CLEVELAND — When the Detroit Tigers claimed James Outman off waivers Thursday, it seemed puzzling at first. The Tigers already had a glove-first player in the infield with a struggling bat in Zack Short. Adding a similar profile to their outfield seemed curious.A day later, it all became clearer. The Tigers designated Short for assignment one day after moving Javier Báez to the 60-day injured list to clear space for Outman. So, in essence, the Tigers are reconfiguring their roster, shifting an offensive weakness from the infield to the outfield and hoping the ripple effects will strengthen the team’s spine overall.“There are a lot of moving parts,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “But improving the outfield defense as a whole was something that we looked into.”Outman was once a promising young bat with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He slugged 23 home runs and was worth 3.4 bWAR in 2023, finishing third in Rookie of the Year voting. But it’s been a grind ever since. Outman has hit only .144 in his past 334 MLB at-bats.“It’s trying to find ways to help the team win anyway possible,” Outman said. “I take a lot of pride in my defense and base running, trying to impact the game on that end when the bat’s not there, and I think when the bat is there, it’s good.”The Tigers would love to recover some of the untapped potential in Outman’s bat. But they also made this move with realistic expectations. Even if it’s only a temporary patch, Outman is capable of playing center field and could help improve an outfield defense that entered Friday night ranking last with minus-26 Defensive Runs Saved.The hope is that adding Outman (worth minus-5 DRS in his career) to the outfield will allow Zach McKinstry to play more in the infield, where his playing time at shortstop should tick up. Outman can also allow the Tigers to bump Wenceel Pérez or Matt Vierling to play more in right field, meaning more time for Kerry Carpenter at DH or the chance of opening up DH days to get other players, such as Riley Greene, off their feet.