DETROIT – A former Detroit Tigers player shared a story of how the team cost him a seven-figure contract a few years ago.
Brandon Dixon spent parts of two seasons with the Tigers, playing 117 games in 2019 and five games in 2020. He led the team with 15 homers in 2019, but finished with just a .248/.290/.435 slash line.
Dixon was 28 years old heading into the 2020 season, and he said he received interest from multiple teams in Korea and Japan.
“They have limits to the amount of foreigners allowed on each team, so these jobs can be somewhat rare,” Dixon posted on Wednesday, July 31, 2024.
He said most of his playing time had vanished late in 2019 as the Tigers gave more at-bats to younger players. Since he wasn’t a free agent, he asked the Tigers to find a way to allow him to take the much bigger contract overseas.
“This seemed like the perfect transition,” Dixon said. “I loved Detroit, but I had an uncertain future there and I was being offered a guaranteed contract for twice what I would make with the Tigers. Seemed like a great fit.”
Dixon said then-general manager Al Avila told him he was a big part of the team’s future, so Dixon had to tell the Japanese team who made the offer that he wouldn’t be able to sign.
Six weeks later, the Tigers put Dixon on waivers because they had made some trades, he said. The offer from Japan was gone, so he ended up in the minor leagues and made just $60,000 during the COVID-shortened season.
Here’s Dixon’s full post:
In 2019 I was offered a 7 figure contract that I couldn’t accept.
Former Tigers utility player Brandon Dixon
I had just finished up my best year in the Big leagues for the Tigers. I led the team in home-runs (15- We lost a lot of games).
In the last month I saw most of my playing time go to the “young guys” since we were like 60 games back from a wild card spot.
It was clear that the Tigers were rebuilding and I wasn’t in the future plans. Quickly into the offseason I was getting interest from multiple teams in Korea and Japan. For those that don’t know these are the 2 premier leagues outside of the U.S.
They have limits to the amount of foreigners allowed on each team, so these jobs can be somewhat rare.
This seemed like the perfect transition. I loved Detroit, but I had an uncertain future there and I was being offered a guaranteed contract for twice what I would make with the Tigers. Seemed like a great fit.
But, I wasn’t a free agent and the Tigers would have to agree to the deal. This usually is solved by a buyout between the 2 teams. We put the right people in contact and told the Tigers that I wanted to stay if I was part of the future, but if not I wanted to go and make some money for my family.
The Japanese rep called us the next day, the Tigers wanted a million dollars for my buyout. The offer was for 1.2.
I called the GM for the Tigers confused, he told me I was a big part of the future of this team and they didn’t want to lose me. He wasn’t going to budge, so we let the Japanese team know we would be passing.
6 weeks later the day after my wedding, and on the way to my honeymoon I got a call from the Tigers GM. “Hey I’m sorry but we are putting you on waivers, we made a couple trades and needed your roster spot.”
I went unclaimed, my offer in Japan was already given to another player, and I was headed to the minor leagues with Detroit. That year ended up being the shortened COVID season and I finished the year making 60k.
I came across SMB twitter a year or two after this. I knew I wasn’t interested in working for someone else after baseball and needing their approval for making decisions.