Tigers acquire Austin Meadows, former All-Star outfielder, in trade with Rays

The Tampa Bay Rays have agreed to trade outfielder Austin Meadows to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for infielder Isaac Paredes and a competitive balance draft pick, the teams announced on Monday night.

Meadows, 27 come May, batted .234/.315/.458 (117 OPS+) with 27 home runs in 142 games last season. For his career, he’s hit .260/.333/.489 (124 OPS+) while racking up an estimated six Wins Above Replacement, according to Baseball Reference’s calculations. It should be noted that Meadows, who is under team control through the 2024 season, is not considered a good fielder in the corner outfield; nor is he much of a factor against left-handed pitching, suggesting he should be used in a platoon role.

The Tigers will ostensibly use Meadows in one of their corner outfield spots all the same, with Robbie Grossman occupying the other. Detroit will be without young outfielder Riley Greene for some time after he fractured his foot, leaving some combination of Akil Baddoo and Victor Reyes to play center field.

It should be noted that Meadows’ brother, Parker, is also a member of the Tigers organization. Likewise, Meadows is the Tigers’ latest notable addition since last season ended, joining a group that includes starters Eduardo Rodríguez and Michael Pineda, as well as shortstop Javier Báez and catcher Tucker Barnhart. 

As for Paredes, he celebrated his 23rd birthday in February. In 57 career big-league games, he’s batted .215/.290/.302 (65 OPS+) with two home runs while seeing action at three infield positions: second and third base, as well as shortstop. In 72 games at Triple-A last season, he hit .265/.397/.451 with 11 home runs.

The Rays had been expected to move at least one of their veteran outfielders this winter, be it Meadows, Kevin Kiermaier or Manuel Margot. In doing so, Tampa Bay has created room for Josh Lowe, who Rays radio broadcaster Neil Solondz tweets will be promoted ahead of Opening Day.