Tigers Rumors

Tigers Designate Dixon Machado For Assignment

By Mark Polishuk | July 4, 2018 at 9:05pm CDT

The Tigers announced a series of roster moves, including the news that infielder Dixon Machado has been designated for assignment. The 40-man roster spot will be filled by right-hander Victor Alcantara, whose contract will be selected from Triple-A before tomorrow’s game. Right-hander Warwick Saupold has also been optioned to Triple-A, with infielder Ronny Rodriguez headed up to the big league club.

Machado began the season as Detroit’s everyday second baseman, as the rebuilding team sought to give the 26-year-old a long look at the position with Ian Kinsler dealt to the Angels. He produced passable defensive grades but the bigger issue was Machado’s lack of hitting, as he managed only a .206/.263/.290 slash line and one home run over 233 plate appearances. The bat has never really been Machado’s calling card (he had just a .640 career OPS over 3329 PA in the minors), though the Tigers couldn’t ignore such a dire performance for much longer, especially with Niko Goodrum increasingly taking over regular duty at second base.

If the out-of-options Machado isn’t claimed or traded during his DFA period, he could still leave the organization as a free agent, as MLive.com’s Evan Woodbury tweets. Machado was outrighted off the roster back in 2013, so he would have the option of choosing free agency rather than accept an outright assignment to Triple-A.

Alcantara will join the Tigers’ Major League roster for the first time this season. The 25-year-old righty made his big league debut in 2017, posting an 8.59 ERA over 7 1/3 relief innings out of Detroit’s bullpen. He was outrighted off the 40-man in the offseason, though regained some stature within the organization with a 2.68 ERA, 8.4 K/9, and a 7.33 K/BB rate over 47 innings at Triple-A Toledo this season.

Dodgers Interested In Michael Fulmer

By Steve Adams | July 3, 2018 at 1:52pm CDT

The Dodgers have been oft-linked to Manny Machado in recent weeks, but Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets that the team is also “aggressively” pursuing Tigers right-hander Michael Fulmer. Just how receptive the Tigers are to trade offers for their top starter remains unclear.

Certainly, Detroit will have to at least entertain offers on virtually any player on the roster, as the organization’s rebuild is still in its early stages. But the Tigers are in a more difficult spot with Fulmer, whose 2017 season ended due to ulnar nerve transposition surgery in his right arm. Thus far in 2018, Fulmer hasn’t been nearly as good as he was in his 2016 Rookie of the Year season or for the vast majority of the 2017 season before a series of awful starts leading up to that surgical procedure.

Through 94 1/3 innings in 2018, Fulmer is sitting on a 4.20 ERA with 7.6 K/9, 2.9 BB/9, 1.05 HR/9 and a 46.3 percent ground-ball rate. More troubling than his bottom-line numbers, though, is the quality of contact he’s allowed. Both Fangraphs and Statcast indicate that Fulmer’s hard-contact rate has soared by 10 percent this season. The average exit velocity of a ball put in play against Fulmer has leaped from 85.6 mph in 2017 to 88.8 mph in 2018.

There are certainly positives surrounding Fulmer’s season as well, of course. His average fastball velocity of 95.8 mph is right in line with his pre-surgery levels. His strikeout percentage (20.4), swinging-strike rate (10.3 percent) and chase rate (34.2 percent) are all either at or above his career-high levels. Fulmer looks to be in good health, and if he can sharpen his pitch location a bit, there’s reason to believe he can take some significant strides forward.

For the Tigers, though, that all boils down to the fact that Fulmer’s value simply isn’t at its peak at the moment. And given that he’s under club control for another four and a half seasons, there’s no need to rush into a trade unless the Dodgers (or any other club) bowl them over with a package from which they can’t walk away. Conversely, it’s tougher for an interested party to make that type of offer when there’s some uncertainty surrounding the pitcher’s current performance level.

Tigers Select Jim Adduci

By Steve Adams | July 2, 2018 at 3:28pm CDT

The Tigers announced following today’s game that first baseman/outfielder Jim Adduci will have his contract selected from Triple-A Toledo. Young catcher Grayson Greiner is being optioned to Toledo in his place, and the Tigers are shifting Miguel Cabrera from the 10-day DL to the 60-day DL in order to open up a roster spot. Cabrera underwent season-ending surgery on a ruptured biceps tendon earlier this summer.

Adduci, 33, will return for a second stint with the Tigers after hitting .241/.323/.398 with a homer, six doubles and two triples for them through 93 plate appearances last season. That marked the first MLB action for Adduci since 2014 with the Rangers, as he spent the 2015-16 seasons enjoying a productive run with the Lotte Giants of the Korea Baseball Organization.

This season, Adduci turned in one of the most productive Triple-A campaigns of his six-year career at that level. Through 296 plate appearances, he’s hitting .309/.358/.474 with seven homers, 22 doubles, a triple and eight steals (in nine tries). He’ll give the Tigers a left-handed option both in the outfield and at first base, which could give John Hicks some additional opportunities to get back behind the dish — especially with Greiner being optioned to Toledo.

Notable International Prospect Signings

By Steve Adams | July 2, 2018 at 11:12am CDT

With the 2018-19 international signing period kicking off today, there will be dozens of six- and seven-figure bonuses handed out to teenage prospects, primarily out of Latin America, filtering in throughout the day today. Many of these have been in the works for quite some time, as is reflected by the fact that most of the top players’ destinations and signing bonuses have been previously reported/projected (and by the fact that the top agreements will all be reported in one swift avalanche today).

We’ll keep track of the notable National League signings here and the notable American League signings in a separate post. Note that you can read up on each of these players with the dedicated international coverage available from Ben Badler of Baseball America (subscription required), Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com and Kiley McDaniel & Eric Longenhagen of Fangraphs, each of whom has scouting info on the top echelon of international amateurs. Badler is also tracking the all of the signings from all 30 teams.

Onto some of the more notable signings…

Tigers Place Shane Greene, Leonys Martin On Disabled List

By Steve Adams | July 2, 2018 at 10:00am CDT

10:00am: Beck tweets that Joe Jimenez will serve as the Tigers’ closer while Greene is out.

9:42am: The Tigers placed a pair of notable trade chips on the 10-day disabled list, per a club announcement. Closer Shane Greene is going on the shelf due to a strained right shoulder, while center fielder Leonys Martin is dealing with a strained left hamstring. In a pair of corresponding moves, Detroit has reinstated lefty Daniel Stumpf from the 10-day DL and recalled outfielder Mikie Mahtook from Triple-A Toledo.

It’s not immediately clear how long the 29-year-old Greene will be expected to miss. There’d been no previous word of a shoulder issue for Greene, making this morning’s announcement something of a surprise. If he proves to be out for anything longer than a month, that’d mostly eliminate the chances of Greene being moved this summer, as he’s unlikely to clear trade waivers next month given his affordable salary and remaining two years of club control.

Greene is in his first full season as the Tigers’ closer and has handled himself well for the most part, though he’d given up a total of three runs over his past three appearances (perhaps being negatively impacted by his shoulder along the way). Overall, he’s posted a 4.03 ERA with 10.0 K/9, 2.6 BB/9, 1.66 HR/9 and a 43.4 percent ground-ball rate. While he’s clearly been too homer-prone so far in 2018, Greene’s 19.1 K-BB% is the best of his career, and his fastball velocity has held steady just a hair shy of 95 mph.

However, as MLB.com’s Jason Beck tweets, manager Ron Gardenhire told the media today that Greene revealed yesterday that his shoulder has been bothering him for “awhile.” Gardenhire notes that Greene’s velocity dropped substantially Sunday — as does appear to be the case — prompting the DL placement. He’ll visit a doctor for further evaluation in the coming days.

As for Martin, word that he was DL-bound broke yesterday after he exited Sunday’s game early. As Beck writes, Martin has been playing through hamstring discomfort since a DL stint back in May. After exiting yesterday’s game in too much pain to continue playing, Martin essentially “asked us to put him on the DL,” manager Ron Gardenhire told Beck and other reporters. Martin says his hope is to return to the club in 10 days, though given the proximity of the All-Star break, perhaps the Tigers will hold him out a bit longer in order to afford him with a few days of extra rest.

AL Notes: King Felix, Tigers, Angels, Richards

By Connor Byrne | July 1, 2018 at 4:52pm CDT

Mariners right-hander Felix Hernandez’s contract expires after next season, but he doesn’t expect it to be his last deal. “Oh yeah, I’ve got more years to play. I’m not going to retire,” Hernandez told Jon Heyman of Fancred, adding that he has an affinity for Seattle and would like to continue his career in the only major league city he has ever called home. Whether the Mariners feel similarly is up in the air, as Hernandez has fallen off in recent seasons since inking a seven-year, $175MM extension prior to the 2014 campaign. Hernandez was among the game’s best starters then, but he’s now sporting a career-worst 5.11 ERA over 100 1/3 innings in his age-32 season.

Rosenthal’s Latest: Moustakas, Merrifield, Duffy, Fulmer, Drury

By Mark Polishuk and Steve Adams | June 30, 2018 at 9:18am CDT

The Cardinals have “renewed interest” in Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports in his latest notes column (subscription required). It isn’t clear how seriously interested St. Louis is, however, and Rosenthal notes that adding Moustakas would lead to a crowded infield situation. Matt Carpenter would have to be moved to either second base or first base, displacing either the light-hitting but defensively brilliant Kolten Wong, or the hard-hitting Jose Martinez and his sub-par first base glove. One option could be to flip Martinez for some immediate help in another area, Rosenthal suggests, listing the Twins as a potential suitor for Martinez — Minnesota, of course, is a fringe contender at best right now, but Martinez would be a long-term piece at first base and DH. On the other hand, Martinez has been perhaps the Cardinals’ best hitter this season and he is controllable through the 2022 season. This is just one of many scenarios that could play out involving these players, of course, as the Cards (like every front office in the game) is weighing dozens of potential scenarios as we approach the trade deadline. St. Louis still seems to be in the planning stages, as Rosenthal writes that the Cards “have yet to engage seriously on any one player.”

Here are some more hot stove items from Rosenthal’s column…

The Brewers were interested in Royals second baseman/outfielder Whit Merrifield this past offseason and are once again inquiring on his services. The late-blooming Merrifield has continued to establish himself as a solid everyday player this season, batting .284/.358/.401 over 339 PA, plus 16 steals in 20 chances. Second base has been a problem spot for Milwaukee, and while the Brewers recently acquired Brad Miller as infield depth, Merrifield would represent a more solid upgrade at the keystone. Though the Brewers could also need rotation help, Rosenthal reports that they haven’t discussed Danny Duffy as part of their talks with Kansas City.
Tigers right-hander Michael Fulmer is drawing a lot of interest from not just contenders like the Phillies, Dodgers and Yankees, but also from rebuilding teams like the Padres. Clearly Fulmer would be a fit for a lot of teams considering both his ability and his years of control; he isn’t arbitration-eligible until this winter, and he has four years of arbitration coming as a Super Two player. Fancred Sports’ Jon Heyman wrote earlier this week that it could be unlikely that Fulmer is actually dealt, as Detroit has naturally put a big price tag on the righty in trade talks. San Diego is deep in prospects, however, so the Friars could be one of the few teams who wouldn’t immediately balk at the Tigers’ demands.
Brandon Drury’s return to the Yankees came with some service time implications, as Rosenthal notes that New York could have gained an extra year of control over the utilityman by keeping him in the minors until Sunday. It’s possible Drury could still be demoted again at some point this season, and if so, he wouldn’t qualify for free agency until after the 2022 season. This could potentially make Drury more valuable to other teams in trade talks, as the Yankees are deep in long-term infield options and might see Drury as expendable.

Tigers Fire Pitching Coach Chris Bosio

By Jeff Todd | June 29, 2018 at 2:39pm CDT

FRIDAY: Sources that spoke with Ken Rosenthal and Katie Strang of The Athletic painted quite a different picture than did Bosio. Whereas Bosio asserted that he was making a comment to others that was overheard and taken out of context by a team employee, this new report indicates that a racial epithet was directed from Bosio to the employee. Multiple sources specifically disputed Bosio’s account of what occurred, per The Athletic.

THURSDAY: Bosio has given his version of events to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, asserting that the situation arose from a misunderstanding and claiming he was unfairly dismissed. Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press provides additional information regarding a key aspect of Bosio’s account (see here and here).

Avila again declined to go into specifics, but generally disputed that the team was wrong to react as it did. “We know what we did, and why we did it,” he said, “and we’ll see where it goes from there. The action we took was appropriate. There were things involved. But I can’t comment any further.”

WEDNESDAY, 3:02pm: Rick Anderson will move from bullpen coach to pitching coach for the remainder of the season, Avila says (via Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press, on Twitter).

2:49pm: The Tigers announced today that they have fired pitching coach Chris Bosio. Per a club announcement, the decision was due to “insensitive comments.” The full statement reads as follows:

“Effective immediately, the Detroit Tigers have terminated the contract of pitching coach Chris Bosio for his insensitive comments that violated Club policy and his Uniform Employee Contract. The organization holds all of our personnel to the highest standards of personal conduct both on and off the field. We have zero tolerance for this type of behavior. The Club will have no further comment on this matter.”

It is not entirely apparent at this time precisely what led to the termination, but general manager Al Avila tells reporters that the comments in question were made by Bosio to a team employee (Twitter link via MLB.com’s Jason Beck).

Bosio was in his first year with the organization after spending five seasons in the same role with the Cubs. The 55-year-old pitched in the majors for eleven years, from 1986 through 1996.

Trade Candidate: Leonys Martin

By Jeff Todd | June 27, 2018 at 8:59am CDT

Teams in a rebuilding posture still frequently invest in some veterans, with part of the rationale being that those players can turn into trade assets in the middle of the season. For the Tigers, the most visible offseason spending took place in the rotation, with the club pouring $10MM into starting pitching (Mike Fiers and Francisco Liriano).

Detroit made just one other winter investment of consequence: a $1.75MM promise to center fielder Leonys Martin. (The deal also includes $1.25MM in available incentives, topping out at 500 plate appearances.) The club needed a solid piece in the outfield and got a 30-year-old who has generally been a useful big leaguer but had trouble holding onto a MLB roster spot last year. Needless to say, it wasn’t a highlight of the offseason.

Thus far, however, Martin has been one of the fifty or so most valuable position players in baseball. There are certainly some limits to his appeal, but he also looks to be quite a useful potential trade piece for the Tigers.

Notably, Martin was dealt to a contender in the middle of 2017 despite his struggles last year at the MLB level. He’s an up-the-middle defender who has always been an outstanding baserunner, which explains why the Cubs picked him up and ended up putting him on their postseason roster.

Now, the profile is much more interesting. Through 291 plate appearances, Martin carries a .261/.333/.444 batting line with nine home runs and seven stolen bases. His output includes a 9.3% walk rate that’s easily the best rate of his career. Martin is posting a personal-high .184 isolated slugging mark, and has done so without increasing his strikeout rate (at 22.3%, it’s almost exactly at his career mean).

That’s not exactly world-beating offensive work, but it’s above-average output from a player who is best known for his defensive and baserunning skills. UZR is more bullish on his work in center this year than is DRS, but Martin has long drawn positive (or even outstanding) grades on the outfield grass. He’s also still receiving high marks on the bases, another area he has thrived traditionally.

All things considered, if the work at the plate seems sustainable, Martin could be a notable piece for the right team. Is it?

Martin’s advancing walk rate is certainly promising. And it’s quite interesting to note that the power seems to be coming from a notable change. Entering the year, Martin had a career launch angle of just 9.4 degrees. Thus far in 2018? It stands at 17.1 degrees, which has helped drive a newly robust power output. Better still, Statcast measures indicate that Martin has actually struck the ball even better than the results suggest. He owns a .334 wOBA but is credited with an eye-popping .384 xwOBA. Martin has a career hard-hit rate of 27.6% but is sitting at 40.1% at present.

So, what’s the catch? The biggest knock on Martin, beyond the need to discount his new profile somewhat based upon his prior track record, is the fact that he still doesn’t hit lefties. He’s delivering some pop (.190 ISO) so far in 2018, but carries a meager 55 wRC+ against southpaws. The spread is much wider this year than it has been historically, but he has long been more effective when hitting with the platoon advantage.

Teams likely won’t go wild for Martin, then. But the still-developing trade market doesn’t figure to have loads of quality outfield options available. And Martin is not only affordable but controllable for 2019. His struggles last year left him just shy of reaching a new service-year threshold; he had 4.161 years entering the current campaign. That leaves one year of arbitration still to go, though his representatives will argue that the salary ought to build off of a prior high-point (he earned $4.85MM in 2017) rather than his 2018 earnings.

Of course, that extra season leaves the Tigers with some options, too. The club might prefer to hold onto Martin, who’d be a useful piece for an organization that has received somewhat better-than-expected results from its roster this year. Or, he could be dealt over the winter. The Tigers’ plans aren’t really clear just yet; the point, though, is that there are options and some leverage here for GM Al Avila.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Tigers Agree To Over-Slot Bonus With Second-Rounder Parker Meadows

By Jeff Todd | June 26, 2018 at 1:54pm CDT

The Tigers have agreed to a $2.5MM bonus with second-round selection Parker Meadows, according to MLB.com’s Jim Callis (via Twitter). His agreement had been signaled by his former high-school team as well as his older brother — Pirates outfielder Austin Meadows.

That payday goes well above the $1,625,500 slot allocation that came with the 44th overall selection. It’ll keep Meadows from attending Clemson University and instead add to the Detroit draft haul. Top overall pick Casey Mize officially joined the organization yesterday. Some savings from his signing (still a record under the new draft system) will help cover today’s deal.

Meadows is not seen as being quite as talented as his brother, but is certainly no slouch as a prospect. It seems the big knock on him is a hitch in his swing mechanics. But perhaps there’s some upside to unlock if that can be sorted. Otherwise, Meadows possesses good speed, arm strength, and defensive chops in center.

Clearly, the Tigers think they can develop Meadows into enough of a hitter to make good on his other tools. The Detroit farm system’s best assets are pitchers, so Meadows could take up an important spot in the organization’s future thinking if he progresses.

With this agreement, the Tigers have locked up all of their selections from the first ten rounds of the draft.

« Previous Page

Load More Posts

Show all

Headlines

Tigers Rumors

American League

National League

Navigation

MLBTR INFO

Connect