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Daniel Norris Away From Camp Due To Coronavirus Protocols

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11:41am: Norris has tested positive, Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press reports.

10:39am: Tigers lefty Daniel Norris is away from Summer Camp pursuant to the coronavirus protocols, Chris McCosky of the Detroit News reports on Twitter. It is not clear whether he has personally tested positive for an infection.

The good news here is that Norris indicates he’s not presently experiencing any deleterious side effects. The southpaw adds that he’s at full strength otherwise.

Even if Norris has not contracted the virus or does not experience symptoms, he’ll have to wait a while before returning to camp. He will have to register negative for COVID-19 on two consecutive tests.

Norris, 27, remains an interesting and uncertain part of the picture for the Tigers. He threw 144 1/3 innings of 4.49 ERA ball last year, compiling 7.8 K/9 against 2.4 BB/9, a 42.6% groundball rate, and 1.56 homers allowed per nine innings. The results and the peripherals suggested that Norris performed as a back-of-the-rotation starter — a useful player, but perhaps not what once seemed possible for the former to prospect.

Troy Stokes Likely Out For Season With Broken Hamate

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Tigers left fielder Troy Stokes, Jr. underwent surgery to repair a broken hamate bone in his hand, manager Ron Gardenhire announced earlier this week (h/t to Evan Woodbery of MLive). He is expected to miss the entire season.

This explains Stokes’ omission from the Tigers’ Summer Camp player pool. He remains on the 40-man roster, although it seems only a matter of time before he’s transferred to the 45-day injured list.

Originally a fourth-round pick of the Brewers in 2014, Stokes became a prospect of some note with his original organization. On his way up the minor-league ladder, Stokes offset high strikeout rates with a fair number of walks and an enticing combination of power and speed. Unfortunately, he struggled in his first crack at Triple-A in 2019, hitting .233/.341/.385 in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.

It’s brutal news for the 24-year-old Stokes, whom the Tigers claimed off waivers from Milwaukee last September. He has yet to make his MLB debut but looked to have a shot at cracking a young, uncertain outfield in Detroit this season.

Tigers Agree To Terms With Spencer Torkelson

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The Tigers have agreed to terms with top overall draft choice Spencer Torkelson, according to Jim Callis of MLB.com (Twitter link). He’s set to receive a hefty $8,416,300 bonus.

Spencer Torkelson | Arizona State Media Relations/Jeremy Hawkes

While he only topped the 1-1 draft slot allocation by a nominal amount ($1K), it’s still quite a notable number. Per Callis, this is the biggest draft bonus ever given. It’s also the first time a first overall pick has reached the full slot value since the current draft system (with prohibitive penalties for excessive spending) went into effect.

Torkelson entered the draft as the consensus top overall talent, so it came as no surprise when he went first overall. The Tigers have enjoyed quite a lot of good years from Miguel Cabrera, who may overlap in Detroit if Torkelson moves as quickly as many expect.

Over his three seasons at Arizona State, Torkelson carried a prodigious .337/.463/.729 batting line. He not only launched 54 home runs over his 628 trips to the plate, but walked more often than he struck out. As you might expect, Torkelson was more dominant than ever during the truncated 2020 season, solidifying his position as the top available player.

The greatest bit of intrigue on draft day came not with the calling of Torkelson’s name, but the Tigers’ announcement that they viewed him as a third baseman. Most anticipate the big slugger will end up at first base by the time he arrives in Motown. But the Tigers will at least give him a shot at settling in at the hot corner, where his monster bat could have even greater value.

Torkelson’s polish is all the more impressive given that he still hasn’t reached his 21st birthday. It’ll certainly be interesting to see how swiftly he forces his way up the farm system. No doubt the Tigers are hopeful that Torkelson will catch up to the many intriguing power pitchers already lining up for MLB opportunities.

Photo courtesy of Arizona State University Athletic Department.

Tigers Announce Initial 60-Man Player Pool

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Today marks the deadline for teams to submit to Major League Baseball their initial spring training player pools, which can comprise up to 60 players. Players are not eligible to participate in either a spring training or regular season game until they are included in the pool. Teams are free to change the makeup of the pools as they see fit. However, players removed from a team’s 60-man (for reasons unrelated to injury, suspension, etc.) must be exposed to other organizations via trade or waivers.

Not all players within a team’s pool are ticketed for MLB playing time, of course. Most teams will include well-regarded but still far-off prospects as a means of getting them training reps with no intention of running them onto a major league diamond this season. A comprehensive review of 2020’s unique set of rules can be found here.

The Tigers’ initial player pool consists of the following players.

Right-handed pitchers

Left-handed pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Tigers Expected To Sign Spencer Torkelson Before Players Report

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The Tigers are expected to finalize a deal with No. 1 overall pick Spencer Torkelson prior to the resumption of training camps, Jason Beck of MLB.com writes. Lynn Henning of the Detroit News tweets that Torkelson is expected to sign his deal as soon as Sunday and will likely receive a bonus slightly north of his $8,415,300 slot value. MLB.com’s Jim Callis notes that the Tigers can pay as much $8,441,985 without being penalized with the loss of future picks.

Torkelson is regarded as one of the best bats to come out of the draft in decades. The 21-year-old posted an otherworldly .337/.463/.729 with 54 home runs, 33 doubles and a 110-to-104 BB/K ratio in 628 plate appearances as Arizona State’s regular first baseman. The 20-year-old slugger was long the favorite to go No. 1 overall in this year’s draft and is viewed as a fast-moving bat who could be a fixture in the middle of a big league lineup for years to come. Baseball America has already ranked him as the game’s No. 11 overall prospect on its updated Top 100 list, and Torkelson now checks in at No. 38 on the updated rankings from FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen.

While it’s unlikely that Torkelson will be brought to the big leagues this season, of course, Beck notes that the club is still at least considering Torkelson for its 60-player pool that must be submitted to MLB by Sunday evening. Placing Torkelson in that pool would afford him some developmental opportunities in the rebooted Spring Training and then with non-active-roster players throughout the duration of the relaunched 2020 season. Torkelson can obviously be placed on that list without being added to the 40-man roster and wouldn’t get service time simply for being in the 60-player pool, so there’s little downside for the Tigers when it comes to including him.

Tigers GM Al Avila announced earlier this week that the club had signed Competitive Balance pick Daniel Cabrera, and the club has also announced deals with second-round pick Dillon Dingler, third-round pick Trei Cruz, fourth-rounder Gage Workman and fifth-round selection Colt Keith. Torkelson is the lone unsigned player among the bunch, but it sounds as though he’ll put pen to paper and officially begin his pro career in the near future.

Tigers Release Alex Wilson

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The Tigers announced Thursday that they’ve granted right-hander Alex Wilson his release. He’d been in Spring Training as a non-roster invitee to camp prior to the league’s shutdown.

Wilson, 33, had a successful stint with the Tigers from 2015-18 when he racked up 264 2/3 innings of relief and pitched to a 3.20 ERA/3.87 FIP with 5.9 K/9, 2.1 BB/9 and a 46.4 percent ground-ball rate. He opened the 2019 season with the Brewers and struggled greatly, though, allowing more than a run per inning in 11 1/3 frames before being cut loose.

Back in May, Wilson spoke to Chris McCosky of the Detroit News about the uncertainty he was feeling as a veteran non-roster player in limbo. Wilson, who was working on reinventing himself as a side-armer, said at the the time he hoped expanded rosters and the organization’s familiarity with him would position him well for a bullpen job. Today’s announcement makes clear that the rebuilding Tigers didn’t feel that to be the case. With myriad younger options available, the Tigers could simply use expanded rosters as a means of evaluating less-experienced options who could be part of the club’s long-term outlook.

While MLB’s transactions freeze won’t lift until tomorrow, it’s worth clarifying that said freeze only applies to the Major League roster. We’ve seen teams throughout the game cut a number of minor leaguers and non-roster invitees over the past month, and Wilson becomes the latest in that long line of names.

However, by granting Wilson his release now, the Tigers will give him a bit of extra time to gauge interest from other clubs in hopes of finding a new club with which he can spend a rebooted Spring Training. Teams are required to submit to the league a 60-name list of players who can participate in their restarted training camps by Sunday, although those lists aren’t concrete and are subject to change pending transactions.

Tigers News & Notes: COVID, D. Cabrera, Fulmer, Taxi Squad

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The Tigers are the latest known major league team affected by the coronavirus. Speaking to Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free-Press and other reporters Wednesday, general manager Al Avila revealed that two people in the organization – one player and one staff member – have tested positive for the illness. Neither individual has recovered yet, but the player was not working out at the team’s spring facility in Lakeland, Fla., when he contracted it. Meanwhile, as a prostate cancer survivor, manager Ron Gardenhire is at higher risk than most of coming down with COVID-19. Gardenhire admitted he’s “uneasy” about a season during a pandemic, but he’s confident MLB will do its best to keep everyone safe, per Fenech.

More out of Detroit…

  • The Tigers have signed supplemental second-round pick Daniel Cabrera for $1.2MM, above his slot value of $1,102,700, Jim Callis of MLB.com tweets. The former Louisiana State outfielder was the 62nd overall choice. His deal leaves slugger Spencer Torkelson, the first overall selection, as the only Detroit pick who hasn’t signed yet. The Tigers can pay Torkelson $7,775,700 without exceeding their $13,325,700 bonus pool and $8,441,985 without losing future picks, Callis notes. The slot value of the No. 1 pick is $8,415,300.
  • Right-hander Michael Fulmer has made enough progress in his recovery from March 2019 Tommy John surgery that he should be ready to return to the mound when spring training resumes, according to Avila (via Evan Woodbery of MLive.com). However, the Tigers aren’t going to rush the 27-year-old Fulmer back into game action. “Once we get there and we see him and see him and he starts working out we’ll just figure out what we can do and how we can do it,” Gardenhire said. “Game situations are so much different than practice.” The former American League Rookie of the Year (2016) was once among the most prized young hurlers in the game, but along with injuries, a decline in performance has damaged his stock over the past couple years. In 2018, the last time he pitched, Fulmer logged a career-worst 4.69 ERA/4.52 FIP over 132 1/3 innings.
  • Gardenhire confirmed that standout Tigers pitching prospects Casey Mize, Matt Manning, Tarik Skubal and Alex Faedo will be on their 60-man taxi squad, Chris McCosky of the Detroit News relays. “They are going to be part of this,” said Gardenhire, but that doesn’t mean any will make his major league debut this year, as Avila acknowledged that ” it might be more difficult to get them that experience” during such a short season. Regardless, being on the 60-man roster will at least give those who may not yet be ready for the majors to play intrasquad games and continue to develop in a year that probably won’t have a minor league season.

Details On Gage Workman's Signing Bonus

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  • Tigers fourth-round pick Gage Workman will come in at $1MM, Callis also reports. That’s well above the #102 pick’s $571,400 slot value. As Eric Longenhagen of Fangraphs had previously suggested, that reflects Workman’s ample leverage as a young-for-the-class college junior. The toolsy, switch-hitting infielder played his college ball at Arizona State.

Amateur Draft Signings: 6/20/20

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Let’s catch up on the latest draft signings …

  • The Astros were able to wrap up all of their draft business, per Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle. In addition to picking up some undrafted free agents, the Houston organization inked its four draftees. The key signing was Alex Santos, a high school hurler who’ll turn pro after being offered $1.25MM — a fair bit over the $870,700 slot he was chosen at. Zach Daniels and Tyler Brown each signed for near their slot amounts, while fifth-rounder Shay Witcomb took just $56K and left the team with room to ink Santos.
  • Also inking for $1.2MM was Rangers’ choice Dylan MacLean. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reported the news on Twitter. MacLean was a fourth-round pick in the draft, signing for more than double his slot amount. MacLean is a southpaw hurler out of Central Catholic High School in Oregon.
  • The Braves went well over slot to sign fifth-rounder Bryce Elder, according to MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis (Twitter link). Elder will receive $850K, far north of the $336,600 allocation for the 156th overall pick.
  • As he said he would, Tigers fourth-rounder Gage Workman has reached agreement on a deal with his new team. The Detroit organization announced the signing, though it isn’t yet known what the Arizona State infielder will receive to forego a return for another run with the Sun Devils. Still just twenty years of age, Workman posted a lifetime .298/.372/.496 mark at ASU. He’s likely to begin his pro career as a shortstop.
  • The Cardinals announced that they’ve signed third-rounder Levi Prater. He’ll earn $575K ($627,900 slot value), Callis tweets. Callils notes that Prater is a right-handed hurler with a 90-93 mph fastball.
  • The Phillies added fourth-rounder Carson Ragsdale and fifth-rounder Baron Radcliff, per Callis (Twitter links). Ragsdale will earn $225K, well under the $497,500 slot value. Radcliff, a Georgia Tech outfielder, is slated to take home $100K, which will also leave some savings since his draft slot came with a $371,600 pool allocation.
  • The White Sox chased some serious mid-round savings. Third-round choice Adisyn Coffee has inked for $50K and fourth-rounder Kade Mechals went for $10K, Callis reports (Twitter links). Both are right-handed hurlers, Coffee from Wabash Valley College and Mechals out of Grand Canyon. It’s not hard to interpret these signings: the White Sox wish to reallocate the rest of the slot money ($733,100 and $517,400, respectively). The club is believed to be lining up a big bonus with second-rounder Jarred Kelley, though he hasn’t yet signed.
  • Rays third-rounder Hunter Barnhart is heading to Tampa Bay on a $585K bonus, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports on Twitter. The Rays saved some cash in inning Barnhart, whose third-round slot carried a value of $604,800.
  • High school righty Marco Raya has agreed to terms with the Twins. Callis tweets that he’ll receive a $410K bonus, which isn’t far shy of the $442,900 slot value. Raya is foregoing a commitment to Texas Tech. Though he’s hardly a power hurler, he’s said to have an “interesting four-pitch mix.”

Tigers Sign Second-Rounder Dillon Dingler

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11:34am: Dingler signed for the full slot value of $1,925,300, tweets Jim Callis of MLB.com.

11:24am: The Tigers announced Thursday that they’ve agreed to terms with second-round pick Dillon Dingler. As one would expect, bonus terms weren’t formally disclosed by the team, but Dingler’s slot value checks in at $1.95MM.

A catcher out of Ohio State, Dingler was regarded as a top 30 draft talent by each of ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel (No. 17), The Athletic’s Keith Law (No. 20), FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen (No. 29) and the teams over at Baseball America (No. 27) and MLB.com (No. 24). The 21-year-old, however, was still on the board for the Tigers with the top pick in the second round (No. 38 overall), and the Detroit org was surely thrilled to add another highly touted college position player to its already impressive stable of pitching prospects.

Dingler hit .340/.404/.760 with five homers, four doubles and a triple in just 13 games with the Buckeyes in 2020 before the season ground to a halt. After a pedestrian freshman season, he put himself on the map with a .291/.392/.424 slash in 2019 — a sign that he was perhaps tapping into the above-average raw power for which scouting reports credit him. Law calls Dingler the best defender among this year’s crop of catchers, and he even draws roughly average marks for his speed (45 at FanGraphs, 55 at MLB.com); Dingler swiped nine bags in a dozen tries in 62 games between 2019-20.

With Dingler on board, the Tigers have agreed to terms with three of their six picks. Third-rounder Trei Cruz and fifth-rounder Colt Keith agreed to deals that were a combined $116K over slot. Detroit still has to work out deals with No. 1 overall pick Spencer Torkelson, Competitive Balance (Round B) pick Daniel Cabrera and fourth-round pick Gage Workman. Of that bunch, Workman has already acknowledged that he intends to sign, although there’s no deal in place just yet (at least not one that has been announced or reported).

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