Deadline Day Roster Moves
After what was arguably the wildest trade deadline in years with dozens of deals around the league, multiple teams made follow-up roster moves. Trades end up squeezing some players off of rosters, or creating holes that need to be filled. This post will itemize the many 40-man roster moves that teams made after a dizzying array of blockbuster deals earlier in the day.
AL East
- The Orioles claimed Ryan Hartman off of waivers from the Astros, according to Rich Dubroff of BaltimoreBaseball.com. The 27-year-old lefty was recently designated for assignment when Brooks Raley was reinstated from the COVID-IL.
- The Red Sox designated outfielder Marcus Wilson for assignment. The move was needed to accommodate the acquisition of reliever Hansel Robles from the Twins.
- The Yankees announced that they designated Ryan LaMarre for assignment. The outfielder was recently selected to help the team patch some holes during their COVID outbreak.
- The Rays designated righties Sean Poppen and Jake Reed for assignment, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. This was to create roster space after the acquisition of Jordan Luplow and DJ Johnson from earlier today.
AL Central
- Pablo Sandoval was released by the Indians. This was just hours after he was acquired in the Eddie Rosario trade. Based on his release, it’s clear that he was only included as salary offset.
- The Tigers selected the contract of reliever Ian Krol. The left-hander is back after being designated for assignment earlier in the week.
AL West
- The Mariners outrighted Vinny Nittoli to Triple-A. The righty recently had his contract selected, throwing one inning before being designated for assignment.
- The Rangers announced they were selecting the contracts of right-handers Jharel Cotton and Drew Anderson. Both hurlers signed minor league deals over the winter.
NL East
- The Marlins selected the contracts of outfielders Bryan De La Cruz and Brian Miller. Both players are now in line to make their major league debuts. Miami designated infielder Deven Marrero and outfielder Corey Bird for assignment to create roster space.
- As expected, the Mets officially reinstated starter Carlos Carrasco from the 60-day injured list. The righty made his team debut this evening against the Reds.
- The Phillies designated reliever Brandon Kintzler for assignment and transferred outfielder Matt Joyce to the 60-day injured list. The moves were necessary to create roster space to accommodate Philadelphia’s three deadline acquisitions.
- The Nationals selected the contracts of Gabe Klobosits and Adrian Sanchez, according to Jesse Dougherty of The Washington Post. Klobosits, a right-handed pitcher, is a 36th round draft pick from 2017. He has no major league experience. Sanchez had a couple of cups of coffee with Washington from 2017-2019 before being outrighted in 2020 and then re-signing on a minor league deal.
NL Central
- The Cubs selected the contracts of RHP Michael Rucker and utilityman Andrew Romine, according to Jesse Rogers of ESPN. Rucker was picked up by the Orioles in the Rule 5 draft in 2019 but returned to the Cubs before the season started and has yet to make his major league debut. As for Romine, the 35-year-old utility man was signed by the Cubs to a minor league deal earlier this year. The Cubs also selected the contract of righty Jake Jewell prior to yesterday’s game.
- The Brewers announced that they designated RHP Patrick Weigel for assignment. Weigel was acquired as part of the Orlando Arcia trade with Atlanta back in April.
NL West
- The Diamondbacks claimed outfielder Jake Hager off waivers from the Mariners. This will be Hager’s fourth club on the season, having been previously designated for assignment by the Mets, Brewers and Mariners. Arizona also selected the contracts of infielder Drew Ellis and left-hander Miguel Aguilar.
- The Dodgers announced that they claimed catcher Chad Wallach off waivers from the Marlins. Wallach was recently designated for assignment when Brian Anderson was reinstated from the IL.
Tigers Reportedly Discussing Michael Fulmer In Trades
The Tigers have been discussed reliever Michael Fulmer with other teams this afternoon, reports Jon Morosi of MLB.com (Twitter link). Detroit needn’t move Fulmer, who’s controllable through next season via arbitration, unless particulaly impressed by an offer.
Fulmer has tossed 42 innings of 3.86 ERA/3.44 SIERA ball this season, his first as a bullpen option. He’s striking out a career-high 25.6% of batters faced and racking up swinging strikes at a personal-best 13.3% clip, so there should be plenty of demand among contenders. Detroit already made one bullpen move today, sending lefty Daniel Norris to the Brewers.
Meanwhile, Morosi reports that the Tigers are not in active talks regarding second baseman Jonathan Schoop, nor are they likely to trade reliever Jose Cisnero.
Brewers Acquire Daniel Norris From Tigers
The Brewers are finalizing a deal to acquire lefty reliever Daniel Norris from the Tigers, tweet Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel of ESPN. MLB.com’s Jason Beck first broke news of the trade discussions, and he hears that minor league starter Reese Olson is heading back to the Tigers. The deal is done, according to Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press.
Norris, 28, has struggled to the tune of a 5.89 ERA, 25.5 K%, and 9.6 BB% in 36 2/3 innings this year for Detroit. The southpaw has been done in by a .354 batting average on balls in play, so better things may be on the horizon. Plus, Norris has stifled lefties, whiffing more than 30% of them against a 7% walk rate. He’s due for free agency after the season, so he’s a clear trade candidate for the Tigers. Norris is earning $3.475MM on the season.
Norris was drafted in the second round by the Blue Jays back in 2011. He was the key piece in the Jays’ acquisition of David Price in a deadline deal of six years ago, along with Matthew Boyd. Back then, Norris was a 60-grade prospect with the potential of a frontline starter. However, Norris battled numerous injuries in his Tigers career. He made a career-high 29 starts in 2019, but switched to the bullpen permanently last August when Tarik Skubal and Casey Mize hit the scene. Though Norris has mostly pitched in low-leverage situations for the Tigers this year, he did work his way up in the bullpen pecking order in July.
This month the Brewers have been relying on Josh Hader and Devin Williams in high leverage situations, with Williams activated from the IL for elbow discomfort on Tuesday. In addition to Hader, the Brewers’ pen includes lefty Brent Suter.
Olson, 21, was a 13th round pick out of high school by the Brewers back in 2018. He’s got a 4.30 ERA, 26.9 K%, and 11.9 BB% in 14 High-A starts this year.
Tigers Activate Michael Fulmer, Designate Ian Krol For Assignment
The Tigers announced Tuesday that right-hander Michael Fulmer has been reinstated from the 10-day injured list. Lefty Ian Krol was designated for assignment in order to open a spot on the roster.
Fulmer hit the injured list late last month with what the team termed a cervical spine strain. His return comes just days before the trade deadline, so it’s possible he won’t have enough time to convince other clubs of his health, but prior to his injury Fulmer looked like one of the more obvious trade candidates around the league.
The now-28-year-old righty was acquired from the Mets in the 2015 Yoenis Cespedes blockbuster and promptly won American League Rookie of the Year honors as a member of the Tigers’ rotation in 2016. That season saw the righty pitch 159 innings of 3.06 ERA ball over the life of 26 starts. He struck out 20.4 percent of opponents along the way, posted a very strong 6.5 percent walk rate and an above-average 48.9 percent grounder rate.
Fulmer looked like the next in a long line of quality arms that had helped the Tigers to perennial contender status earlier in the decade, but injuries have largely derailed that outlook. He’s undergone ulnar nerve transposition surgery and Tommy John surgery since that Rookie of the Year campaign and has pitched a total of just 200 innings since Opening Day 2018 — including 40 frames this year.
After seeing diminished output as a starting pitcher, Fulmer reinvented himself in the bullpen this season. He’s been hammered for a 4.97 ERA in his handful of starts this season but had pitched to a 3.62 ERA with a sizable 29.7 percent strikeout rate and just a 5.1 percent walk rate out of the ‘pen. That bullpen ERA was sitting at 2.73 prior to his final outing prior to landing on the IL, when he served up three runs in an inning of work before alerting the team of the injury.
Fulmer is earning a reasonable $3.1MM salary this year and is controlled into the 2022 season via arbitration. That could pique the interest of contending clubs, but the extra year of control also means the Tigers needn’t simply accept the best offer that comes their way after he’s had maybe one or two innings to showcase his health. Fulmer could reestablish himself in the season’s final months and be shopped this winter, and it’s also possible that the Tigers could decide to hang onto him into next year as they look to field a more competitive club.
Krol, 30, returned to the Majors for his first look since 2018. He tossed 4 2/3 innings out of the Detroit bullpen and held opponents to a pair of runs on four hits and a pair of walks with four strikeouts in that time. He’d been on a nice run in Triple-A prior to his call-up and has a pair of quality big league seasons under his belt, but consistency has been hard for him to come by; he carries a 4.48 ERA in 194 2/3 Major League innings and has on three occasions posted single-season ERAs of 4.96 or higher. The Tigers can trade him in the next couple days if they find a suitor — otherwise Krol will be placed on outright waivers or released.
MLBTR Poll: Which Contender Should Trade For Jonathan Schoop?
The Tigers are 47-53, 12 games behind the White Sox for the division lead. Their fate was sealed by a disastrous April when they went 8-19 to start the year. Since then, they’ve actually put together three consecutive winnings months, including an 11-8 mark so far in July. These Tigers have played perhaps the most enticing stretch of baseball we’ve seen from Motor City in years, but they’re still sellers heading into this trade deadline.
Jonathan Schoop, Jose Cisnero, Kyle Funkhouser, Gregory Soto, Daniel Norris, and Jeimer Candelario are the names most likely to draw trade interest here in the week before the deadline, per Chris McCosky of the Detroit News. Schoop’s name has certainly been bandied about the most in the Twitterverse, mostly as a lower-cost option for teams not interesting in paying presumably high-end returns for other available infielders like Trevor Story or Adam Frazier.
Schoop, after all, is a free agent at the end of the year and making just $4.5MM. He doesn’t have the controllable contract like Frazier or the long-term track record of Story, but he would nonetheless be a valuable addition for someone.
With a 116 wRC, he’s an above-average bat for the third time in five years (he was exactly average with a 100 wRC+ in 2019. He’s slashing .289/.330/.471 with a .182 ISO that’s actually a little low for Schoop’s norms. He’s doesn’t strike out over much and his bat carries consistent pop.
Defensively, he’s not garnering the plus marks that he has in the past, but he can still handle multiple positions as a first and second baseman. He absolutely crushes left-handed pitching to the tune of a 161 wRC+ this year. He’s a first division platoon bat with the capability of being an everyday, impact player on a playoff team. He fits the Howie Kendrick mold from the 2019 Nationals, and though it’s not fair to put Hendricks’ heroic expectations onto Schoop, he can be that kind of all-purpose, veteran bat that won’t cost an arm and a leg to acquire.
Like Kendrick, his physical abilities don’t leap off the page, and he doesn’t play a premium position, but he’s a textbook professional hitter. Schoop isn’t the big name that many fan bases might be hunting, but if the Tigers are inclined to move him, he can absolutely be a difference-making piece for a contender. Just a couple weeks ago, MLBTR’s Mark Polishuk did the work of finding the best fits for Schoop, but let’s hear from you: which contender would benefit the most from adding Schoop’s potent right-handed bat to their first base/second base/DH/bench crew?
(poll link for app users)
Which Contender Would Benefit The Most From Jonathan Schoop?
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Tigers Should Keep Him 20% (1,609)
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White Sox 17% (1,397)
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Red Sox 14% (1,121)
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Mariners 10% (832)
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Athletics 6% (528)
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Mets 6% (482)
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Giants 6% (481)
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Brewers 5% (418)
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Padres 4% (292)
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Dodgers 3% (274)
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Phillies 3% (270)
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Braves 3% (247)
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Rays 3% (205)
Total votes: 8,156
Tigers Sign Jackson Jobe, Izaac Pacheco
The Tigers announced Friday that they’ve signed No. 3 overall draft pick Jackson Jobe and No. 39 overall pick Izaac Pacheco. That pair of signings comes just a few days after the Tigers locked up No. 32 overall pick Ty Madden. Jobe received a $6.9MM bonus that clocks in $322K under slot, reports Jim Callis of MLB.com (Twitter links). He adds that Pacheco signed for a $2.75MM that is about $850K over slot.
Jobe, a high school right-hander out of Oklahoma, was something of a surprise pick to many onlookers. He’s regarded as having one of the highest ceilings in the draft and drew praise as the top high-school pitcher in this year’s class, but prep pitchers have a particularly high attrition rate as prospects, so there’s some risk to the selection.
That said, it’s also easy to see why the Tigers were so drawn to him. Jobe ranked seventh on the pre-draft rankings at ESPN and at MLB.com, eighth at Baseball America and FanGraphs, and 16th at The Athletic. ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel wrote that Jobe “might be the best prep pitching prospect in years.” The righty draws 60 to 70 grades (on the 20-80 scale) on three different pitches. Listed at 6’2″ and 190 pounds presently, Jobe was also his high school team’s shortstop and is regarded as an excellent all-around athlete. The history of high school pitchers in the first round, particularly right-handers, isn’t great — but Jobe himself is a highly appealing prospect.
Pacheco, meanwhile, checked in at No. 22 at The Athletic, No. 30 at MLB.com, No. 36 at BA, No. 52 at ESPN and No. 65 at FanGraphs. He’s played shortstop in high school and was committed to Texas A&M. Most scouting reports on him feel he’ll settle in as a power-hitting third base prospect, which isn’t a huge surprise for an 18-year-old already listed at 6’4″ and 225 pounds. MLB.com’s report suggests that he could have more raw power than any left-handed hitter in the draft.
The Tigers have saved a bit of money on Jobe and some down-the-board picks (rounds four, five, six and eight, specifically). Those savings don’t quite balance out the over-slot deals for Madden and Pacheco, but the team could still save a bit of money on some of its yet-unsigned selections. It’s also worth remembering that they can exceed their bonus pool by up to five percent before being penalized with the loss of future picks. Detroit had the second-largest bonus pool at $14,253,800 total, so they could exceed that pool by up to $712K. Given that flexibility, they should be able to sign the rest of their picks without much issue.
Tigers Release Nomar Mazara
JULY 21: Detroit has requested unconditional release waivers on Mazara. He’ll almost certainly clear after 48 hours, at which point he’ll be free to sign elsewhere.
JULY 16: The Tigers announced Friday that they’ve designated outfielder Nomar Mazara for assignment and optioned infielder Willi Castro to Triple-A Toledo. Outfielder Derek Hill and infielder Isaac Paredes are up from Toledo in a pair of corresponding roster moves. Detroit has also appointed lefty Miguel Del Pozo as the 27th man for today’s doubleheader against the Twins.
Still just 26 yeas old, Mazara once ranked as one of baseball’s elite prospects, entering the 2016 season as one of the consensus 25 most promising minor leaguers in the sport. He looked the part when he made his MLB debut that season, too, hitting .266/.320/.419 with 20 home runs in 145 games. It wasn’t a dominant showing, of course, but Mazara was just 21 years old at the time and was making the jump with only 23 Triple-A games under his belt. It was an impressive showing, and it was reasonable to expect that he’d only improve with more reps against big league pitching.
That, however, never really proved true. Mazara spent the next four seasons as the primary right fielder in Texas but more or less just kept repeating his 2016 season. He posted a 93 OPS and 91 wRC+ as a rookie in ’16 and, from 2017-19, posted collective marks of 94 and 92 in those same respective categories. He hit exactly 20 home runs again in 2017 and 2018 before hitting 19 in 2019. Essentially, he’d settled in as a slightly below-average hitter with well below-average defensive grades. The Rangers trade him to the White Sox during the 2019 Winter Meetings.
At that point, Mazara was a highly interesting change-of-scenery candidate. He’d plateaued in Arlington, to be sure, but he was a former Top 25 prospect who was heading into his age-25 season with two years of club control remaining. For the White Sox, it was a sensible enough roll of the dice to see if they could help Mazara take the next step. Instead, he turned in a career-worst .228/.295/.294 batting line with just one home run and a career-high 29.5 percent strikeout rate through 149 plate appearances last summer. Chicago non-tendered him in the offseason.
Mazara took a chance with his second AL Central club, landing with the Tigers on a one-year, $1.75MM deal late in the offseason. Things have gone a bit better in Detroit than in Chicago, but only by a slight margin. Mazara’s strikeouts are down a bit and he’s shown a little more pop. However, his overall .212/.276/.321 batting line through 181 plate appearances so far simply wasn’t enough for the Tigers to keep giving him at-bats over more controllable players who are hoping to emerge as long-term fits in Detroit.
The Tigers will have a week to trade Mazara, attempt to pass him through outright waivers, or place him on release waivers. Mazara has more than five years of service time, so even if he does go through outright waivers without a claim, he can reject an outright assignment to the minor leagues and retain the entirety of his remaining salary. It’s unlikely that another club would claim that salary, given his poor showing at the plate. The likeliest outcome is that Mazara becomes a free agent, whether via unconditional release from the team or via rejecting an outright assignment. At that point, he’d be free to sign elsewhere for only the prorated league minimum. That amount would be subtracted from the roughly $753K the Tigers still owe him through season’s end.
Hill, 25, is a former Tigers first-rounder who has had some sparse big league looks but hasn’t yet had a lengthy audition. He’s hitting .320./.373/.508 in 133 Triple-A plate appearances, however, and he’ll now return to Detroit for his second stint of the 2021 campaign.
The 22-year-old Paredes has been ranked among the Tigers’ better prospects since coming to the Tigers alongside Jeimer Candelario in the 2017 trade that sent Justin Wilson and Alex Avila to the Cubs. He hasn’t hit much in 145 prior MLB plate appearances, but his .261/.357/.412 slash in Triple-A will net him a look over the struggling Castro — another infield prospect who has stumbled to a .214/.278/.341 slash through 280 plate appearances with the big league club so far in 2021.
Spencer Turnbull To Undergo Tommy John Surgery
The Tigers’ rotation received some brutal news, as manager A.J. Hinch announced to reporters that right-hander Spencer Turnbull will require Tommy John surgery (Twitter link via Evan Woodbery of MLive.com). The surgery will end Turnbull’s 2021 season and keep him out for the majority of the 2022 season as well.
It’s awful news for the player and a major blow to the Tigers as they begin to look toward turning the corner from their rebuild. The 28-year-old Turnbull established himself as an MLB-caliber hurler back in 2019 and has steadily improved since — culminating in this year’s no-hitter against the Mariners. Prior to landing on the injured list, he’d pitched to a 2.88 ERA with a below-average 21.9 percent strikeout rate, an excellent 6.0 percent walk rate and a huge 57.2 percent ground-ball rate. Dating back to 2019, Turnbull owns a 4.13 ERA in 255 innings.
The Tigers control Turnbull through the 2024 season, so there’s plenty of time for him to return to health and still make an impact with the club — if not in 2022 then certainly in 2023. In the meantime, he’ll head into his first trip through arbitration this winter with a strong but brief platform showing. He won’t have much of a chance in 2022 to build up innings and make a case for a substantial raise, making the injury a particularly poorly timed one from a financial perspective.
It’s also possible that were Turnbull healthy and continuing to thrive, as he had earlier this season, the Tigers would’ve been overwhelmed by a trade offer from a pitching-starved contender. Starting pitching is at a premium every year, but the supply is particularly thin in 2021 — and demand could be more robust than in a typical season. With three-plus years of club control remaining, the price would’ve been sky-high, but today’s injuries effectively removes the possibility altogether.
Tigers Sign Ty Madden
The Tigers announced Monday that they’ve agreed to terms with No. 32 overall pick Ty Madden. The now-former Texas right-hander signed for a $2.5MM bonus that comes in north of his slot’s $2,257,300 value, Jim Callis of MLB.com reports (via Twitter).
Entering the draft, Madden was seen as one of the top three or four college arms available, but he slid down the board a bit and landed with the Tigers with the second pick of Competitive Balance Round A. The 21-year-old was lights out from 2020-21 with the Longhorns, pitching to a combined 2.34 ERA with a 35.4 percent strikeout rate against an 8.7 percent walk rate through the life of 138 2/3 innings.
Madden ranked as the draft’s No. 9 prospect at MLB.com and was listed 12th both at Baseball America and FanGraphs. ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel tabbed him 19th, and Madden landed 23rd on Keith Law’s list at The Athletic. Listed at 6’3″ and 215 pounds, Madden sits in the 95-96 range with his fastball and leans on a slider that draws praise as a plus pitch from scouts. His changeup is a lesser-used offering but gives him a chance at a third average or better pitch to incorporate in his repertoire.
The Tigers were focused on arms early in this year’s draft, selecting pitchers with eight of their first 11 picks — including Madden at No. 32 and high school right-hander Jackson Jobe with their top pick at No. 3 overall.
Mariners Return Rule 5 Pick Will Vest To Tigers
The Mariners have returned Rule 5 selection Will Vest to the Tigers, the team announced.
The right-hander was selected by Seattle with the 12th overall pick in the Major League phase of the 2020 Rule 5 Draft on Dec. 10, 2020. He was designated for assignment back on July 12th, and now that no team claimed him, he will be returned to the Tigers for one half of the Rule 5 selection fee.
Vest, 26, actually saw a fair amount of playing time with the Mariners, appearing in 32 games and logging 35 innings with a 6.17 ERA/4.17 FIP. He had a 1.38 ERA through his first 12 outings, but things unraveled a bit from there as he allowed 22 earned runs in his next 22 innings.
The control and strikeout numbers aren’t all that encouraging, as a 11.5 percent walk rate is a decent tick above the 8.9 percent league average, and he has only struck out 17.3 percent of opponents, well below the league-average mark of 23.8 percent. Still, there’s enough there to be an interesting arm for the Tigers to take a look at now that he’s back in Detroit. Generally speaking, he did a nice job avoiding barrels and limiting hard contact with a 93.5 mph four-seamer, slider, and change-up.