Tigers Get Adam Everett On Cheap Deal

Update (6:47 PM): Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports tweeted that Everett signed for $1.55M. That's a pretty small amount for a guy who has established himself as one of the best defenders in the game at shortstop, especially when you see that guys like Alex Cora got $2M, and a year after Cesar Izturis and Aaron Miles got two-year deals for $5M and $4.9M, respectively. It's a pretty solid deal for a guy that's sure to be a good defender at shortstop, even if he's sure to give back much of the value with his bat.

According to the Detroit Tigers' Twitter account, the team has re-signed shortstop Adam Everett to a one-year deal. Unless the Tigers add another option, it's likely that they'll go into next season with the tandem of Everett and Ramon Santiago dominating time at shortstop.

Everett, 33 in February, is regarded as one of the best defensive shortstops in recent memory, but he's also one of the least productive everyday hitters in the game as well. Everett has a career line of .245/.297/.351, and he's consistently posted worse numbers in the past three seasons. He's likely good for a wOBA in the .265-.280 range over a full season, he's posted a mark in that range in each of the past four seasons. He's essentially a -20 run hitter over the course of a full season.

While he's clearly a liability offensively, he's also shockingly good on defense, supported by numerous scouting institutions and defensive metrics. He won the Fielding Bible Award as the best defensive shortstop in the game in 2006, and has a startling +18.3 UZR/150 in 792 games. He's clearly one of the better defenders in the game, with smooth hands, a strong arm, good instincts and impressive range, and he's never posted a UZR/150 below 11.0 in a season with over 40 games.

The terms of the deal aren't known yet, but presumably Everett won't command much more than $2-3M guaranteed, making him a solid investment considering that you're essentially assured to have one of the best defenders in the game at shortstop. He's certainly not ideal considering that he's one of the worst hitters in the majors, but the Tigers could use the quality defense up the middle and they have Santiago as an alternative if they can't withstand Everett's poor offensive efforts.

There's pretty much zero upside to the deal for Detroit, but knowing that at the very least you're going to be getting top-notch defense from the most important position on the field is nice, and the cost to do so is presumably relatively low. Unless the Tigers spent more than $2-3M on this deal, then it's a nice move for them, especially when you consider that Alex Cora got $2M.