Austin Meadows, one of the American League’s RBI leaders last season, was acquired by the Detroit Tigers on Monday in a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays.
Detroit sent infielder Isaac Paredes and a competitive balance round B pick in the 2022 draft to Tampa Bay in exchange for Meadows, 26.
The move comes a day after Meadows exited a spring training game due to soreness on both quadriceps. Meadows told reporters on Monday that he was optimistic for the Rays’ season opener on Friday against the visiting Baltimore Orioles. The Tigers also open on Friday, against the visiting Chicago White Sox.
Meadows knocked in a career-best 106 runs last year, which ranked seventh in the AL. He hit .234 with a .315 on-base percentage, a .458 slugging percentage and 27 homers in a career-high 142 games.
Meadows also set a Rays franchise record in 2021 with 19 game-winning RBI, the top total in the majors.
An All-Star in 2019, when he hit a career-high 33 homers, Meadows has a career .260/.333/.489 batting line with 70 homers and 225 RBIs in 375 games. A first-round draft pick of the Pirates in 2013, he broke into the majors by playing 49 games for Pittsburgh in 2018. He went to the Rays in the Chris Archer trade on July 31 that year.
It remains to be seen where he will fit in with the Tigers. Detroit appeared set on an outfield of Akil Baddoo, Victor Reyes and Robbie Grossman with Miguel Cabrera at designated hitter before the Monday deal.
Paredes, 23, hit .208/.306/.319 with one homer and five RBIS in 23 games for the Tigers last year. In two major league seasons, both with the Tigers, he has a .215/.290/.302 hitting line with two homers and 11 RBIs in 57 games.
