Austin Meadows

The outfielder had been the subject of trade rumors much of the offseason. The return is infielder Isaac Paredes and a draft pick.

Paredes, a native of Mexico, originally was signed by the Cubs in July 2015, then traded to the Tigers, where he worked his way onto the Baseball America top 100 prospect lists for the 2019 and ‘20 seasons. They also got Tyler Glasnow, who turned into their top starter, and promising pitching prospect Shane Baz, who made an impressive debut last season, in exchange for Chris Archer. Follow our Tampa Bay Times sports team on Twitter and Facebook. After the deal was announced, Parker Meadows tweeted, “What just happened ... ” And he should be.” He was a pro the entire time.

Meadows (quadriceps) was traded to the Tigers on Monday in exchange for Isaac Paredes and a 2022 draft pick, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports.

Meadows was expected to open the year in Tampa Bay as one of the top designated hitter options, but he'll now board a plane to Detroit, where he'll share time at DH with Miguel Cabrera. It's also possible that he sees more time in the outfield, especially with Detroit's top prospect, Riley Greene (foot), expected to remain out until June before becoming the team's starting centerfielder. The 26-year-old is coming off the best season of his young career, slashing .234/315/.458 with 27 homers, 106 RBI and four stolen bases in 142 games.

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Riley Greene has yet to play a game in the Majors, but the Tigers just acquired an All-Star outfielder to help fill the void from his ...

While the Tigers traded from their infield depth, they now have a depth of Meadows in the outfield. Victor Reyes, who was in line to be the internal fill-in center fielder, moves back to a fourth outfielder role. Greene will likely need additional time in the Minor Leagues to get up to game speed. While the market for center fielders was thin, the Tigers got creative by adding Meadows, a corner outfielder. They were actively scouring the trade market since then, looking for an outfielder who could be a longer-term piece rather than just a fill-in while Greene is out. Detroit acquired slugger Austin Meadows from the Rays late Monday night for infielder Isaac Paredes and a Competitive Balance Round B Draft pick.

The Detroit Tigers on Monday acquired outfielder Austin Meadows in a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays, the team announced.

Paredes, 23, can play second, third and shortstop. Meadows, who turns 27 on May 3, is a .260 hitter with 70 homers and 225 RBIs in 375 career games over four seasons. Detroit is much improved after going 77-85 last year in its fifth consecutive losing season.

The cost was infielder Isaac Paredes, who has struggled to develop after early success as a prospect, as well as the Tigers Comp B round pick in the 2022 draft.

The Tigers have landed a lefty power bat here that will suddenly give A. J. Hinch a lot of options in deploying his roster. This really is a good fit for the Tigers. A certain managing editor here has been begging the Tigers to convert Paredes into trade currency for years now. Meadows is, of course, the elder brother of Tigers’ farm hand Parker Meadows. The elder Meadows was a first round pick, ninth overall, by the Pittsburgh Pirates back in 2013. Meadows is decidedly a fly ball hitter, posting a 53 percent fly ball rate in 2021. The left-handed hitting Meadows isn’t a particularly good defender, but he can mash. Well there was a fair bit of speculation over the weekend as to whether the Tigers would make a move to shore up the outfield with Riley Greene down for as much as two months or more.

We break down the Detroit Tigers surprising trade for outfielder Austin Meadows, who will immediately step into the middle of the lineup.

He maintained a strong approach at the plate, but his defense was average at best, and he just hasn’t hit the ball hard against MLB pitchers. Teams trade with Tampa Bay at their own peril, but it had become increasingly clear the Tigers had soured on Paredes as a piece for the future. He turns 27 at the beginning of May, and the Detroit Tigers will have him under team control for three full seasons. Two stints on the Injured List contributed to a rough 2020 season for Meadows, as he hit just .205 with four home runs in 36 games. Meadows continued to hit well for the next few months, and then Pittsburgh sent him to Tampa Bay in one of the most ill-fated trades in recent memory. Austin Meadows broke out in a big way in 2019.

He has the potential to be an All-Star player. That's how we see him,” baseball operations president Erik Neander says of Lowe.

“It’ll look a little different, but I think that fluidity will open up a lot opportunities for our group,” Neander said. So in any decisions we make, that’s not something where we’re looking to take steps back. “We’re in a spot where we’re looking to win this year. (Plus the net benefit of him being a much better defender than Meadows). Around a 2020 plagued by injury and illness, Meadows had been one of their most productive hitters, leading the team with 33 homers in 2019 and 106 RBIs last season. “We’d like to think so.

In the deal, the Tigers will acquire outfielder Austin Meadows in exchange for shortstop Isaac Paredes and a competitive balance-B pick in the 2022 MLB draft.

The Rays captured their second-straight East division crown with an 100-win season before losing in the ALDS to the Red Sox. Meadows spent the last three-plus seasons in Tampa Bay, where he developed into a burgeoning star. In return, the Rays will receive a versatile infielder in Paredes. The 23-year-old has played in just 57 games and has 193 plate appearances in the first two years of his career in the majors, but showed an ability to play all three infield positions when with the Tigers.