Tigers Manager Ron Gardenhire Retires
Ron Gardenhire is retiring as Tigers’ manager, effective immediately, GM Al Avila announced today (via Chris McCosky of the Detroit News). Bench coach Lloyd McClendon will take over the manager’s chair for the remainder of the season, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Gardenhire intended to step away from the sport at the end of the 2020 season, he informed reporters (via Evan Woodbery of MLive), but a recent bout with food poisoning contributed to his decision to make the move a week and a half early.
“This is a bittersweet day for myself and my family,” Gardenhire said in a press release. “I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the countless players and coaches that I’ve had the honor of working alongside for the last 16 seasons as manager. I’d also like to thank the Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins for giving me the privilege of leading their clubhouses. While I’m stepping away from managing, I’ll be watching this group of Tigers closely in the next few years. There’s a lot of talent on this team, and a lot coming through the farm system. Tigers fans are going to enjoy the exciting times on the horizon.”
The 62-year-old leaves the sport as one of its most successful managers in recent memory. As he alluded to in his statement, he first broke into managing in Minnesota back in 2002. Those Twins teams immediately rattled off a trio of 90-plus win seasons, winning the AL Central each of those years. Gardenhire’s clubs posted above-average records in eight of his first nine seasons at the helm.
Along the way, Minnesota broke in a handful of the game’s brightest stars. Franchise icon Joe Mauer made his MLB debut in 2004 and was named AL MVP five years later. Johan Santana, meanwhile, blossomed into a perennial Cy Young contender during the mid-2000’s, claiming the award twice.
Bright as things were in the early portion of Gardenhire’s Minnesota tenure, they went off the rails rather quickly. The Twins never won more than 70 games in any season from 2011-14. The club fired Gardenhire after the 2014 season, ending his tenure as the second-winningest manager in franchise history.
Somewhat surprisingly, Gardenhire remerged after a three-year hiatus, getting the Tigers’ managerial job in advance of the 2018 season. Detroit has floundered through a trio of miserable seasons since, although that was always expected with the Tigers amidst a massive rebuild. Much more pressing than wins and losses, Gardenhire was tasked with shepherding Detroit’s young players to the big league level. This season, in particular, has seen the Tigers break a few top young players, including Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal, into the big leagues.
It’s always difficult to tell from the outside precisely how impactful a coach or manager was behind the scenes. Nevertheless, the well-respected Gardenhire drew plaudits in that regard from Avila. “I’d like to congratulate Gardy for having one of the best managerial careers in baseball history,” the GM said. “His leadership and hard work over three seasons with our ballclub has helped move us towards our goal of bringing winning baseball back to Detroit. His positive impact on our young players will be felt for years to come.”
All told, Gardenhire’s clubs compiled a 1200-1280 record. That .484 winning percentage, of course, somewhat reflects the difficult hand he was dealt over the past few seasons in Detroit. His 1200 managerial wins rank 46th in MLB history. MLBTR congratulates Gardenhire on a fantastic career and wishes him well in retirement.
Tigers Place Jonathan Schoop On 10-Day IL, Activate Niko Goodrum
The Tigers have placed second baseman Jonathan Schoop on the 10-day injured list due to a right wrist sprain, the team announced. Schoop’s placement is retroactive to September 13. Niko Goodrum will take Schoop’s spot on the MLB roster, as Goodrum has been activated from his own IL stint due to a right oblique strain.
Schoop sprained his wrist swinging, manager Ron Gardenhire told MLB.com’s Jason Beck (Twitter links) and other reporters. This comes after Schoop was hit by a pitch on that same wrist on September 8, and Schoop has also been dealing with some hamstring issues. The backdated IL placement means that Schoop could technically still return before the season is over, though with the Tigers fading from playoff contention, it’s possible the infielder could be shut down.
If this is the case, it could mark the end of Schoop’s time in Detroit. Schoop signed a one-year, $6.1MM deal with the Tigers in the offseason, and hit a solid .278/.324/.475 with eight homers over 177 plate appearances. While the Statcast metrics weren’t fans of Schoop’s work this year, the veteran positioned himself for another Major League contract as a free agent this winter, and a return to the Tigers might not be out of the question.
Schoop’s chances of suiting up as a Tiger in 2021 could depend on the team’s plans for Goodrum and Willi Castro, as Gardenhire said Goodrum will take over for Schoop at second base so Castro can get some time at shortstop. The versatile Goodrum can play all over the diamond, so Detroit could explore moving him back into a super-utility role next year if they wanted to go with Castro as an everyday shortstop and perhaps bring Schoop back as the regular second baseman.
On the flip side, Castro hasn’t shown much defensively at shortstop, whereas Goodrum has displayed some strong glovework (+8.7 UZR/150 and +2 Defensive Runs Saved) over 248 innings at the position this season. Goodrum’s main focus over the season’s final days will likely be getting his bat on track, as Goodrum has hit only .186/.264/.381 in 129 PA in 2020.
Tigers Call Up Eric Haase, Option Grayson Greiner
The Tigers have made a change to their catching ranks, optioning Grayson Greiner to their alternate training site and calling up Eric Haase. Acquired from the Indians back in January, Haase is line to see his first action of the 2020 season.
Greiner has hit .118/.182/.333 over 55 plate appearances this season, continuing the offensive struggles that also plagued him over his first two MLB seasons (.577 OPS in 340 PA in 2018-19). With starter Austin Romine also scuffling, the Tigers opted to bring Haase into the picture as the backup, though Haase also isn’t known for his work at the plate.
Haase has only 34 career MLB plate appearances to his name, and a .094/.147/.188 slash line to show for his brief time in the Show. In the minors, however, Haase has shown more pop, batting .243/.316/.477 with 130 home runs over 2833 career PA in Cleveland’s farm system.
The other notable aspect of the transaction is that Haase is getting the call rather than Jake Rogers, who has long been tabbed as Detroit’s catcher of the future. Rogers hasn’t seen any time at the Major League level this season after making his debut in 2019 and hitting only .125/.222/.259 over 128 PA. Tigers GM Al Avila recently implied that Rogers was unlikely to be called up again this season, so while Haase’s promotion isn’t necessarily a surprise, it does continue to raise questions about whether or not the Tigers still view Rogers as a long-term answer.
Tigers Reinstate Jordan Zimmermann, Select Nick Ramirez
The Tigers have reinstated right-hander Jordan Zimmermann from the injured list and selected lefty Nick Ramirez, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com tweets. In other moves, they optioned righties John Schreiber and Kyle Funkhouser and moved a pair of players – righty Ivan Nova and outfielder JaCoby Jones – to the 45-day IL.
Zimmermann, out all season with forearm issues, will make his 2020 debut with a start against the Cardinals on Thursday. Surprisingly, the 34-year-old will rejoin a team with at least a glimmer of a playoff chance as the regular season runs out of time. The Tigers haven’t qualified for the playoffs in any season since they signed Zimmermann, a former Nationals standout, to a five-year, $110MM contract before 2016, but they’re alive this year with a 19-22 record.
Of course, the failed Zimmermann deal is among the many reasons Detroit has struggled so much in recent years. Zimmermann has only given the Tigers 508 2/3 innings of 5.61 ERA/4.86 FIP ball so far. No matter how this season ends, though, Zimmermann seems likely to end up in search of a new organization soon as a pending free agent.
Ramirez, 31, made his major league debut with the Tigers last year and performed respectably, recording a 4.07 ERA/4.51 FIP across 79 2/3 innings from their bullpen. He logged 8.36 K/9, 3.95 BB/9 and a 46.2 percent groundball rate in the process.
Tigers Promote Daz Cameron
The Tigers have promoted outfielder Daz Cameron to the major leagues, the team announced. Cameron will take the open roster spot left by Christin Stewart, who was optioned to the Tigers’ alternate training site last night.
Chosen by the Astros as the 37th overall pick of the 2015 draft, Cameron was traded to Detroit as part of the Justin Verlander blockbuster in August 2017. Cameron has hit .247/.338/.396 with 37 homers and 109 steals (in 156 chances) over 1971 career minor league plate appearances, with a significant amount of swing-and-miss (509 strikeouts) contributing to this offensive inconsistency. At Triple-A, Cameron has hit only .214/.321/.370 over 590 PA.
These offensive struggles have led to a drop in Cameron’s prospect value, after he gained top-100 notice from pundits prior to the 2016 season. MLB Pipeline’s scouting report, however, notes that Cameron’s “speed and line-drive approach make him a strong candidate to take advantage of Comerica Park’s deep outfield gaps.”
Cameron could also be a plus on the defensive side in that big Detroit outfield, as he has mostly played center field in the minors and displayed some quality glovework. If Cameron is able to step into center field on at least a part-time basis, the hot-hitting Victor Reyes could be moved back to corner outfield duty, perhaps sliding into the left field spot mostly filled by Stewart this season. Reyes took over center field after JaCoby Jones was lost for the season due to a fractured hand.
Stewart was drafted just three picks ahead of Cameron in 2015, and though Stewart put up some big numbers in the minors, the 26-year-old has yet to truly display that hitting prowess against MLB pitching. After batting just .233/.305/.388 in 416 PA with the Tigers in 2019, Stewart’s numbers sunk even further this season, with a .171/.233/.317 slash line over 91 PA.
Tigers Place Niko Goodrum On 10-Day Injured List
The Tigers have placed shortstop Niko Goodrum on the 10-day injured list due to a right oblique strain. The placement is retroactive to September 2. Infielder Sergio Alcantara has been recalled from the Tigers’ alternate training site to take Goodrum’s spot on the active roster.
After impressing as a super-utilityman in his first two seasons in Detroit, Goodrum has exclusively played shortstop this season with rather mixed results. In the field, Goodrum has been more than solid, with an +8.7 UZR/150 and +2 Defensive Runs Saved in 248 innings at shortstop that backs up his similar numbers at the position (over 326 2/3 innings) in 2019.
At the plate, however, Goodrum has hit only .186/.264/.381 over 129 PA — a big step down from his unspectacular but serviceable .247/.318/.427 slash line over 964 PA in 2018-19. The switch-hitting Goodrum is posting similar hard-contact numbers from 2019, but there is much more swing-and-miss in his game, as his strikeout rate has ballooned from 29.2% in 2019 to 38.8% in 2020.
Manager Ron Gardenhire suggested (to the Detroit News’ Chris McCosky and other media) that Goodrum could potentially only hit right-handed for the remainder of the year, as the oblique only bothers the shortstop when he swings from the left side. Given the lingering nature of oblique injuries, it can’t be ruled out that Goodrum has played his last game of 2020, though it’s obviously a good sign that the problem isn’t entirely limiting. Willi Castro will step in as the Tigers’ regular shortstop while Goodrum is sidelined.
Tigers Designate David McKay For Assignment
The Tigers announced that they’ve designated right-hander David McKay for assignment. His roster spot will go to infielder Zack Short, whom the Tigers acquired from the Cubs for outfielder Cameron Maybin on Monday.
The 25-year-old McKay is in his second season with the Detroit organization, which claimed him off waivers from the Mariners in August 2019. He tossed a third of an inning with the Tigers this year and 19 1/3 last season, adding to the seven frames he threw as a Mariner. McKay hasn’t produced with either team, though, evidenced by his 6.08 ERA and 6.1 BB/9.
While McKay has done well racking up strikeouts in the majors (11.5 per nine) and at Triple-A (14.9 K/9), he has also had difficulty preventing runs and limiting walks at the minors’ highest level. He does have two minor league options left, though, so teams looking for an affordable and young bullpen option could take a chance on him in the coming days.
Recent Player Pool Additions: Tigers, Rangers, Rays, Pirates, Phillies
The flurry of trades leading up to the deadline created some vacancies in teams’ player pools, and we’ve continued to see a few clubs add prospects to their ranks even in the days since the deadline as they look to get said players some vital developmental reps late in the season. Here’s a look at some of the latest additions around the league…
- Outfielder Parker Meadows and right-handers Logan Shore, Jason Foley and Alex Lange have all been added to the Tigers‘ pool, the team announced Thursday morning. Meadows, the No. 44 pick in 2018 and the younger brother of Rays star Austin Meadows, is the most highly regarded of the bunch. He posted strong numbers that summer but struggled in his first full season, slashing .221/.296/.312 against older competition in Class-A. He’s ranked 13th among Detroit prospects at MLB.com and at FanGraphs. Lange, 24, was the better of the two pitching prospects acquired from the Cubs in the trade that sent Nick Castellanos to Chicago last year. He’s pitched as a high as Double-A already and could be an option for the Tigers by next year. Foley was an undrafted free agent in ’16 who missed the 2018 season due to injury but returned with solid numbers in Class-A Advanced last year. Shore, a former second-round pick of the A’s, was sent to Detroit as a PTBNL in 2018’s Mike Fiers trade. Shore’s changeup is considered a potentially plus pitch, but the rest of his arsenal isn’t regarded nearly as highly.
Earlier Additions
- The Rangers announced that infielder Davis Wendzel, outfielder Bubba Thompson and outfielder Steele Walker were all added to their 60-man pool this week. Wendzel was the No. 41 overall pick in the 2019 draft, while Thompson was selected 26th overall back in 2017. Wendzel saw just seven pro games after being drafted last year, so he’s still relatively light on overall professional experience. Thompson had a strong 2018 campaign in his first year of pro ball but saw his production crater in Class-A Advanced last year. He fared better in the Arizona Fall League, however. The 24-year-old Walker was a second-rounder of the White Sox back in 2018 but was traded to Texas over the winter in exchange for Nomar Mazara. He hit .284/.361/.451 in 525 plate appearances across Class-A and Class-A Advanced last year.
- Infield prospect Greg Jones was added to the Rays‘ player pool, per a club announcement. Tampa Bay selected the now-22-year-old Jones with the No. 22 pick out of UNC Wilmington in 2019. He posted a .335/.413/.461 slash in 48 games and 218 plate appearances with the Rays’ short-season Class-A affiliate in the New York-Penn League, although that wasn’t a particularly aggressive initial assignment for a college bat. The success is still notable, of course, and he’ll get some additional simulated game reps and face time with coaches over the season’s final month.
- The Pirates added 2019 first-rounder Quinn Priester to their player pool earlier this week, MLBTR has learned. The Illinois native was selected with the 18th overall pick in the 2019 draft and logged 36 2/3 innings between Rookie ball and short-season Class-A last year. Priester pitched to a 3.19 ERA in that time with a 41-to-14 K/BB ratio and a hefty 59.1 percent ground-ball rate. He’s considered to be one of the organization’s best two to three best pitching prospects.
- The Phillies added former No. 1 overall pick Mickey Moniak to their player pool a day prior to the trade deadline. As Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia noted at the time, it was possible the timing of the move was sheer coincidence and not part of any scheme to trade the 22-year-old outfielder. Moniak had been rehabbing a knee injury, Salisbury wrote, and he’d progressed to the point where he’s able to work at the Phillies’ alternate training site rather than rehab at their Spring Training complex. Moniak hasn’t lived up to his 1-1 billing, but he did post better-than-average numbers against much more advanced pitching in a pitcher-friendly Double-A setting last year. His .252/.303/.439 slash doesn’t look like much, but that checked in 15 percent better than average in the Eastern League, per wRC+.
Tigers Promote Derek Hill
The Tigers are calling up former first-round pick Derek Hill to make his MLB debut in the wake of JaCoby Jones‘ season-ending hand fracture, manager Ron Gardenhire announced in an appearance on 97.1 The Ticket this morning (Twitter link).
Hill, 24, hasn’t lived up to his first-round draft status and only ranks 28th among Detroit farmhands at Baseball America. However, he’s a game-changing defender with excellent speed who’ll be tasked with at least helping to replace the quietly productive Jones. Hill spent last season in Double-A, where he posted a .243/.311/.394 batting line that actually checked in better than the league average in that extremely pitcher-friendly setting (108 wRC+). He slugged a career-best 14 home runs and swiped 21 bases as well, but a 27.9 percent strikeout rate also serves to underscore the concerns that scouts harbor with regard to his hit tool.
Even if Hill doesn’t prove himself capable of holding down an everyday role with the Tigers, his speed and high-end glove create the potential for him to be a fixture on the team’s roster for the next few years. A platoon arrangement seems unlikely, as the right-handed-hitting Hill has generally fared better against righties than lefties in the minors, but he could nevertheless be a valuable fourth outfielder with some power, above-average speed and strong glovework to back up at any of the three outfield slots as necessary.
The Tigers have won six straight games to boost their record to 17-16, leaving them just one game back of the Blue Jays for the No. 8 seed in the American League under this year’s expanded postseason format.
JaCoby Jones Fractures Left Hand
10:51pm: Manager Ron Gardenhire said the Tigers expect Jones to miss the rest of the season, Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic tweets.
9:58pm: Tigers outfielder JaCoby Jones exited the team’s game Tuesday after taking a pitch from the Brewers’ Phil Bickford off the left hand. It turns out Jones suffered a fracture, the Tigers announced.
With just a few weeks remaining in the regular season, this should bring Jones’ 2020 to a close. If so, this will be the second straight year in which a fractured has ended Jones’ season. He went down in August 2019 after suffering a fractured left wrist on a hit by pitch.
Unlike last season, the Tigers actually have something to play for this year, making Jones’ injury that much more of a blow. After crushing the Brewers on Tuesday, they improved to 17-16 just one year after finishing with the majors’ worst record. The 28-year-old Jones has certainly factored into the Tigers’ unexpected turnaround, having batted .268/.333/.515 with five home runs in 108 plate appearances, though he has cooled off after a torrid start to the campaign.
Unfortunately, Detroit’s outfield has now taken multiple hits this week, which could decrease its chances of continuing this Cinderella run. The club weakened its depth in the grass Monday when it traded Cameron Maybin to the Cubs prior to the deadline. The Tigers then replaced Jones on Tuesday with Travis Demeritte, who took over in right field as Victor Reyes slid to center. Aside from Jones, Reyes is the only Tiger who has played multiple games in center this season.