January 18, 2020

C.J. Cron is with his fourth team in the last four seasons. For most players that would sound like a really bad scenario, but for Cron, it is even crazier. He has never been had an expensive contract, yet teams don’t keep him on the roster. In Cron’s first chance of everyday playing time with the Rays (140 games) in 2018 (.253-30-68-74-1) he flourished. Then the Rays released Cron and the Twins took a chance on him in 2019. In 125 games (.253-25-51-78-0) Cron performed well yet again. But, just like the Rays, the Twins have now let the power-hitting righty go and the Tigers swiped him up for 2020 season. Yes, I know hitting in the Tigers lineup and in Comerica Park is not great, but hear me out. Cron has major power that even Comerica should not hold back. Comerica has actually shown to be rather hitter-friendly to pull power, just like the Trop where Cron performed well. Cron’s career-best 15% barrel rate and 44.6% HH rate should translate just fine to Comerica Park. He also showcased better plate discipline in 2019 dropping his strikeout rate by nearly four percent. If Cron can work on getting his pull rates back to what they were in 2017 and 2018, he could be a sneaky nice option hitting cleanup every day for the Tigers. While others fade Cron since he is on the Tigers, enjoy cheap power at your corner infield position from a player with an ADP of 240.--Brian Entrekin - RotoBaller