Tigers acquire Austin Meadows from Tampa Bay in exchange for Isaac Paredes and competitive balance round b pick

LAKELAND, Fla. – The Detroit Tigers announced that they have acquired outfielder Austin Meadows from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for infielder Isaac Paredes and a competitive balance round B pick in the 2022 MLB Draft.

Meadows, 26, played in a career-best 142 games last season, hitting .234/.315/.458 with 29 doubles, three triples, 27 home runs and a career-high 106 RBI, which ranked seventh in the American League. He led the Majors with 19 game-winning RBI, which established a Rays single-season record. Meadows also had 29 go-ahead RBI, which was tied for third in the big leagues. Meadows did some of his best work during the season with runners in scoring position, batting .299/.382/.612 in those situations.

In four Major League seasons, Meadows has hit .260/.333/.489 with 75 doubles, 13 triples, 70 home runs and 225 RBI in 375 games. His best big league season came in 2019, when he batted .291/.364/.558 with 29 doubles, seven triples, 33 home runs and 89 RBI and was named to the American League All-Star Team. He ranked fifth in the American League in triples that season, while he was sixth in slugging percentage and eighth in OPS (.922).

A native of Atlanta, GA, Meadows was originally drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first round (ninth overall) of the 2013 MLB Draft. He was acquired by Tampa Bay along with Tyler Glasnow and Shane Baz from Pittsburgh in exchange for Chris Archer on July 31, 2018. Austin’s younger brother, Parker, was drafted by the Tigers in the second round of the 2018 MLB Draft and spent the 2021 season with Single A Lakeland and Single A West Michigan.

Paredes, 23, appeared in 23 games with the Tigers in 2021, hitting .208/.306/.319 with three doubles, a triple, a home run and five RBI. In two big league seasons, Paredes has batted .215/.290/.302 with seven doubles, one triple, two home runs and 11 RBI.