LAKELAND, Fla. – The Detroit Tigers newest addition to the bullpen was introduced to the media Thursday (March 17).
It was clear right off the bat that this guy is a character.
“Obviously, I’m a reliever, so one inning usually, so I’m pretty build-up for that,” said relief pitcher Andrew Chafin.
The Tigers signed reliever Chafin to a two-year, $13 million deal.
Baseball is his job, but the Ohioan said Thursday that farming is his passion. He owns a 75-acre farm.
“I worked on my farm (this offseason),” Chafin said. “(I have) a whole lot of nothing right now. We sold our cattle in the fall. We got chickens right now and a couple of dogs, that’s about it.”
Chafin clearly likes to joke around. He said his “failed starter” shirts (seen in the video player above) are on backorder.
He was nicknamed the sheriff by the Arizona media a long time ago, but another name he goes by is big country.
“The big country name came right after I got drafted,” Chafin said. “Me and Archie Bradley were sitting at an airport flying to somewhere and was telling me that I needed a Twitter. I’m like, ‘ok, fine, but what should my name be?’ And he was like ‘big country.’ Someone already had the original name, so I just added a bunch of numbers to the back end of it and so that where that name came from.”
The 32-year-old says he is always willing to get the ball no matter the inning, fitting right in with AJ Hinch’s managerial style.
“Yeah, you really don’t have a choice,” Chafin said. “They call your name like ‘dude, you got to go,’ so why not just grab it and go. I kind of pride myself on being always being available, or as much as much as I possibly can.”
Chafin says he’s happy with his new team, and he is looking forward to putting roots down in Detroit with his two daughters.
There are plans to buy new cattle for the future.
