Headlines

  • Astros To Sign Jake Odorizzi
  • Brewers To Sign Jackie Bradley Jr.
  • Surgery Recommended For Framber Valdez
  • No Planned Future Discussion On Expanded Playoffs, Universal DH In 2021
  • Out Of Options 2021
  • Royals, Hunter Dozier Agree To Four-Year Extension
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Indians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2020-21 Top 50 MLB Free Agents With Predictions
    • 2020-21 MLB Free Agent Tracker
    • 2020-21 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2021-22 MLB Free Agent List
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2021
    • 2021 MLB Arbitration Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • Last 100 Comments
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Tigers Sign Jake Thompson To Minor League Deal

By Steve Adams | July 25, 2019 at 11:32am CDT

The Tigers announced Thursday that they’ve signed right-hander Jake Thompson to a minor league contract. The former top prospect was originally a second-round pick by the Tigers back in 2012 and will now return to his original organization.

Detroit traded Thompson and then-prospect Corey Knebel to the Rangers back in 2014, netting righty Joakim Soria for their bullpen in that July 23 swap. Thompson continued on an upward trajectory in the Texas minor league ranks, so much so that he was viewed as a key piece when the Rangers flipped him to the Phillies a year later in the 2015 Cole Hamels blockbuster. (Remember when teams actually made trades in July? Nostalgia!)

Things never really panned out for Thompson in Philadelphia, however. The right-hander pitched in parts of three seasons from 2016-18 but managed a pedestrian 4.87 ERA with 6.3 K/9 against 4.7 BB/9 in 116 1/3 innings. Home runs, in particular, were a struggle for Thompson during his time with the Phillies, as evidenced by a career 1.5 HR/9 mark at the big league level.

Rather than pursue a minor league pact in free agency this winter, Thompson instead opted to sign with the Lotte Giants of the Korea Baseball Organization. There, he posted a 4.74 ERA with 8.6 K/9 against 3.6 BB/9 through 62 2/3 innings in the extremely hitter-friendly KBO environment. Lotte cut him loose last month, though, and he’ll now return stateside in attempt to once again pitch at the big league level.

Thompson, still just 25, certainly picked a good organization to give him that opportunity. The Tigers have lost Michael Fulmer, Matt Moore and, quite possibly, Tyson Ross for the season. There’s a chance that Matthew Boyd could be traded in the next six days, and it’s a near-certainty that closer Shane Greene will be on the move. Detroit has numerous vacancies in a patchwork rotation that has struggled all season, and the bullpen offers even more possible opportunities. Thompson hasn’t pitched since being released in late June, so the Tigers assigned him to Class-A Advanced to begin ramping back up. But it’s not unthinkable that if he performs even reasonably well in the minors, he could emerge as a possible big league option at some point in mid August or early September.

Share 0 Retweet 0 Send via email0

Detroit Tigers Jake Thompson Transactions

Yankees Acquire Brian Navarreto From Twins
Main
Dodgers To Acquire Tyler White
17 comments
newest oldest

Comments

  1. ScottCFA

    2 years ago

    The trade market is so dead that MLBTR has to report on a guy cut by the KBO and a trade involving a AA catcher. When will the avalanche start?

    Like
    Reply
    • bluejays92

      2 years ago

      Don’t worry, they made a trade for Nazem Kadri a few weeks ago.

      1 Like
      Reply
    • nmendoza7

      2 years ago

      You could just ignore the notifications if you’re going to whine about it.

      Like
      Reply
    • dugdog83

      2 years ago

      July 31st about noon

      Like
      Reply
  2. 13Morgs13

    2 years ago

    His stuff regressed hard with Phillies(FB has no movement) and off speed regressed hard. He was throwing 95+ in AA. At mlb level with Phillies he was hitting 90mph

    1 Like
    Reply
  3. BobSacamano

    2 years ago

    I actually like this pick up, something other than the revolving door of VerHagen, Carpenter, and Soto.

    Like
    Reply
  4. jirogers72

    2 years ago

    Now if we can sign Matt Harvey; we will have Jackson, Zimmerman, VerHagen, and Harvey!!! Better hope All the great young arms in the minors Alvia brags about are ready next year. Also better hope he gets some reliable bats for Boyd, Greene and Castenellos, or the decay of the Tigers will continue!!!

    1 Like
    Reply
    • jorge78

      2 years ago

      Sounds like a law firm, and a very mediocre one at that!

      1 Like
      Reply
      • jirogers72

        2 years ago

        Great comment!!

        Like
        Reply
  5. Brassroo

    2 years ago

    One step forward…two steps back. Been that way since signing Prince…perpetually getting worse…not gonna change till 2023 at the earliest.

    Like
    Reply
  6. a761506

    2 years ago

    Can’t hack it in Korea? Come play in Detroit. My logic is undeniable.

    Like
    Reply
  7. jorge78

    2 years ago

    So much for prospects always working out…..

    Like
    Reply
  8. burly

    2 years ago

    FYI, the KBO isn’t the hitter friendly environment this year that it was in prior years. The league took some of the resilience out of their baseballs and offense is down significantly. In fact, it looks like the KBO is roughly the same as MLB in terms of offensive numbers: nine players in the 10 team KBO have OPS numbers above .900, compared to 26 players on the 30 MLB teams, and nobody in the KBO has an OPS as high as Mike Trout, Christian Yelich or Cody Bellinger.

    Like
    Reply
  9. oldleftylong

    2 years ago

    Fill the farm! Will work innings until kids are MLB ready.

    Like
    Reply
  10. andrew farelli

    2 years ago

    He got injured and the Lotte Giants decided they’d rather have Brock Dykxhoorn than Thompson and yet Thompson would’ve been an upgrade over some other KBO arms that haven’t been released.

    Like
    Reply
  11. frank_costanza

    2 years ago

    Man, I remember being pumped at him being in the Cole Hamels deal. The Phillies got such a haul at the time. Three top 100 prospects in Williams, Alfaro and Thompson, plus Eickhoff. Just goes to show you that these trades rarely pan out and teams value prospects too much.

    Like
    Reply
  12. TimboDuncan

    2 years ago

    Good Luck Jake Thompson! Keep working hard, you will do just fine.

    Like
    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.
Log in Register

ad: 300x250_1_MLB

    Top Stories

    Astros To Sign Jake Odorizzi

    Brewers To Sign Jackie Bradley Jr.

    Surgery Recommended For Framber Valdez

    No Planned Future Discussion On Expanded Playoffs, Universal DH In 2021

    Out Of Options 2021

    Royals, Hunter Dozier Agree To Four-Year Extension

    Giants, Scott Kazmir Agree To Minor League Deal

    Kelvin Herrera Announces Retirement

    Braves Extend Brian Snitker

    Yankees Sign Justin Wilson

    Recent

    Injury Notes: Longoria, Urias, Whitley

    Pitching Notes: Payamps, Mata, Osuna

    Padres Claim Jordan Humphreys From Giants

    Giants, José Álvarez Nearing Deal

    Market For Maikel Franco “Heating Up”

    Jarred Kelenic To Miss Time After Suffering Knee Strain

    Astros To Sign Jake Odorizzi

    MLBTR Chat Transcript

    Nationals Sign Justin Miller To Minors Deal

    MLBTR Poll: Who Will Win The NL Central?

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Kris Bryant Rumors
    • Jackie Bradley Jr. Rumors
    • Jake Odorizzi Rumors
    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Go Ad-Free
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • 2020-21 Top 50 MLB Free Agents With Predictions
    • 2020-21 MLB Free Agent Tracker
    • 2020-21 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2021-22 MLB Free Agent List
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2021
    • 2021 MLB Arbitration Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Indians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    ad: 160x600_MLB

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • Feeds by Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    hide arrowsFOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top
    Close

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version