LAKELAND, Fla. – The Tigers’ flurry of activity ahead of their first Spring Training workout continued Tuesday with righty-hitting outfielder Austin Slater, who agreed to a Minor League contract with a non-roster invite to Major League camp, according to a source with knowledge of the agreement.
The signing, which has yet to be confirmed by the Tigers, adds to their experienced options for right-handed hitters against left-handed pitching, providing depth behind Jahmai Jones and beyond prospects Hao-Yu Lee (Detroit's No. 6 prospect) and Max Anderson (No. 9 prospect).
The 33-year-old Slater has a history of slaying southpaws across his nine-year MLB career. He spent seven-plus seasons with the Giants, overlapping with Scott Harris’ time as general manager there before the Tigers hired Harris as their president of baseball operations in 2022. For his career, Slater has slashed .267/.357/.430 against left-handed pitching, and owns an .851 OPS as a pinch-hitter. He is a lifetime .248/.336/.384 hitter with 45 homers and 184 RBIs in 699 games overall.
Slater bounced between five clubs over the last two seasons, but three of those team changes came in trades leading up to the Trade Deadline in 2024. He signed with the White Sox last winter for a bounceback season before going to the Yankees on July 30, the day before the '25 Deadline.
Though Slater’s bat will determine whether he can get back to the Majors with Detroit, his defensive skill adds to his versatility. He rates in positive territory in Defensive Run Value for his career, and he rated above average in outfield range in limited time last year.
The Tigers featured one of baseball’s most platoon-heavy lineups last season, batting with the platoon advantage 59.5% of the time -- sixth highest in MLB. Their right-handed hitters slashed .280/.357/.478 against left-handed pitching. Jones was a huge part of that; his emergence not only gave manager A.J. Hinch an impact hitter off the bench to counter lefty-lefty matchups, it made the versatile Andy Ibáñez expendable after he bounced between Detroit and Triple-A Toledo last year.