternoon, the Tigers now have 2 more roster spots they have to make decisions on. Trimming the number from 28 to 26. Opening Day is now 5 days away, expect those moves to come quickly as the team heads north from Florida to Chicago to begin the regular season and their push for the playoffs.
Dumb move , but Illitch’s let Holland give away a few good players through waivers so why not let Avila do the same when will they learn ? Having Mahtook and Collins who can’t hit their back-up catchers weight is a better option , wrong !