Former Detroit Tigers Player Blasts Front Office for Costing Him 7-Figure Deal
First and foremost, Major League Baseball is a business. Former Detroit Tigers utility player Brandon Dixon experienced the tough end of that business in 2020 when he says his MLB team kept him from earning seven figures in Japan.
Dixon shared his story on Wednesday, July 31 in a lengthy post on X that outlined how he claims the Tigers turned what could have been a $1.2 million season for him into one in which he made $60,000.
The incident came after Dixon led the 2019 Tigers with 15 home runs (“We lost a lot of games,” he quipped). As the Tigers were losing games down the stretch, his playing time diminished in favor of younger prospects. For context, the then-27-year-old Dixon had just 52 at bats in September 2019, compared to 97 the month before.
“It was clear that the Tigers were rebuilding and I wasn’t in the future plans,” Dixon wrote. “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.”
The timing wasn’t great for Dixon, who was still under contract with Detroit.
“This usually is solved by a buyout between the 2 teams,” he explained. “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.”
Al Avila Allegedly Told Brandon Dixon He Was ‘A Big Part’ of the Team’s Future
For a $1.2 million contract offer, the Tigers wanted a $1 million buyout, essentially killing any deal. Dixon says then-GM Al Avila “wouldn’t budge” and he explained to Dixon that he was a “big part of the future of this team.”
Dixon was forced to turn down the deal — ultimately not a bad thing if he was, in fact, going to have a major role in Detroit moving forward. He would almost surely earn more money in Major League Baseball, anyway.
Only that’s not how it happened. Just six weeks later, it appears Avila changed his mind.
“6 weeks later the day after my wedding, and on the way to my honeymoon I got a call from the Tigers GM,” Dixon wrote. “’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.”
Dixon appeared in five games in September 2020 for Detroit, going 1-13. He went to Japan the next year, signing with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles before returning stateside in 2022 to play in the San Diego Padres’ system.
