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Tigers Option Bruce Rondon, Select Contract Of Joe Jimenez

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The Tigers have optioned right-hander Bruce Rondon to Triple-A Toledo and selected the contract of highly touted relief prospect Joe Jimenez, the team announced Monday morning. The Tigers have three open spots on the 40-man roster, there’s no corresponding move necessary to bring Jimenez to the Majors.

It’s been a brutal start to the season for the 26-year-old Rondon, who has made three appearances but recorded just four outs. Rondon has been roughed up for six runs on four hits and three walks with just one strikeout in this season’s brief sample. With Rondon in Toledo to get back on track, left-hander Justin Wilson will become the team’s primary setup option to closer Francisco Rodriguez, manager Brad Ausmus tells reporters (Twitter link via MLB.com’s Jason Beck).

Rondon has been heralded as a potential closer in Detroit, and the fanfare he’s received is understandable. Though he’s never put everything together in the Majors, the right-hander has averaged 98 mph on his fastball and punched out 10.4 hitters per nine innings pitched in his Major League career (97 1/3 innings). That said, Rondon’s brief career has been marred by inconsistency as well as a 2015 incident in which the Tigers sent him home early for the year due to his “effort level.” Last season looked to be a turning point for Rondon, as he logged a 1.80 ERA with a 33-to-9 K/BB ratio across his final 25 innings, but he’ll now again look to rediscover his top form in the minors.

As for Jimenez, the 22-year-old will head to the Majors and make his MLB debut the first time that Ausmus calls him into a game. There’s no doubt that the Puerto Rican righty earned his promotion; in 53 2/3 innings across Class-A Advanced, Double-A and Triple-A last season, Jimenez logged a ridiculous 1.51 ERA with 13.1 K/9, 2.9 BB/9 and a 34.3 percent ground-ball rate. He rated between fourth and sixth among Tigers farmhands according to Baseball Prospectus (subscription required), MLB.com, ESPN’s Keith Law (subscription required) and Fangraphs’ Eric Longenhagen.

Jimenez is touted as a potential closer and a definite candidate for a high-leverage relief role, thanks to a 70-grade fastball and an impressive slider. Law notes that both his command and slider took steps forward in 2016, which bodes well for his long-term outlook.

Brad Ausmus Concerned About Bruce Rondon's Struggles

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  • Tigers manager Brad Ausmus is concerned about the early season performance of reliever Bruce Rondon, who got the loss against Boston on Sunday after allowing three earned runs on two walks and a hit. Rondon failed to record an out in the eighth inning, when he entered with a one-run lead, and has allowed a combined six earned runs in his past two appearances. “His velocity has been down, and his location has not been good,” Ausmus told Jason Beck of MLB.com. Ausmus isn’t ruling out using Rondon in lower-leverage situations until he rights the ship, but the club hasn’t discussed demoting him to Triple-A. The 26-year-old was outstanding for the Tigers across 36 1/3 frames last season, evidenced by a 2.97 ERA, 11.15 K/9 and 2.97 BB/9. His velocity has indeed dipped a bit since then, as Ausmus mentioned.

Tigers Have Gotten Little From 2013 Draft Class

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  • The Tigers put a big focus on pitching in the 2013 amateur draft, taking college pitchers with their first seven picks and selecting arms with 27 of 41 overall picks.  Almost four years later, however, MLive.com’s Evan Woodbery notes that Detroit has gotten little return from the hurlers in that draft class.  Of those initial seven pitchers, only Buck Farmer and righty Jeff Thompson are still in the organization, as the other five have been traded, released, or have retired (second-rounder Kevin Ziomek).  Farmer, Brewers reliever Corey Knebel, and current Yankees Joe Mantiply and Chad Green are the only Tigers picks from that entire 41-person class who have seen any big league playing time.

White Sox, Mike Pelfrey Agree To Minor League Deal

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1:58pm: Heyman tweets that Pelfrey has agreed to a minor league deal. He’ll head to Triple-A Charlotte for the time being.

1:51pm: Heyman reports that the two sides have agreed to a deal, though he doesn’t specify whether it’s a minor league pact that’ll send Pelfrey to Triple-A Charlotte for the time being or a Major League deal that will place Pelfrey directly onto the 25-man roster.

1:22pm: The White Sox are closing in on a deal with right-hander Mike Pelfrey, according to Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports (Twitter link). The 33-year-old Pelfrey was released by the Tigers last week.

The Tigers cut bait on Pelfrey prior to the start of the season, electing to jettison the struggling righty rather than stick with him in hopes of salvaging some value out of the ill-fated two-year, $16MM contract signed by Pelfrey in the 2015-16 offseason. Detroit will be on the hook for the entirety of Pelfrey’s $8MM salary in 2017, minus the pro-rated portion of the league minimum for any time the right-hander spends in the Majors with the White Sox (or any other club).

Pelfrey’s lone year in Detroit resulted in a lackluster 5.07 ERA with 4.2 K/9, 3.5 BB/9 and a 52.2 percent ground-ball rate. His 92.8 mph heater and solid grounder rate do create some mild cause for optimism, but Pelfey’s struggles weren’t confined to his 2016 season in the Motor City. In fact, since undergoing Tommy John surgery that sidelined him for nearly the entire 2012 season, Pelfrey has logged an unsightly 4.97 ERA in 460 innings with the Twins and Tigers.

While not an exciting addition to the White Sox’ depth chart, Pelfrey can give the club an option at the back of a rotation that is currently rife with uncertainty. Following the trade of Chris Sale this offseason and an injury that will sideline Carlos Rodon up to six weeks (possibly more), the Chicago rotation features Jose Quintana, James Shields, Derek Holland, Miguel Gonzalez and Rule 5 pick Dylan Covey (with swingman Anthony Swarzak also waiting in the wings). Pelfrey, if nothing else, can eventually surface in the Majors and simply function as an innings eater and a bridge to some of the Sox’ electric young arms — including Lucas Giolito, Michael Kopech and Reynaldo Lopez.

Jose Iglesias Switches Agents

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Tigers shortstop Jose Iglesias has changed representation and is now a client of Magnus Sports, per Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter link). Iglesias had previously been with the Boras Corporation.

The 27-year-old Iglesias logged career-highs in both games played (137) and plate appearances (513) last season and delivered characteristically strong defensive value for the Tigers in 2016. However, his offensive output took a tumble across the board, as he batted just .255/.306/.336 in that time. Iglesias’ batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage all fell well shy of the career .287/.336/.362 marks that he carried into the 2016 season.

Those struggles notwithstanding, Iglesias still landed a notable $2MM raise on last year’s $2.1MM salary in arbitration and will earn $4.1MM in the current season. He’ll be eligible for arbitration once more next offseason before hitting the open market upon completion of the 2018 campaign.

Iglesias’switch has been reflected in MLBTR’s Agency Database, which contains representation info on more than 2,500 Major League and minor league players. If you see any notable errors or omissions within the database, please let us know: mlbtrdatabase@gmail.com.

Tigers Prospect Kevin Ziomek Retires

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Tigers prospect Kevin Ziomek has retired from baseball, as was first reported by MLB Pipeline (Twitter link). Rated as one of the better arms in the Tigers’ system — ESPN’s Keith Law had him 17th this offseason, and he’s rated as highly as No. 4 on the Tigers’ top 30 prospect list at Baseball America in recent years — Ziomek missed the majority of the 2016 season due to thoracic outlet syndrome surgery. I’m told that the left-hander’s velocity simply never returned following the operation. Ziomek posted a 3.07 ERA with 299 strikeouts against 93 walks across 290 innings during his pro career. Best of luck to him moving forward.

Tigers To Consider Melvin Upton Jr., But Deal Unlikely

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The Tigers will “look into” signing just-released outfielder Melvin Upton Jr., according to general manager Al Avila, though Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press relays that a deal sounds unlikely (Twitter links). With J.D. Martinez on the shelf because of a foot injury, Upton’s brother, Justin Upton, will enter the season as Detroit’s only established outfielder. The Uptons played together in both Atlanta and San Diego from 2013-15, but it doesn’t seem as if they’ll reunite in the Motor City. Meanwhile, it doesn’t appear the Giants will even consider signing Melvin Upton. He’s not on their radar, tweets Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Melvin Upton Jr. Won’t Make Blue Jays

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8:07pm: The Giants are content with their current outfielders, meaning they’re not inclined to go after Upton, according to Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle. However, Schulman doesn’t rule out a trade, noting it could come down to the caliber of prospect the Jays are seeking for Upton (Twitter links).

6:25pm: The Tigers won’t pursue Upton, either, adds Heyman (on Twitter).

6:07pm: The Orioles are “not a fit” for Upton, Heyman hears (Twitter link).

5:40pm: Outfielder Melvin Upton Jr. won’t make the Blue Jays’ Opening Day roster, reports Buster Olney of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The Jays are listening to offers for Upton, tweets FanRag’s Jon Heyman, who lists the Tigers, Orioles, Rays and Giants as sensible fits.

Toronto hasn’t finalized its roster yet, though the last spot was reportedly down to Upton and out-of-options infielder Ryan Goins as of Tuesday. Notably, the Blue Jays signed utilityman Chris Coghlan to a minor league deal Saturday, so it’s possible he could factor into the mix.

The Blue Jays can’t option Upton to the minors without his consent. As such, whether via trade or release, it appears the 32-year-old’s short tenure with the organization is about to end. Upton joined the club prior to last July in a deal with the Padres, who ate all but $5MM of the remaining $22MM on his contract and acquired right-hander Hansel Rodriguez in return.

Upton is due $16.45MM this season, which will conclude the five-year, $75.5MM deal he signed with the Braves in 2012, and the right-handed-hitter seemed likely to spend the campaign as a platoon left fielder in Toronto with the lefty-swinging Ezequiel Carrera. But, statistically speaking, Upton made a poor impression down the stretch last year in Toronto, where he hit just .196/.261/.318 in 165 post-trade plate appearances. He followed that up with another weak line, .194/.216/.472, in 36 spring at-bats.

While Upton hasn’t performed well in Toronto, the once-valuable Ray revived his career to an extent in San Diego over the prior year and a half. Upton hit a decent .257/.313/.435 with 21 home runs and 29 steals in 602 plate appearances with the Padres, and he combined for nine Defensive Runs Saved and a 2.9 Ultimate Zone Rating in the field. Someone could take a flier on him, then, including the teams Heyman mentioned. Detroit’s only proven outfielders are Melvin’s brother, Justin Upton, and the injured J.D. Martinez; Baltimore tried to acquire Melvin Upton last summer; Tampa Bay, where Upton played from 2007-12, has been looking for outfield help (though the Tampa Bay Times’ Marc Topkin tweets the team won’t trade for Upton); and he could conceivably platoon in San Francisco with lefty-hitting left fielder Jarrett Parker.

Tigers Release Travis Blackley

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Saturday’s minor moves:

  • The Red Sox have selected the contract of right-hander Ben Taylor, who will open the season in their bullpen. Prior to Saturday, the 24-year-old hadn’t gotten above Double-A since the Red Sox selected him in the seventh round of the 2015 draft. Taylor held his own at that level last year, when the reliever recorded a 3.44 ERA, 11.12 K/9 and 3.18 BB/9 in 34 innings, and fared well in spring training as a non-roster invitee. MLB Pipeline ranks Taylor as Boston’s 19th-best prospect.
  • The Tigers have released left-hander Travis Blackley, per an announcement from the veteran (Twitter link via Evan Woodbery of MLive.com). Blackley, who joined the Tigers on a minor league deal in December, didn’t pitch in the majors in any of the previous three seasons. Since 2014, the well-traveled 34-year-old has seen action in his native Australia, Japan, Mexico and Triple-A New Orleans. Blackley owns a 5.23 ERA, 6.17 K/9, 3.78 BB/9 and a 43.3 percent ground-ball rate in 192 2/3 major league innings (82 appearances, 26 starts).

Tigers To Re-Sign Daniel Stumpf

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The Tigers have agreed to re-sign lefty Daniel Stumpf to a Major League deal and added him to their 40-man roster, Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press tweets. Stumpf, who the Tigers had placed on waivers earlier this week, elected free agency after clearing waivers and before agreeing to his new deal.

The Tigers took Stumpf from the Royals in last winter’s Rule 5 Draft. He became eligible for free agency after clearing waivers because he had previously been selected in the Rule 5 Draft and returned — he pitched five innings for the Phillies in 2016 before being offered back to the Royals. It appears, then, that the Tigers were willing to re-sign him to a big-league deal after he declared free agency because they could then option him to the minors, despite his having been a Rule 5 pick previously and the fact that he will again occupy a spot on their 40-man.

Stumpf pitched a total of 41 1/3 innings of relief in the minors last season, posting a 2.83 ERA, 8.5 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9 with four separate affiliates in two organizations. He has a history as a starter and has shown the ability to pitch multiple-inning stretches. He threw his fastball in the 92-MPH range in his stint with the Phillies last season, also throwing a slider and change.

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