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Scott Harris Discusses Tigers’ Deadline Approach

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The AL Central-leading Tigers were one of the league’s busier teams at the trade deadline, even if the team’s moves were more about adding depth and raising the talent floor than raising the roster’s ceiling in pursuit of a World Series.  The big focus was on pitching, as Charlie Morton and Chris Paddack joined the rotation, and Kyle Finnegan, Rafael Montero, and (when he is healthy) Paul Sewald will contribute to the bullpen mix.

Focusing on relief pitching perhaps led to Detroit’s strategy, as president of baseball operations Scott Harris told reporters (including the Detroit Free Press’ Evan Petzold and the Detroit News’ Chris McCosky) earlier this week.  “Some of the prices around the game were really high for short-term rental relievers,” Harris observed.  “We felt like it was a better approach for us to attack it in volume with some guys that we like, some guys that are doing some things under the hood that we really value.”

Detroit’s highly-ranked farm system remained pretty much intact in the wake of the deadline, as the Tigers didn’t move any of their best prospects.  There wasn’t really any sense that Detroit was even considering any of its top minor leaguers, and as Petzold notes, there weren’t many trades involving top-100 type prospects at this deadline.  By that same token, however, Petzold also notes the several prominent deals that didn’t involve elite prospect talent, and wondered if the Tigers could’ve just been a little aggressive in outbidding rival teams for the likes of Merrill Kelly, David Bednar, or Ryan Helsley.  (Kelly and Bednar were known to be Detroit trade targets leading up to the deadline.)

This being said, we don’t know what kind of returns clubs were demanding from the Tigers, and Harris indicated that teams wanted a lot.  “When it came to the actual prices, a lot of the moves that we passed on felt like moves that were going to haunt us for many years to come,” Harris said.  “We have what we think is one of the best, if not the best, farm system in all of baseball.  We felt like, at this moment in time, giving up on young players to chase short-term fixes is not in the best interest of the Tigers, both in the short- and long-term.”

The long view is key to Harris’ thought process, as the PBO doesn’t view 2025 as an all-in sort of season.  Between the Tigers’ return to the playoffs in 2024 and now their big division lead this season, Harris sees this as the first of many opportunities for the club over a sustained period of time, rather than a window that may align with Tarik Skubal’s remaining two-plus years under arbitration control.

“We want to be good every year.  Really, really good every year,” Harris said.  “I don’t think we thought about this deadline as different from future years.  I always want to sit in front of you and say we’ve got a real good baseball team and we’ve got a lot of chances to get better.  I think I can credibly say, we have a really good baseball team by our competitive standing right now.  I think I can also credibly say we got better [at the deadline].  And I can credibly say that we have some players coming in our farm system, both for this year and for future years, that are going to help us get even better.”

Time will tell if Harris has made the right call or not, and it should be noted that baseball history is full of under-the-radar deadline additions that ended up making a huge impact on a championship team.  That said, there are also plenty of example of contenders who didn’t strike while the iron was hot, and injuries and under-performance then scuttled what seemed to be very promising rosters.  Detroit fans waiting for the team’s first World Series title since 1984 may not share Harris’ big-picture view, but the executive is fine with being patient.

“My job is to make the best decisions for this organization,” Harris said.  “I understand everybody wants to go grab the flashiest name and not give up any good players.  But that’s not an option.  We can’t do that.  If we’re going to grab those players, we’re going to give up some really talented players and I didn’t think that was in the best interest of our organization.”

Nationals Claim PJ Poulin

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The Nationals announced this afternoon that they’ve claimed left-hander PJ Poulin off waivers from the Tigers. Poulin was designated for assignment to make room for right-hander Charlie Morton on the club’s 40-man roster on the day of the trade deadline.

Poulin, 29, was an 11th-round pick by the Rockies back in 2018. A two-way player in college, Poulin committed to pitching upon his move to affiliated ball. He looked quite good in the lower minors as a reliever in his first two years as a professional, but the canceled minor league season in 2020 lost him a year of development and he generally struggled with his effectiveness in the upper minors during his time with the Rockies organization. He was dealt to the Tigers prior to the 2024 season and has looked quite good since then, with a 2.10 ERA, 2.59 FIP, and 29.8% strikeout rate across the Double- and Triple-A levels last year.

The southpaw returned to Triple-A Toledo this year and has pitched well in 42 2/3 innings of work, with a 3.38 ERA and a fantastic 33.7% strikeout rate against a 9.2% walk rate. Those huge numbers got the attention of the Tigers last month, and led them to add Poulin to the 40-man roster after he exercised an upward mobility clause in his contract. Unfortunately for Poulin, he did not make it to the majors in Detroit before being DFA’d this past week. The good news, however, is that he’s been plucked off the waiver wire by a Nationals team that will be in need of bullpen help down the stretch after parting with key relievers like closer Kyle Finnegan and lefty Andrew Chafin in a sell-off at the deadline.

That should give Poulin a clear shot to make the majors and show what he can do at the big league level at some point down the stretch, and if he impresses the Nationals would have full control over him given that he has not yet made his big league debut and has zero MLB service time. He’ll be competing with players like Konnor Pilkington and Shinnosuke Ogasawara to serve as a left-handed bullpen option for the team now that Jose A. Ferrer is seemingly ticketed for the closer role in Finnegan’s stead.

Minor MLB Transactions: 8/2/25

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Here’s the latest on a trio of players who were recently designated for assignment. All information is courtesy of the transactions log on that respective player’s MLB.com profile page.

  • Veteran southpaw Rich Hill has elected free agency after being DFA’d by the Royals earlier this week. Hill, 45, is the oldest active big leaguer and held off on signing a contract this year until he joined the Royals on a minor league deal back in May. He was added to Kansas City’s big league roster late last month and made two starts for the club, pitching to a 5.00 ERA in nine innings of work with eight walks against just four strikeouts. It was a lackluster pair of outings for the veteran, and he’s served as more of an innings-eating depth starter as he’s entered his mid-40s with a 5.38 ERA over 159 innings of work since the start of the 2023 campaign. The lefty has 21 years in the majors with 14 different MLB clubs under his belt at this point, however, and if one of the other 16 clubs in the league picks him up at some point down the stretch he’d surpass Edwin Jackson (with whom he’s now tied after joining the Royals) as the player to suit up for the most clubs in MLB history.
  • Outfielder Sean Bouchard has been outrighted to the minor leagues after being DFA’d by the Rockies late last week. The 29-year-old was a ninth-round pick by the Rockies back in 2017 and made his big league debut with the club during the 2022 season. He’s spent each of the past four seasons in a Rockies uniform as an up-and-down bench player, and in his first two seasons he excelled with a .304/.428/.563 slash line in 48 games. Unfortunately, he’s struggled badly in 63 games over the past two seasons, hitting just .178/.272/.274 with a 33.1% strikeout rate. Bouchard now figures to serve as non-roster depth for the Rockies down the stretch, but will have the opportunity to elect free agency after the 2025 campaign if not added back to the 40-man roster.
  • Right-hander Tyler Owens has been released after being DFA’d by the Tigers earlier this week. The 24-year-old made his big league debut with Detroit earlier this year and surrendered one run on three hits and three walks across three innings of work while striking out one batter during that abbreviated cup of coffee. Owens had been sidelined by a hip injury was he was removed from the club’s 40-man roster, which means he could not be assigned outright to the minors and had to be released after clearing waivers. He’s now free to sign with any MLB club, though a 5.40 ERA in 30 Triple-A innings with nearly as many walks (21) as strikeouts (27) makes it likely that he’ll be limited to only minor league offers.

Tigers Acquire Charlie Morton

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The Tigers have acquired right-hander Charlie Morton from the Orioles in exchange for minor league left-hander Micah Ashman. Baltimore will also send cash considerations. To free up space on their 40-man roster, the Tigers designated left-hander PJ Poulin for assignment. Jeff Passan of ESPN was the first to report that Morton was heading to Detroit.

Morton, 41, joins Chris Paddack as the Tigers’ second veteran rotation addition near the trade deadline.  Morton signed a $15MM free agent deal with the Orioles in January, but lost his rotation job after five disastrous starts.  After the Orioles designated Kyle Gibson for assignment on May 18th, Morton returned to the rotation.  He’s been a new pitcher in those 11 starts, posting a 3.88 ERA, 22.7 K%, and 8.9 BB%.

Now Morton joins the first-place Tigers, who are tied for the best record in the American League.  The club’s rotation consists of ace Tarik Skubal, Jack Flaherty, Casey Mize, Paddack, and Morton.  Reese Olson is out for the season with a shoulder strain, while free agent signing Alex Cobb was able to resume his rehab assignment on Tuesday as he recovers from a hip injury.  Rookie Troy Melton, who drew two starts this month, has been moved to the bullpen to accommodate Morton.

It’s unclear how the Tigers would make it work if all six veteran pitchers are healthy, but that’s a good problem to have.  Morton could perhaps serve as the Tigers’ fourth starter in the playoffs.  He has extensive postseason experience, including for manager A.J. Hinch’s 2017-18 Astros.

Perhaps because of the success of his team or a desire to hang on to his best prospects, Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris didn’t shoot for the top of the market at the trade deadline.  Aside from adding Morton and Paddack to the rotation, Harris picked up Kyle Finnegan, Rafael Montero, the injured Paul Sewald, and Codi Heuer as bullpen reinforcements.  It was not unlike the club’s offseason, which consisted of modest free agent deals for Flaherty, Cobb, Gleyber Torres, Tommy Kahnle, John Brebbia, Manuel Margot, and Jose Urquidy.

At one point it seemed like the Orioles might move three starting pitchers, but Zach Eflin and Tomoyuki Sugano ended up staying put.  Eflin was placed on the IL today with back discomfort, while Sugano likely didn’t move the needle for teams given his 15.2 K%.  The Orioles still traded Ryan O’Hearn, Ramon Laureano, Ramon Urias, Cedric Mullins, Andrew Kittredge, Seranthony Dominguez, Gregory Soto, and Bryan Baker this month, so it was an incredibly active trade deadline for Mike Elias and company.

Ashman, 22, was drafted in the 11th round by the Tigers last year out of the University of Utah.  The reliever has a 1.49 ERA and 25.5 K-BB% in the minors this year and moved to Double-A earlier this month.  It appears the Tigers are taking on all $4.76MM owed to Morton for the rest of the year, which likely dampened Baltimore’s return.

Tigers Trade Dietrich Enns To Orioles

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The Orioles and Tigers apparently made a last minute trade before the deadline. Detroit dealt left-hander Dietrich Enns to Baltimore for cash. He’d been designated for assignment just this afternoon when the Tigers acquired Codi Heuer from Texas.

Enns, 34, could get a look in the Baltimore rotation. The O’s traded Charlie Morton and placed Zach Eflin on the injured list. They’re more or less playing out the string and need pitchers who can take innings behind Trevor Rogers and Tomoyuki Sugano. Enns has struggled in a limited big league look, giving up 12 runs in 17 2/3 frames spanning seven appearances. He has posted excellent numbers over 14 Triple-A starts, working to a 2.89 ERA with a near-27% strikeout rate against a tidy 5.6% walk percentage.

Prior to this season, Enns’ major league experience consisted of brief stints with the 2017 Twins and ’21 Rays. He has also pitched in Japan and Korea, turning in a 4.19 ERA over 30 starts in the KBO last season. The O’s will give him an opportunity to see if they can get similar mid-30s production from Enns as they did with Albert Suarez a year ago.

Phillies Acquire Matt Manning

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The Tigers announced that right-hander Matt Manning has been dealt to the Phillies in exchange for minor league outfielder Josueth Quinonez.  Manning was designated for assignment by Detroit earlier today, and this trade was completed just under the wire before the 5pm CT trade deadline.  Philadelphia designated right-hander Devin Sweet for assignment in a corresponding roster move.

Selected ninth overall by the Tigers in the 2016 draft, Manning’s time in the organization will officially end without the righty living up to his lofty potential as one of baseball’s top pitching prospects.  Manning has a 4.43 ERA over 254 career big league innings from 2021-24, along with an uninspiring 16.4% strikeout rate and 7.8% walk rate.  Some injuries surely played a role along the way, and yet with Manning now in his last minor league option year, Detroit chose to just walk away from a pitcher that was once seen as a future cornerstone.

Despite Manning’s struggles in the majors, he is still only 27 years old, and it isn’t surprising that the Phillies quickly arranged a trade soon after Manning was DFA’ed.  There’s little risk for the Phils in seeing if Manning can still be a post-hype breakout after a change of scenery, or at least turn himself into a decent contributor if not a star.  In the immediate short term, Manning replenishes the rotation depth chart after the Phillies traded Mick Abel to the Twins as part of the Jhoan Duran swap.

Sweet is also a former Tiger, acquired by Philadelphia in a trade last November.  Sweet’s lone bit of MLB experience came in the 2023 season when he tossed 8 2/3 innings over seven games with the Mariners and Athletics, and he has since been pitching at the Triple-A level.  The results weren’t great this year in Lehigh Valley, as Sweet has a 5.50 ERA and six homers allowed over 37 2/3 innings, with a modest 20.3% strikeout rate.

Sweet has battled control issues for each of the last two seasons, and he’ll find himself back in DFA limbo.  He has been outrighted before, so if the 28-year-old clears waivers, he can reject an outright assignment off the Phillies’ 40-man roster and instead opt for free agency.

Quinonez signed by the Phils during the 2024 international signing period, and the outfielder has played a lot of center and right field in the early stages of his pro career.  Quinonez has hit .301/.397/.383 in 310 plate appearances with the Phillies’ Dominican Summer League teams, and he’ll now head to Detroit’s system as a long-term prospect.

Guardians Claim Carlos Hernandez

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The Guardians claimed right-hander Carlos Hernandez off waivers from the Tigers, according to MLB.com’s Tim Stebbins.  Detroit designated Hernandez for assignment last week. Cleveland also activated reliever Trevor Stephan from the 60-day injured list and optioned him to Triple-A.

The veteran reliever has now changed teams via waiver claim for the third time in a little over four months.  Hernandez had spent his entire career in the Royals organization before the Phillies claimed him away in March, then the Tigers plucked him off the waiver wire in mid-June.  Both of those teams gave Hernandez some action at the MLB level, and the righty has a 6.69 ERA over 36 1/3 combined innings with Philadelphia (25 games) and Detroit (11 games).

Hernandez’s 20.5% strikeout rate and 10.8% walk rate this year are pretty close to his career marks over six Major League seasons, and Hernandez has a career 5.17 ERA in 292 2/3 innings.  Now out of minor league options, Hernandez can’t be assigned to the minors without first being exposed to waivers, hence his increasingly frequent trips to DFA limbo.

He does have two years of arbitration control remaining, and teams have been interested enough in his stuff to add him on multiple claims now, with the Guardians being the latest to see if Hernandez can offer more with a change of scenery.  Cleveland’s pitching development system could perhaps unlock something in the right-hander, who is still only 28 years old.  Owed just the remainder of a $1.16MM salary for 2025, Hernandez is a pretty inexpensive depth arm to the Guardians’ bullpen.

Tigers Acquire Codi Heuer From Rangers

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The Rangers announced they’ve traded reliever Codi Heuer to Detroit for cash. This opens a 40-man roster spot for Texas, who will likely acquire some kind of relief help in the coming hours. Detroit designated lefty Dietrich Enns for assignment and optioned Heuer to Triple-A Toledo.

Heuer signed an offseason minor league deal with Texas. The Rangers called him up on June 1 but optioned him back to Triple-A a couple days later. He made one appearance, working an inning and a third while giving up a home run. That was the 6’5″ righty’s first major league action in four years. Heuer has had a nice season in the upper minors, working to a 3.43 ERA with a 31% strikeout rate over 35 appearances.

Texas probably viewed the 29-year-old Heuer as a DFA candidate if they’re able to make a more notable bullpen move today. Rather than wait until finalizing an acquisition, they preemptively cleared a spot while picking up a bit of cash. Detroit jumps the waiver order to get a pitcher with options who is having a good Triple-A season. Heuer sits around 96 MPH with his fastball and has a mid-80s slider. He has a history of elbow injuries, including 2022 Tommy John surgery and a ’23 fracture that required another operation.

Enns was called up last month. The 34-year-old southpaw has logged 17 2/3 innings with a 5.60 ERA across seven outings. He has posted excellent numbers with Toledo, turning in a 2.89 ERA with a 26.7% strikeout rate over 14 starts. He’ll likely end up on waivers in the next few days.

Tigers Acquire Kyle Finnegan

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The Tigers announced the acquisition of right-hander Kyle Finnegan from the Nationals. Detroit sent righty pitching prospects Josh Randall and R.J. Sales back to Washington. The Tigers transferred newly-acquired reliever Paul Sewald to the 60-day injured list in a corresponding roster move. Sewald has been out since mid-July with a shoulder strain and is not expected back until the middle of September.

Finnegan, 33, has been the Nationals’ primary closer in each of the past three seasons after sharing the role with Brad Hand and Tanner Rainey in 2021 and ’22. A 2024 All-Star, the righty has racked up 108 saves over the past five seasons but does not have the elite run prevention numbers typically associated with the closer role. For his career, he’s posted a 3.66 ERA and 4.16 FIP across 329 1/3 innings of work. Those numbers have been trending downward as well, with a 3.87 ERA and 4.24 FIP since the start of the 2023 season. He’s struck out just 21.5% of batters in that time while walking 8.6%, and while his walk rate has stayed steady this year his strikeouts have dipped further to a clip of just 19.6%.

Overall, it’s closer to a middle relief profile than that of a top-of-the-line closer, but Finnegan’s experience in the ninth inning could still be valuable for a club like the Tigers without an established ninth-inning guy. Will Vest is currently getting the majority of the opportunities in the ninth, but perhaps Finnegan could help ease the load on Vest’s shoulders. There are some things to like in Finnegan’s numbers this season, as well; he’s generating grounders at a strong 48.2% clip, his 64.1% strand rate suggests poor sequencing luck that could lend to strong results going forward, and his 38.8% hard-hit rate is his best figure since 2021.

Finnegan joins what increasingly appears to be a bulk approach to overhauling the bullpen in Detroit. In addition to the veteran closer, the Tigers have traded for Randy Dobnak, Rafael Montero, and Paul Sewald to bolster their bullpen in recent days. Dobnak and Montero are both generally regarded as fringe relievers at this stage of their careers, while Sewald has impressive strikeout rates and closing experience but is expected to be on the injured list with a shoulder strain until September.

Finnegan figures to be the most impactful piece of the group, but he’s a clear step down from some of the more well-regarded arms that have been bandied about as available this summer like David Bednar and Pete Fairbanks, to say nothing of elite closers like Jhoan Duran and Mason Miller who have already been moved. That’s not to say a bigger splash couldn’t be coming down the pipeline at some point before the deadline this afternoon, but with the price tag on top relievers soaring it’s at least possible that Scott Harris’s front office isn’t interested in giving up top talent to acquire bullpen help.

They managed to avoid paying a premium for Finnegan’s services in this deal. In exchange for Finnegan, the Nationals will receive a pair of pitching prospects. Randall is the headliner of the pair, ranked as Detroit’s 15th best prospect by MLB Pipeline. A 22-year-old who was recently promoted to High-A, Detroit’s third-round pick from the 2024 draft has posted a 3.92 ERA in 17 starts across the Single- and High-A levels this year. While Randall is currently starting, there’s some relief risk in his profile due to questions on whether or not his changeup will develop. Sales, meanwhile, was the club’s tenth-round pick in last season’s draft and is unranked within the Tigers’ top 30 prospects at Pipeline.

After posting solid numbers for UNC Wilmington as an amateur, Sales has 2.71 ERA in 66 1/3 innings of work so far this year while striking out 24.1% of his opponents. Both Sales and Randall figure to be in the mix to help out the Nationals’ pitching staff as soon as late next year, though it would hardly be a shock if either hurler didn’t debut until 2027. They join infield prospect Ronny Cruz and outfield prospect Christian Franklin as deadline additions for the Nats after that duo was acquired from the Cubs in exchange for right-hander Michael Soroka last night. Right-hander Clayton Beeter and outfield prospect Browm Martinez have also joined the organization in recent days after the Yankees swung a deal with D.C. to acquire Amed Rosario.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported the Tigers were acquiring Finnegan. Andrew Golden of The Washington Post had the return. Image courtesy of Jeff Curry, Imagn Images.

Tigers Designate Matt Manning For Assignment

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The Tigers have designated right-hander Matt Manning for assignment, per Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press. The former top prospect’s spot on the roster will go to newly acquired reliever Paul Sewald.

Manning, 27, was the ninth overall pick in the 2016 draft and for years ranked among the game’s top pitching prospects. At one point, he was part of an untouchable trio of pitching prospects in Detroit, alongside former No. 1 overall pick Casey Mize and 2024 AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal. Things for Manning haven’t panned out. That’s in part due to injuries, but the right-hander has had several opportunities in the majors and has yet to deliver on his former prospect status.

Manning logged big league time each season from 2021-24, starting a total of 50 games for Detroit over those four years. He posted sub-4.00 ERAs in 2022-23 but did so with bottom-of-the-scale strikeout numbers and plenty of hard contact allowed. On the whole, Manning has a 4.43 ERA, 16.4% strikeout rate, 7.8% walk rate and 40.4% ground-ball rate in 254 MLB frames.

That collective output is decent, but Manning struggled to a 4.88 ERA in 27 2/3 big league innings last year and has been shelled in Triple-A thus far in 2025. He’s spent the entire year in Toledo but turned in a 6.04 ERA with a gruesome 15.9% walk rate in 50 2/3 innings. Detroit dropped him from the Mud Hens’ rotation back in April and has been using Manning in short relief since May 1, but the results have still been uninspiring: 5.12 ERA, 24.5% strikeout rate, 15.1% walk rate.

This is Manning’s final minor league option year. He can spend as much time in Triple-A for the remainder of the season as a new team would like, but he’ll have to stick on the major league roster with any club that claims/acquires him beginning next season. Manning has four seasons of club control remaining. He can be traded at any point up until this afternoon’s deadline, but after that he’ll need to be placed on waivers. Even with his struggles of late, it seems likely another club would at least take a no-risk flier on him just given his former pedigree — particularly a rebuilding or selling club that frees up several 40-man roster spots with trades of veteran players today.

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