Akil Baddoo is staying in the Detroit Tigers organization.
The 26-year-old outfielder cleared waivers after being designated for assignment last week and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Toledo, according to Chris McCosky of The Detroit News.
It’s a tough break for Baddoo, who burst onto the scene as a rookie in 2021. Those first 124 games looked promising – he hit .259 with a .766 OPS, posted a 112 OPS+, and contributed 13 homers, 55 RBIs, plus 18 steals in 22 attempts.
But that’s where the good news ends.
Since that solid debut campaign, Baddoo’s been struggling at the big league level. Over 223 games, he’s hit just .203 with a .619 OPS and a 75 OPS+. He’s managed 15 home runs and 24 stolen bases, but struck out 180 times against only 74 walks.
This past season was especially rough statistically. Even with his speed on the bases and in the outfield, he’s nowhere close to being a proven hitter or defender at the major league level.
Baddoo’s already logged 30 games for Toledo this year, putting up respectable numbers – six home runs, a .245 average, and a .779 OPS with 34 strikeouts to 15 walks over 110 at-bats. Problem is, that’s not going to crack Detroit’s deep outfield.
The Tigers have Riley Greene, Kerry Carpenter, Parker Meadows, and even the resurgent Javier Báez locked into their outfield plans. They’ve also got Matt Vierling on the injured list, who can play all over the diamond when healthy.
Baddoo was a second-round pick by Minnesota back in 2016. While there’s always room for a comeback story, it seems unlikely he’ll contribute to Detroit’s 2025 squad at the major league level.
Sometimes that rookie magic just doesn’t stick around.
