Shortly after the calendar turned to 2021, Detroit Tigers general manager, Al Avila, did something he hadn’t done in nearly five years. On January 5th, 2021, he signed outfielder Robbie Grossman to a two-year, $10 million contract. It was the first multi-year contract the Tigers had given to a free agent since they signed Justin Upton in January of 2016. It was also the first multi-year free agent signing since Chris Ilitch took over ownership of the team.
At the time, it was received as a solid bargain, though not a terribly exciting signing.