The Tigers announced Friday that catcher Donny Sands has been designated for assignment. His spot on the 40-man roster goes to right-hander Shelby Miller, whose previously reported one-year contract has now been formally announced by the club.
Sands, 27, came to the Tigers from the Phillies alongside Matt Vierling and Nick Maton in the trade sending left-hander Gregory Soto and utilityman Kody Clemens to the Phillies. The Tigers viewed him as some valuable, optionable depth behind the plate, but the performance of Jake Rogers in the Majors and some struggles from Sands in Triple-A combined to keep Sands in the upper minors all season.
In 371 trips to the plate with Triple-A Toledo, Sands hit .225/.318/.353. Even when backup catcher Eric Haase struggled in the majors and was designated for assignment, the Tigers went outside the organization to bring Carson Kelly aboard on a one-year deal with a 2024 club option. The Tigers exercised that option earlier this winter, and Kelly is now in line to serve as Rogers’ backup.
Sands still has one more minor league option year remaining, and he’s posted roughly average framing grades in the upper minors. This past season, he logged a 24% caught-stealing rate. And, despite his scuffles in Toledo, Sands still carries a career .261/.352/.403 batting line parts of three Triple-A campaigns. Another club with some needs behind the dish could well hold interest in Sands, be it in a small trade or via a waiver claim. Detroit will have a week to find a trade partner or attempt to pass Sands through outright waivers.
I remember when Phillies were upset he traded him
Well, it’s not like Garrett Stubbs isn’t replaceable. Phils need someone who can start 30-40 games? Just sayin….
Was eying Higashioka myself…
Marchan is 10 times the player Higashioka is.
Tigers could be so good this year. Remember who told you 95 wins for the tigers. Just plug in Keith and Malloy in that lineup
They will be closer to 95 losses.
Tigers are winning 86 to 89 games so I doubt you bet the 95 losses so it’s laughable Tigers improved the SP & RP & their young core players are ready to take control of the leadership. Tigers are going to be in contention all year for the AL Central. Mize Skubal Flagerty Olson Maeda is a nice starting 5.
I don’t think they will lose 95 games, but that starting 5 is not very nice. Right now, outside Skubal, it’s a collection of 4-5 starters. A few with health/injury concerns.
I could see a .500 season. Maybe a little better.
Exactly! Whoever said 95 loses don’t know squat. But only are the Tigers much improved with their offseason pickups, they play in the weakest division in MLB. Looking like a 86-90 win campaign is definitely possible.
Dumbest prediction & you aren’t going to bet it either!
Im not going to bet on it, you’re right. I don’tbeen, period. I think DET has a good system and should be good in the future, but their current hitting is dreadful and two #3-5 SPs isn’t making them much better, if at all after losing E-Rod.
You’re prediction is fairly dumb as well Detroit Dave. You’re predicting a team that signed a couple mid to low level players are going to win 86-89 games just by looking at a piece of paper. You sound worse that Browns fans every year with the “THIS is our year crap”
This club could be a 90 win team if they add a couple legit hitters
How are they doing that with the poor position player market this offseason?
The Tigers will win 80 to 90 games next year… I’ll say 86.
What’s your logic behind that prediction?
It will be between the Twins, Tribe (sorry) and the Tigers. First team to 85 wins the division.
I’m beginning to miss Al Avilla.
Other than Al himself, you are all alone on that one dude.
Not really. HARRIS has no sense of urgency. He traded the Tigers closer for part time OF Vierling and in over his head Maton, now that he has cut Sands. That’s a poor return for any teams closer. Avila was let go because 10 starting pitchers and Riley Greene all got injured the same year. If Avila was still in place, he would be providing the finishing touches. HARRIS just wants to build his own team, not finish someone elses.
You’re looking at this at too shallow of a level. Player base is obviously important, but Harris has excelled at building a staff of coaches and front office members in the organization to develop this club into something really good. He’s careful about the players he signs and trades for also. What the Tigers needed was identity, and that’s what Harris is building. Another point, Avila certainly wasn’t perfect, he’s the one who signed the Javy deal remember?
I’m certain the owner wanted a big name SS regardless who it was.
I was under the impression that Donny Sands was the target player the Tigers received for Gregory Soto and Kody Clemens.
Harris is methodically & meticulous & Avila was haphazard & unorganized. The fact things that Harris thinks about & implementing are beyond anything Avila could understand or do. People need to chill the F out & give him a chance to build HIS team & organization!
This fabulous coaching mix couldn’t coach a catcher.
Styme…Al was let go for more than one bad year. Check your history on that one. Jordan Zimmerman, Austin Meadows et al. Lots of things didn’t work out. Harris has been building a team, assessing and adding to the pieces Avila had in place. He’s been there a year and his GM a couple months or less. Not sure why you feel there is a sense of urgency. Impatience never helped any team. Just ask the Mets last year.
Garry…Do you Jean AJ Hinch? Surely not Chris Fetter? Which coach or all of them? The coaches who won 78 games last year and a 2nd place finish? Not sure what you are saying. Hinch is a great head coach.
@Kylek
It was Avila that brought in Hinch and Fetters. Avila’s collection of staff and coaches drafted and developed virtually the entire 25 man roster. HARRIS wasn’t careful in who he traded E-Rod for. HARRIS got little for a lefty closer who could hit 100mph. He cut Candelario, Willi Castro, and now Zack Short for no return. He overpaid for Boyd who missed half the season. (Injuries were held against Avila, so…)
What is their Identity, now? If its Skubal, Torkelson and Greene, well, that wasn’t HARRIS.
I don’t want to wait for him to build HIS team. I want him to finish building THIS team. The time is now. By the time his draft pick Clark arrives, Greene, Tork, Skubal, Manning and Mize will have all left in FA.
The sense of urgency is that its a six year window, due to free agency at six years. Between Covid, and HARRIS taking a year to learn, they are in year 4. If a new rebuild is HARRIS’ plan, the other teams in the division will also have time to reset.
I understand Look before you leap, but I also understand He who hesitates is lost. Just look at the White Sox, who looked like an up and coming team, but took to long to make the additions they needed.
Jesus, are you going to live forever?
If Illich would spend some damn money, we wouldn’t have to SIT THROUGH THIS BS.
Plenty of opportunities over the years.
This year, he could sign some more guys and trade them half-way through the season for more top prospects. Players can be kept in the minors if they have options. So, a hopeful or two.slip through.the cracks, who cares? QUIT BEING SO DAMN CONSERVATIVE. GO FOR IT.
From now on, I’m complaining directly to the boss, Marion Illich, because Christopher Illich is a wet blanket and quite frankly just NO DAMN FUN.
Hire the Superfife.
10 layers of maybe, isn’t depth.
Kyle, do you really believe that bs? Do you really think the Tiger coaches are improving players now more than when Avila was in charge? Carpenter showed great improvement but he went outside the Tigers to get coaching.
I believe Fetter is a genius, but Avila hired him.
You have Tork, a number 1 overall playing at replacement value. Greene was supposed to be a superstar and he’s good when he isn’t injured. Baddoo is still Baddoo… Baez is Baez…
Keith is moved off of 3B… Jung hasn’t produced the offense they promised.
Styme…Didn’t he just sign 4 decent pitchers and an OF/DH who can get on base to fill short term needs while not blocking young players? The guy is doing something and yes he arguably gambled and lost on the wildman Soto trade (maybe), and the Erod thing was bad, but Lorenzen, Ibanez and Holton were not. Cutting 3x .200 hitters, who later did okay requires a crystal ball. You should lend him yours. Getting two first round talents in the draft for the future helps to build a sustainable winner and should be applauded. As for all those players you say will leave in free agency, how do you know that? You don’t. It’s not all Avila’s guys on the roster.
If they win the Division this year, which they seem primed to do, will that be enough for you to throw the guy a compliment for putting a decent team together?
Avila’s players can pull it off. I highly doubt anything that Scotty Harris adds to them will be of much value.
Skubal, Mize, Manning… Tork, Carpenter, Greene… > Ibanez, Flaherty, Canha and any of the other castoffs Scottie has collected.
Imagine if he had drafted Langford… He wouldn’t have needed Canha. He would have a middle of the order right handed power bat with huge OBP right now. Instead he has a Derek Hill at A ball…
QOf course, I’m joking….about complaining to the boss. This is the best team we’ve had in years…err…a decade.
I just wish they were more aggressive.
I’m sure Chris is a very nice young man.
Melchez…check back in 2-3 years on Langford. Clark is the next Kirk Gibson…he just needs to be old enough to grow facial hair!
Definitely not. Sands was an afterthought.
Exactly. It isn’t all or nothing. AA got some decent talent here, but they were very slow to develop. The developers assembled have done a good job. See Greene, Tork, Kerry, Parker Meadows, Tyler, and even Jake Rogers.
That’s a nice group to build around. I have high hopes for Keith and would like to see what Malloy and even Bigbie can do OF depth-wise. Since Keith’s arm injury has his future at 2B, the only real question marks IMO are 3B, & if Javy can return to being a productive hitter. If Jung doesn’t pan out – or even if he does – I wouldn’t mind seeing the Tigers open up the vault for Bregman next offseason.
I think the Tigers will contend this year, but will be even stronger next year. People want to get rid of Harris already?? He’s had one year for crissakes.
Gee, Candelario was a 2X Tiger of the Year. E-Rod had a no-trade list WRITTEN into his contract. A Crystal Ball wasn’t required. Clark looks like a solid talent, but Langford has more power, and was going to arrive during this iteration of the team. Show me an instance of the this ownership signing a young player long term. It hasn’t happened. Canha is decent, but they needed POWER. Unless HARRIS makes some radical changes to the team, when they win, I will continue to give Avila the credit for putting this team together.
Styme…as much as we slam Avila I agree with you and Melchez that the core pieces of this team were brought in by him. I also agree not resigning Candelario was a mistake. Avila’s Covid draft was one of my favorites…the only head scratcher for me was Trei Cruz. I was sure Gage Workman was going to be the steal of that draft but that didn’t work out.
As for Harris though, I don’t think you guys are giving him a chance, given hes been there a year. Every GM/POBO makes stupid mistakes and he has too in the year he’s been there. Prior to this offseason, he had made good and bad decisions that made me wonder. This offseason though, I don’t see any of these signings as bad, and I think they all help the team be competitive in the short term. I understand them and see where he is going, even if I don’t like them all (i.e. Vierling at 3b, no big bat brought in).
Hopefully they win the Division and keep improving short term and long term.
I’m referring to the great MiLB system Scott Harris with his immense insight assembled.
The Tigers did not miss Gregory Soto or Kodi Clemens.
I’m sure Mrs Avila would agree.
Ridiculous! Harris is doing a really solid job & this hate for him isn’t warranted
So tell me. What has he done?
He signed some old guys that used to be pretty good.
Some players on short term contracts who can help them win this year without blocking any young players coming up.
Better CS% than J.T. Realmuto. Just needs to rake a bit more.
In my mind, this is the son of Jerry Sands. I’m afraid it will remain this way.
Why give up Sands when Nevin seems way more expendable? I understand there’s no immediate path to the majors for Sands, and he’s not likely to be a regular starter, but still, catchers are valuable.
Probably kept Nevin because there is no real other option on the 40 man who can play 1st base. Ibanez played 4 games there and that’s it
Canha. That’s why we got him.
As soon as they either deal for and/or trade for another bat (ANY other bat really), I’d expect Nevin to be cut at that point.
Nevin is the only backup 1st baseman they have.
Canha
Oh yeah!!
Honestly might be time to think about working with JHM there as well.
I agree, catchers are too valuable to organizations. Nevin is a great AAA hitter, but has never been able to get over the hump in the bigs.
Melchez said it today…Tigers need to get another young catcher in the fold beside Dingler. Lack of depth and options. They drafted a couple of interesting catchers this year but they look like long-term projects.
San Diego has top rated prospects at 2 positions of need: SS & C , Tigers have SP pitching depth. If Harris wants to make a big trade, San Diego is ready, willing & able!
Awesome idea!
Yeah, would that it could be so ….
This one is a head scratcher. Have two guys, Nevin and Maton who are both out of options and are not likely to make the opening day roster. So why let your third catcher on the 40 man go? Makes little sense.
Dingler was just moved to the 40-man.
4th catcher. Tigers have Rogers,Kelly, Dingler Sands sucks.
Sands bombed at AAA, but Nevin and Maton excelled there, even if they both bombed with the Tigers.
Yes, but C > 1B/2B.
He might pass thru and they try to sign to a minor league deal…
So long Donny. We hardly knew ye.
We’ve thrown in the towel, lol, actually we need to cut 4-5 more players to get room to sign others too
Braves have open roster spots and he has options
No reason AA shouldn’t be trying to swing a deal for him
He is young & versatile
He’s 27 and still not ready for AAA.
Steve Adams’ writing continues to be brutal. When using “and” to start the sentence, it should NOT have a comma after it.
Get a new job, you hack.
Assigned to minors after passing thru waivers…still in organization for catching depth