The Tigers have agreed to minor league contracts with catcher Anthony Bemboom and right-hander Brenan Hanifee. Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic reported (on X) the Bemboom deal, while Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free-Press reported Hanifee’s signing. Both players will be in camp as non-roster invitees.
Bemboom has spent the past two seasons as a depth catcher with the Orioles. He played in 22 games two seasons back but only got into six contests this summer. The left-handed hitter saw most of his action in Triple-A, where he had a league average .288/.365/.417 batting line through 148 trips to the plate.
The Creighton product has appeared at the big league level in each of the last five years. Bemboom has suited up with the Angels, Rays and Orioles and hit .161/.236/.260 over 82 MLB contests. He has a more impressive .252/.343/.395 slash through parts of seven seasons at the Triple-A level. Bemboom will turn 34 before Opening Day.
Hanifee, 25, made his MLB debut with three outings for the Tigers in September. He worked five innings of three-run ball. A minor league signee going into 2023, he’d pitched in a swing capacity at Triple-A Toledo. Hanifee posted a 4.38 ERA with a modest 20.5% strikeout rate while demonstrating strong control over 90 1/3 innings for the Mud Hens. Detroit non-tendered him at the start of the offseason. He returns to the organization without occupying a 40-man roster spot, which he’ll work to reclaim next spring.
Dumpster Divin’….Scott?
Wow, look who finally showed up to the winter meetings!! Great job Scott Harris, this aught to put us over the top in 2024. Guess you can’t lose a trade if you don’t make any….
Blake Hollub for Mark Canha ring any bells?
These are two horrible signings even for AAA.
Nobody showed up to the winter meetings. They were slow and boring. These are just depth signings. They have to make those too.
Problem is these guys will both suit up in Detroit in 24! Depth is fine for AAA, but watch, they’ll both be on the 26 during the season
Jays are all on for Ohtani….Tigers sign 2 minor leaguers….Wow I miss Mr Ilitch
Signing Ohtani would just screw their ability to field a competitive team in the next few years. That’s a significant chunk of you yearly budget gone to one player (albeit a great hitter AND pitcher all in one).
Ohtani would block playing time for $11 million dollar man Canha and $14 million dollar man Maeda. $25 mil a year wasted on a DH and number 3 starter that has started 41 games in 3 years. Could have brought Boyd and Miggy back for that.
I’m talking down the road when their young players develop and you want to keep them around but they have committed $50-60 million a year to one guy. It limits their ability to fill holes later.
Canha and Maeda are just good short term signings to help them be more competitive this year and bridge the gap to incoming minor leaguers like Malloy/Bigbie and Madden/Jobe.
I’d like to see them grab a headliner too and fill the rest of their holes. Signing all of Chafin (Lefty BP), R. Stephenson (BP), Yamamoto (young #1 or 2 SP) and Bellinger (CF and solid bat) would cost the same as Ohtani with similar production and check off some of their short and long term needs for starters, bats and BP arms. I’m not sold on P. Meadows as more than a 4th OF and Bellinger is an upgrade offensively. They could also package some of their minor league arms and DH type bats (Carpenter, Malloy or Bigbie) to fill those needs. They have too many bat first DH types and not enough spots.
Even another decent starter, combined with guys like Keith and Malloy coming up should be enough to make them competitive for the AL Central this year.
I like Parker Meadows, but I doubt he will be much better than a good defensive Akil Baddoo. But if you look around the majors, CF is pretty weak all over.
Tigers really don’t need old vets… Their first wave of young players are here… The next wave is close. They need a few more young players to really have a shot over the next 5 year run.
I would deal Lange and Manning for a couple young middle infielders from the Reds… Arroyo and Marte?
Try and get lefty hitting C Dalton Rushing from the Dodgers.
Try and get Nolan Gorman or Brendan Donovan from the Cards.
Sign a couple younger free agents… Imanga LHP and maybe try a couple relievers .. Chapman and Chafin?
CF is a tough spot to fill. Unless they want to risk Greene getting banged up or find another option Meadows is it. Personally I like Canha and the OBP but I want to see Malloy get the time and he’s a high OBP guy too. I like the Cincinnati IF prospects better than Baltimore’s (Sal Stewart looks good too). Agree on Manning and Lange and I like all those players you mentioned as well. I think Imanaga could be sneaky good and way cheaper than Yamamoto. A good catching prospect isn’t a bad idea either since Dingler hasn’t really blown anyone away (I like Kevin Parada too).
I liked Canha a few years ago… now, he’s just a guy who doesn’t strike out much. He’s slow, no power, no defense…. I just don’t understand that deal. I would rather give Malloy a shot.
I agree, nobody should pay 20-30-40 million a year to a baseball player, it’s ludicrous how much some of these players make.
And 10 years $70 million equals almost a whole team of young players. Blows my mind. That is almost TBs whole team budget. I hate the Dodgers and Yankees constantly buying every big name FA. Guess Soto and Ohtani are signing on for early first round playoff exits!
It ain’t over till it’s over!
Yeah, well I’m afraid it may, in fact, be quite over!! 🙁
I love that we’ve seen this BemBoom photo for like 2 years now, never gets old
Bemboom. One of the best names in baseball.
Guess we will see if there even going to try this off season. One pitcher and one hitter. What we have lost is more than what we got back, That’s not improvement.
Add in the guys graduating from the minors and it changes that equation. Good arms due to come up (Madden, Montero and maybe even Jobe) and good hitters (Keith, Malloy and maybe Dingler, Leonard, Perez, Jung and Bigbie). Plus they’re not done adding to the pitching. The market has been slow waiting in Ohtani and the Yamamoto.
The Tigers aren’t rebuilding the MLB team. They are rebuilding the MiLB system. All the players they acquire will be traded away during the season for low MiLB players.
Even if they just end up signing another pitcher like Flaherty or Mahle they will have a good shot at dethroning Minnesota for the Central. They shouldn’t be trading off anyone if they make the playoffs.
Tony Boomboom will hit his way onto the 40man at some point this summer
I think you mean Carson Kelly will hit his way off the team.
Hey… the teams that dump Carson Kelly go to the playoffs. The Tigers are just waiting for a chance to strike.
Scottie is looking to see what he has.
There are Tiger fans that are excited he picked up a 35 year old DH. A starting pitcher that has barely pitched 100 innings in 2 of the past 3 years. 210 innings in 3 years? Welcome Matt Boyd 2.0.
Why he didn’t go after a young player or 2 to grow with the prospects he has, I have no clue. Instead, he adds a couple guys who he can try and flip at the deadline. The guy has one trick… that’s it.
Instead of Canha… wouldn’t Tiger fans be more excited if they traded for Tyler O’Neill?
Or Max Stassi instead of Carson Kelly?
These are not who I would go after, but there are better options than Canha and Maeda.
Muggy last year, canha now. Nothing much there. Maeda now, e rod gone. No gain there. Lol, money saved
Canha gets on base. They need people to get on base because OBP was a problem last year. He is no long term solution and doesn’t block others for next year (Malloy, Bigbie) who might be the DH/ part time OF. I like O’Neill but who sits for him to play…Carpenter, Greene, P. Meadows? You can argue to DH Greene until he heals, then Carpenter after that, but how does Malloy not get a shot with the year he had in the minors? Does O’Neill replace Meadows who is cheaper, a great defender and potentially provides the same offensive production? Canha will only get 400 ABs as a part time player and be gone next year.
Maeda soaks up innings when ge plays and they have needed the equivalent of two starting staffs the last two years with all their injuries. They should be in on Yamamoto though. That’s a signing that fits their contention window and moves the needle.
O’Neill in left… Meadows CF… Carpenter RF.,. Greene DH until he’s healthy. They rotate Greene giving everyone a rest at DH. Baddoo can be on the bench to pinch hit, pinch run, occasional of duty.injury depth.
Malloy did well last year… Nevin did too and look how that translated to the majors.
I was pissed that they kept calling Nevin up but hadn’t bothered to check his stats in the minors. In see why they kept giving him chances but he sure didn’t capitalize on them. Malloy hasn’t been up and I’m anxious to see what he’s got to offer. If he can’t cut it then Bigbie is waiting in the wings and there has been talk previously about Leonard ending up in the OF and he looked good too. I definitely see O’Neill as a bounceback candidate though.
Leonard really turned into a great pick up. I think he should get a look at backup infield… maybe a platoon with Perez at 2B? Bigbie did great last year, but his lack of power for a big guy is worrying. I think he spends a year at AAA to built up some power. His walk and K numbers are solid and he has some great BABiP’s too.
No. .229 hitter who strikes out 31% of the time. I will take the guy who gets on base – Canha
Chicks dig walks now?
Things should be different than they are.
How sad.
A couple more reasons not to pay for streaming services from Bally’s.
BFD. Spend a few millions of your billions, you cheap &$@*%!