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Tigers Select John Schreiber

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The Tigers announced Thursday that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander John Schreiber from Triple-A Toledo. He’ll step into the vacancy that was created when Detroit designated veteran reliever Trevor Rosenthal for assignment yesterday.

Schreiber, 25, is a Michigan native whom the Tigers selected in the 15th round back in 2016. He hasn’t drawn any rankings in the top echelon of an improved Tigers farm system, but he’s enjoyed a strong 2019 campaign all the same. In a combined 54 2/3 innings out of the bullpen between Double-A Erie (seven innings) and Triple-A Toledo (47 2/3 innings), Schreiber owns a 2.80 ERA with averages of 11.7 K/9, 3.8 BB/9 and 0.82 HR/9.

Detroit’s bullpen has been in a state of flux for much of the season, as is to be expected with a rebuilding club. The deadline trade of Shane Greene to the Braves and Rosenthal’s departure only further open the door for auditions over the final two months of the 2019 season.

Tigers Designate Trevor Rosenthal For Assignment

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The Tigers announced following today’s game that they’ve designated right-hander Trevor Rosenthal for assignment and optioned righty Eduardo Paredes to Triple-A Toledo. They’ll make a pair of corresponding moves before tomorrow’s game.

Rosenthal’s brief stint with the Tigers went a bit better than his ugly tenure with the Nationals, but a 22.74 ERA and 15 walks in 6 1/3 innings is the lowest of low bars to clear. With the Tigers, Rosenthal yielded seven runs and issued 11 walks against 12 strikeouts. He also hit a batter and uncorked four wild pitches, further exemplifying the disappearance of his ability to locate the ball in his first season back from 2017 Tommy John surgery.

With the Tigers, Rosenthal improved his swinging-strike rate and maintained an outstanding 98 mph average fastball velocity. However, his lack of ability to throw strikes on anything resembling a consistent basis handily outweighed his marginal improvements in Detroit. He’s only allowed 11 hits in his 15 1/3 innings this season and hasn’t surrendered a home run, but Rosenthal’s 2019 season is catastrophic on any level. He’ll surely clear waivers and become a free agent again, at which point he’ll be free to sign on with another organization in hopes of another run at righting the ship.

Tigers Claim David McKay

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The Tigers announced that they’ve claimed right-hander David McKay off waivers from the Mariners and optioned him to Triple-A Toledo. The move fills Detroit’s 40-man roster.

McKay, 24, made his big league debut with Seattle earlier this season, tossing seven innings out of the bullpen. He was tagged for four runs on five hits and eight walks with five strikeouts in that time, continuing to display the control problems that began to plague him upon reaching Triple-A this season.

McKay logged 43 2/3 innings with Seattle’s Tacoma affiliate but struggled to a 5.15 ERA with 31 walks and 10 hit batsmen in that time. While that’s obviously an ugly line, McKay also racked up an eye-popping 71 strikeouts in that time (14.63 K/9). Control wasn’t an alarming issue for him prior to this season, and he punched out 85 hitters in 59 1/3 innings a season ago when topping out in Double-A, so the Tigers will try their hand at sorting out his location issues. McKay averaged 93 mph on his fastball in his brief big league time this season and drew a plus grade on his slider in MLB.com’s scouting report on him. He lacks a third average pitch, though, making him a rather clear-cut bullpen prospect.

Tigers Place Jordan Zimmermann On IL

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  • The Tigers placed righty Jordan Zimmermann on the IL on Monday with a right cervical spasm, the team announced. It’s the latest setback in an ugly Detroit tenure for Zimmermann, whose five-year, $110MM contract has been a bad investment for the club from the get-go. This season, Year 4 of the deal, Zimmermann has logged a 7.13 ERA (with a better, albeit unspectacular, 4.80 FIP) in 72 innings.

Report: Tigers Were Offered Baez, Bregman In 2017 Offers For Michael Fulmer

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Between a down year in 2018 and then Tommy John surgery in March 2019, Michael Fulmer has fallen off the radar for many fans outside of the Motor City.  Yet it wasn’t long ago that Fulmer was one the most sought-after trade chips in baseball, hotly pursued by multiple teams in the aftermath of a Rookie Of The Year season in 2016, and a strong sophomore year that saw him post a 3.83 ERA, 2.85 K/BB rate, and 6.2 K/9 over 164 2/3 innings in 2017, though Fulmer’s year was cut short by elbow surgery.

It was during that 2017 season that the Tigers finally went into full rebuild mode, trading Justin Verlander, Justin Upton, J.D. Martinez, and others before the trading period finally halted at the end of August.  Fulmer received plenty of attention from trade suitors, though he wasn’t as obvious of a moveable asset given that he still had so many years of team control remaining.

Nonetheless, the Tigers received some sizeable offers for his services, and according to Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press, these offers included two blockbusters for future All-Stars.  The Tigers reportedly declined a three-player package from the Cubs that would have seen Javier Baez head to Detroit in exchange for Fulmer, while the Astros were willing to give up Alex Bregman for both Fulmer and left-hander Justin Wilson.

It makes for an eye-popping case of hindsight for the Tigers and their fans, considering how the three principal figures of those offers have since performed.  Baez and Bregman are simply two of the game’s best players, each collecting All-Star appearances in both 2018 and 2019, while Baez finished second in NL MVP voting last season while Bregman racked up a fifth-place finish in the 2018 AL MVP race and also played a big role in the Astros’ 2017 World Series title.

Fulmer, by contrast, hasn’t matched his early potential due to injuries and perhaps simply some statistical regression.  Whether he can regain his former front-of-the-rotation status is a question that can’t be answered until at least a few months into the 2020 season (or perhaps until 2021, if Fulmer is one of many pitchers who under-performs in their first several starts back from TJ surgery).

There were some rumors about a Cubs/Tigers trade involving Fulmer back in 2017, prior to Chicago’s acquisition of Jose Quintana from the White Sox, though Detroit reportedly wanted both Baez and Ian Happ as part of a Fulmer trade package.  Bregman and Fulmer were never linked in any trade talks, and one wonders if the Astros only floated the idea fairly early in the year, since Bregman was installed as the team’s everyday third baseman from Opening Day onward.  Needless to say, Bregman was no longer on the table by the time Houston and Detroit collaborated on their actual 2017 blockbuster, the championship-deciding deal that sent Verlander to the Astros on August 31.

In fairness to the Tigers, every front office has countless examples of instances where they missed out on a trade or a signing that would have been a steal.  Likewise, from the Cubs’ and Astros’ perspective, every team can cite numerous cases where they lucked out in not making a transaction.  But the Fulmer situation looms large, Fenech notes, given how Detroit has been unable to maximize the return on several of their top trade assets during their rebuild.

Several scouts from around the league weren’t very impressed by the four total prospects Detroit received from the Cubs and Braves in trade deadline swaps of Nicolas Castellanos and Shane Greene.  The Tigers also weren’t able to trade Matt Boyd, perhaps their most valuable trade chip, at all.  While “multiple executives indicated Boyd’s trade value will never be as high as it was at 3:59 p.m. on Wednesday” prior to the trade deadline, it seems that Detroit’s asking price on Boyd was simply too exorbitant.  One National League exec told Fenech that the Tigers’ demands were “borderline comical,” and an AL executive describing Detroit’s front office as “impossible to deal with.”

The Tigers also asked for a lot in their attempts to trade Greene.  For instance, Detroit asked the Nationals for top infield prospect Carter Kieboom, and Fenech also reports that the Nationals turned down an offer for Luis Garcia, another prized young infielder.

Cubs Notes: Deadline, Castellanos, Hamels, Morrow

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The latest out of Wrigleyville…

  • The Cubs’ acquisition of Nicholas Castellanos didn’t become a reality until around 20 minutes before yesterday’s 3pm CT trade deadline, 670 The Score’s Bruce Levine reports.  The Cubs and Tigers had been in talks about Castellanos prior to Wednesday, though discussions didn’t reignite until almost literally the last minute, as the trade was finalized with eight minutes to spare.  As Cubs GM Jed Hoyer told The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney and other reporters, the turning point was ownership’s decision to okay adding roughly $2.5MM of Castellanos’ remaining salary to Chicago’s payroll.  The trade pushes the Cubs to the very edge of exceeding the $246MM maximum luxury tax penalty threshold, as Roster Resource estimates the Cubs’ luxury tax number as slightly less than $245.66MM.
  • While the Cubs have played some inconsistent ball over the first four months, they’re still tied with the Cardinals atop the NL Central.  Since the team was always in contention, Hoyer said his front office didn’t really think about a larger shake-up that would’ve seen Chicago subtract from its Major League roster.  “There’s the idea-generation time and then there’s like: What deals are we actually going to work on? None of those deals actually made it to that point. Yeah, of course, people called about our players, but our focus was on trying to add to this group,” Hoyer said.
  • While an official announcement has yet to come from the team, it is looking like Cole Hamels will be activated off the injured list to start Saturday’s game, MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian tweets.  Hamels has been on the IL since June 29 due to an oblique strain, and has completed two rehab outings in the minors.  Prior to his injury, the veteran southpaw was looking good in his first full season as a Cub, posting a 2.98 ERA, 8.76 K/9, 2.77 K/BB rate and a 51.1% grounder rate over 99 2/3 innings.
  • Brandon Morrow’s status is much less certain, as Hoyer said that while the Cubs are still “cautiously optimistic” that the reliever will be able to contribute, it would “be foolish at this point to make any decisions assuming that he was going to be a big part of this bullpen.”  Morrow hasn’t pitched since July 15, 2018 due to a biceps injury and then offseason elbow injury.  The former closer has experienced at least one setback during his recovery process from that procedure, and with only two months remaining in the season, Morrow is running out of time to get healthy and fully prepared for a return to Major League action.

Braves Rejected Tigers' Ask For Alex Jackson

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  • Speaking of the Greene deal, the Braves were able to make that trade without including catcher Alex Jackson, as Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press reports that Atlanta turned down the Tigers’ ask for the 23-year-old prospect.  Jackson is ranked as the the 26th-best prospect in Atlanta’s system by MLB Pipeline, and is in the midst of a huge season at Triple-A (.887 OPS in 283 PA).  Picked sixth overall by the Mariners in the 2014 draft, Jackson’s prospect stock dropped after a slow start to his pro career, though a position switch to catcher three years ago and this season’s hitting breakout has gotten him back on the radar.

Tigers Select Travis Demeritte’s Contract

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The Tigers have selected the contract of outfielder Travis Demeritte from Triple-A Toledo, as per a team announcement.  Righty Eduardo Jimenez has also been called up from Toledo.

Demeritte is set for his big league debut just a day after joining the Tigers.  The 24-year-old was dealt to Detroit yesterday along with southpaw Joey Wentz in the trade that sent Shane Greene to the Braves.  It marked the second time in Demeritte’s young career that he was part of a late-July deadline deal, as he was also sent to Atlanta as part of a three-player swap back in 2016.

Selected 30th overall by the Rangers in the 2013 draft, Demeritte has been an inconsistent offensive player over his career, though he had his share of decent numbers.  This includes a great stretch at Triple-A Gwinnett this season, as Demeritte posted a .286/.387/.558 slash line and 20 homers over 399 plate appearances.  While never a premium prospect, Demeritte is interesting enough to merit a look from a Tigers club that is open to all possibilities (particularly in the outfield) as it continues a rebuild.  Demeritte began his career playing all over the infield, though he has almost exclusively been a corner outfielder over the last two years.

Cubs To Acquire Nicholas Castellanos

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The Cubs snuck in a last-minute stunner, working out a deal with the Tigers for Nicholas Castellanos, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). Paul Richan and Alex Lange are headed to Detroit in return, per Craig Mish of MLB Network (via Twitter).

Castellanos is earning $9.5MM this year before reaching the open market at season’s end. The Tigers will pick up approximately $500K of the $3MM left of Castellanos’ salary, per Patrick Mooney of The Athletic.

The Cubs will add a good bit of offensive pop in this move, creating some additional possibilities in their outfield mix. It’s not immediately clear how the club will deploy its newly numerous group of options, having also acquired Tony Kemp earlier today, but odds are Castellanos will be in the lineup against all southpaws and a fair number of righty hurlers as well.

Through 439 plate appearances of regular action this year for the Tigers, Castellanos carries a .273/.328/.462 batting line with 11 home runs. He has been inconsistent for much of the season, ramping things up after a slow start but falling off again more recently.

Richan and Lange are each recent top draft picks who could be MLB options in the relatively near future. While the Tigers are laden with pitching prospect depth, it never hurts to have more arms. Richan has been at the High-A level all year, where he’s through 93 innings of 3.97 ERA ball with 8.3 K/9 and 1.7 BB/9. Lange carries a 5.82 ERA with 8.2 K/9 and 4.7 BB/9 in 86 2/3 innings on the season, split between High-A and Double-A.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Braves Acquire Shane Greene

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The Braves have acquired right-handed closer Shane Greene from the Tigers for left-hander Joey Wentz and outfielder Travis Demeritte, per an announcement from Atlanta.

Greene has posted excellent results this year, but as a reliever with waning control on a rebuilding team, he has looked like an obvious trade candidate throughout the campaign. The 30-year-old’s on a $4MM salary this season and comes with arbitration eligibility for another winter.

Through 38 innings in 2019, Greene has pitched to a measly 1.18 ERA, but that surely won’t hold. His 3.70 FIP, 3.80 xFIP and 3.45 SIERA are all a good distance away, while there’s also a sizable gap between the weighted on-base average Greene has allowed (.221) and his xwOBA (.282). But that’s not to say Greene can’t be a significant asset going forward. He still owns an excellent 10.18 K/9 against 2.84 BB/9, an easily above-average 53.8 percent groundball rate and a solid 14.3 percent infield fly rate.

Greene, who has 22 saves on 25 attempts this season, may take over as the Braves’ closer immediately. Luke Jackson has been serving in the role, though he has blown seven saves on 24 tries. Plus, while Jackson has done good work for most of the year, he has endured an awful stretch in which he has yielded seven earned runs in six appearances dating back to July 12. With Jackson struggling and the NL East-leading Braves lacking an abundance of dependable relievers aside from him, they’ve now reeled in Greene, former Rangers righty Chris Martin and ex-Giants righty Mark Melancon since Tuesday evening.

Wentz, 21, joined the Braves as a sixth-round pick in 2016. He entered the season as the Braves’ 11th-ranked prospect, according to FanGraphs’ Kiley McDaniel and Eric Longenhagen, who noted at the time injuries and inconsistency have held Wentz back. He has gotten his first taste of Double-A action this season and put up a 4.72 ERA/4.36 FIP with 8.74 K/9 and 3.93 BB/9 over 103 innings.

The 24-year-old Demeritte did not rank among FanGraphs’ top Braves prospects entering the season, but they noted then he possesses “easy plus power and is passable at multiple positions defensively.” Demeritte has since slashed an outstanding .286/.357/.558 with 20 home runs in 399 plate appearances in his Triple-A debut. A first-round pick (No. 30) of the Rangers in 2013, Demeritte became a Brave via trade in 2016. He’s now on the move again.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported a trade was close. Buster Olney of ESPN reported the Braves had acquired Greene. Jon Morosi of MLB.com tweeted Wentz’s involvement. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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