Pirates claim Akil Baddoo off waivers

Baddoo was out due to a quad strain. He played in six rehab games for Nashville prior to today’s announcement, going 4-for-20 with two homers. He could see time with the Brewers as a bench guy later this season.

The Brewers needed a spot on the 40-man roster for newly acquired Jake Woodford, so Badoo will be moved to the 60-day IL after a solid spring.

The dynamic 27-year-old outfielder evened the score at one run apiece as he smacked an RBI single into center in the home half of the first inning. He then swiped second base before being stranded there. Baddoo also drew a one-out walk in the seventh inning and rode home on Mike Boeve’s two-run blast. He’s hitting an impressive .353 (6-for-17) with a homer, four RBI and two stolen bases so far in spring training and could make the Brewers’ Opening Day roster in a reserve role.

Baddoo has his first homer of the spring season after signing a one-year deal with the Brewers in December. The 27-year-old is not a lock to make Milwaukee’s Opening Day roster, but a good showing in the Cactus League gives him a chance to show off his power/speed ability; albeit not in a starting role.

It’s probably a split contract. Baddoo has an option year left, and with three years of service time, the Brewers will control his rights through at least 2028 (it’d extend to 2029 if he spends a few weeks in the minors). We doubt they’ll really benefit from that, but maybe he’ll be their latest overachiever. The 27-year-old Baddoo has a career .224/.305/.369 line in 1,143 major league at-bats, all of them with the Tigers. He played in just seven major league games and hit .279/.384/.478 with 16 homers and 27 steals for Triple-A Toledo last season. As things stand now, it looks he’ll be competing with Blake Perkins, Garrett Mitchell (if healthy), Isaac Collins, Brandon Lockridge and Steward Berroa for two places on Milwaukee’s roster. Most likely, he’ll start off in the minors.

Baddoo hasn’t done anything useful in the majors since he was a surprise success as a Rule 5 pick for the Tigers in 2021, so it’s quite surprising to see him get a major league deal. Still, he did put up a nice line in Triple-A last season, hitting .281/.385/.483 with 15 homers and 25 steals, and the Brewers generally know what they’re doing. He’ll try to win a bench spot in spring training.

Baddoo’s time in Detroit is officially over after five seasons. The 27-year-old corner outfielder burst onto the fantasy scene as a rookie back in 2021 when he hit .259 with 13 homers and 18 steals in 124 contests. He was never able to rediscover that debut magic over the next four seasons and wound up getting into only 38 contests over the last two years combined for the Tigers. It’s possible there’s another club out there willing to bring him in as a reclamation project.

All three were pretty legitimate, too, though the third one should have been played better. Baddoo had just one triple in 64 games this season prior to last night. In case you’re curious, there have been four three-triple games in the majors since 2000, with Rafael Furcal (2002), Denard Span (2010), Yasiel Puig (2014) and Xavier Edwards (2024) pulling off the feat.

Baddoo was already back in the minors when the Tigers removed him from the 40-man roster last week. He can choose to become a free agent, but it’s unclear if there are any better options out there for him after he went unclaimed. The 26-year-old Baddoo went 2-for-17 in eight major league games last months. He’s hit .248/.340/.436 in 153 plate appearances for Toledo this season.

The Tigers needed to clear a spot on their 40-man roster to promote Jahmai Jones from Triple-A Toledo on Friday and unfortunately Baddoo was the odd-man out. Still just 26-years-old, there’s a good chance that another team could be willing to take a chance on him on waivers. Stay tuned.