Could Tigers Find Next Center Fielder In Rule 5 Draft?

By: Will Burchfield
@burchie_kid

Since trading Cameron Maybin in November, the Tigers have had a question mark in center field. It appears they'll look for a solution in Thursday's Rule 5 Draft.

"We do plan to be aggressive in the Rule 5. As a matter of fact, while I'm here, I have my guys studying it right now," general manager Al Avila told MLB Network on Tuesday morning from the Winter Meetings in Maryland.

The Rule 5 draft allows teams to select unprotected players from rival organizations. Per MLB.com, "Players who first signed at age 18 had to be added to 40-man rosters within five seasons or they become eligible to be drafted by other organizations through the Rule 5 process. Players signed at 19 years or older have to be protected within four seasons."

The deadline for MLB teams to protect Rule-5 eligible players was Nov. 18. Of the various players who were left unprotected, 60 are on Team Top 30 prospects lists, per MLB.com. And of those 60 players, five are center fielders.

Avila suggested the Tigers could be eyeing one of them when Thursday's draft begins. They will select 20th overall.

"We don't have a clear picture yet for center field. We like JaCoby Jones but we feel that in our best interests and his best interests, he starts the year in Triple-A," Avila said. "But he's going to have a chance to compete. Tyler Collins will have a chance to compete.

"But then we have the Rule-5 draft, we have a possible trade that we can make to get a young center fielder, and we might have the free agent market later on where guys fall through the cracks where you maybe get a guy who's more cost-effective. So we have a lot of different avenues to look at that. It might not happen during the Winter Meetings. It might happen later on, it might happen through the Rule-5, so we're going to attack it from different angles."

Here are three center fielders the Tigers could target in the Rule 5 draft.

Mike Yastrzemski (Baltimore Orioles, No. 17 prospect)

Yastrzemski (the grandson of Carl Yastrzemski) hit .268 with a respectable .809 OPS over 33 games in Double-A last season. His numbers dipped when he was promoted to Triple-A, where he finished out the year.

Per MLB.com, "Yastrzemski has a compact left-handed swing that generates line drives across the whole field, but it's unlikely to translate to much power at higher levels. He has very good approach at the plate, with a strong knowledge of the strike zone that has translated to high on-base rates as a professional."

Tyrone Taylor (Milwaukee Brewers, No. 27 prospect)

Taylor spent the 2016 season in Double-A, where hit .232 with a .630 OPS over 134 games. He was the Brewers' second-round draft pick in 2012, after starring as a two-sport athlete in high school.

Per MLB.com, "Taylor is both athletic and toolsy, with an overall feel for the game that has long impressed evaluators given his multi-sport background. A right-handed hitter, he has good bat speed, advanced bat-to-ball skills and a knack for pounding the gaps."

Roemon Fields (Toronto Blue Jays, No. 29 prospect)

Fields posted pedestrian hitting numbers in Double-A last season, batting just .231 with a .591 OPS over 130 games. He did rack up 44 stolen bases, though, for a three-year minor league total of 138.

Per MLB.com, "(Fields) absolutely flies on both sides of the ball. He's a skilled bunter who understands how to put pressure on opposing defenses, and you'd be hard pressed to find another player who gets out of the left-handed box and down the line as well as Fields. His speed also gives him range for days in center field, where he's played exclusively during his pro career."

It bears mention that any player the Tigers select via the Rule 5 will likely need further time to develop at the minor league level. What's more, the Tigers aren't promised anything in Thursday's draft.

"I can't predict how it's going to go because you're not guaranteed to pick the guy you want," Avila said. "Maybe the guy we want goes before us, so the Rule-5 draft is an uncertainty. There's no guarantee there."

In terms of finding an immediate fix in center field, the organization might be better off perusing the free agent market.