The Tigers have selected righty reliever Jacob Waguespack onto the MLB roster and designated infielder Zack Short for assignment, the team announced. They have also activated reliever Kenley Jansen from the 10-day injured list, added the just-claimed James Outman to their active roster and optioned righty Brenan Hanifee to Triple-A Toledo.
Waguespack is also a new acquisition. Detroit landed him from the Brewers on Wednesday in a cash deal. He’d spent the season with the Milwaukee organization on a pair of minor league contracts. The second of those presumably contained an upward mobility clause that explains why the Brewers traded him once Detroit was willing to give him an MLB opportunity.
The 32-year-old righty returns to the Majors for the first time since 2024. He’d only made four appearances with the Rays that year. The rest of his MLB experience came with Toronto from 2019-20. Waguespack has a 5.11 ERA over 105 2/3 career innings. He spent a couple years in Japan and has bounced around the Triple-A level over the past few seasons. Waguespack had a 2.45 ERA over 33 minor league innings last year and carried a 1.66 mark in 21 2/3 frames for Milwaukee’s Nashville affiliate this season.
Waguespack doesn’t have huge velocity, sitting in the 92 mph range with his fastball. He has a cutter and changeup while occasionally mixing in a curveball. Waguespack generated a lot of swing-and-miss against Triple-A opposition this year, striking out 36% of batters faced. That came with an alarming 16.5% walk rate. It’s an odd combination for a pitcher who has generally been around the strike zone with middling whiff rates over his career.
Short is a depth infielder who has spent the last month on A.J. Hinch’s bench. He has taken 46 plate appearances over 23 games, hitting .167/.304/.222 without a home run. Short draws walks but neither hits for average nor much power, so it’s a limited offensive ceiling. His primary value lies in his versatility around the infield. Detroit swaps him out for a glove-only center fielder in Outman with their final bench spot.
The Tigers have five days to trade Short or place him on waivers. The latter is likelier, and there’s a good chance he’ll go unclaimed. He’d have the right to decline an outright assignment in favor of free agency if no team carries him on the MLB roster.
Jahmai Jones must have compromising pictures of Scott Harris.
This is the only possibility. Jones can’t hit even in a platoon role, he certainly can’t be trusted in the field… I don’t understand the allure of keeping him when they just added a lefty OF.
In and of itself, that is not quite explanation enough to justify the roster spot.
Unless Jahmai is himself depicted in Scott’s explicit compromises. In that event your theory gains significant traction.
SHORT stay for Zack.
he got the short end of the stick
I would keep Short just for his defense alone compared to Jones. They both know how to draw walks and Jones has more power but Short can bunt and run. Easy decision for me.
Or…get rid of both Short,Jones and Outman too and go get a good player who can hit! They still need one more middle of the order bat.
I don’t think Jones will last much longer.