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Tigers’ Ty Madden Not Expected To Return In 2025

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Tigers right-hander Ty Madden won’t pitch competitively this year, manager A.J. Hinch told reporters (including Evan Woodbery of MLive) yesterday. While the Tigers have announced that Madden is working on a return-to-play throwing progression, Hinch revealed that the goal of that program is to set him up for a “productive offseason” rather than to try and get him back on the mound for game action before the year ends.

Madden, 25, was a first-round pick by the Tigers back in 2021, drafted 32nd overall after the club took Jackson Jobe with the third overall pick. He was a quick riser through the minors who made his big league debut in his third professional season after entering the 2024 campaign ranked as the club’s #2 pitching prospect behind Jobe. The right-hander’s debut came last year even in spite of him struggling badly at the Triple-A level with a 7.97 ERA in 18 starts, though his strikeout and walk rates were quite good despite those inflated run prevention numbers. He made six appearances for the Tigers last year in the majors, where he pitched much better than those brutal results with Toledo would otherwise suggest.

In 23 innings of work across six appearances (including one start), Madden posted a 4.30 ERA with a 16.8% strikeout rate and an 7.9% walk rate. While that strikeout rate is rather low, his ability to avoid giving up walks and home runs allowed him to post a solid enough 3.99 FIP. That brief cup of coffee in the majors offered some reason for optimism that Madden could provide value as at least a back-end starter or swing man going forward. Unfortunately, it’s also his last work at any pro level to date. Madden suffered a rotator cuff strain in his throwing shoulder during Spring Training. He was transferred to the 60-day IL shortly after Opening Day to make room for outfielder Brewer Hicklen on the club’s 40-man roster and has remained there ever since.

While Madden won’t pitch in the majors this year, it’s certainly possible he could be involved in the club’s pitching staff next year. Alex Cobb, Charlie Morton, Chris Paddack, Rafael Montero, Kyle Finnegan, Paul Sewald, and Tommy Kahnle are all set to hit free agency this winter. Jack Flaherty has a player option for the 2026 campaign. Tarik Skubal and Casey Mize are slated for free agency after 2026. With so much room opening up on the Tigers’ pitching staff both this coming offseason and then again after next year, an arm capable of handling work in either the rotation or the bullpen like Madden could be an asset for the Tigers as they look to recreate their pitching staff and keep their current window of contention open.

Tigers Reinstate Alex Lange From 60-Day Injured List

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The Tigers announced that right-hander Alex Lange has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. Left-hander Bailey Horn has been optioned to Triple-A Toledo in a corresponding active roster move. The 40-man roster had a vacancy but is now full.

It’s been quite an odyssey for Lange in recent years. He took over the closer’s role in Detroit in 2023, recording 26 saves that year. He tossed 66 innings with a 3.68 earned run average. His 15.6% walk rate was awful but he struck out 27.4% of batters faced while getting grounders on 50.6% of balls in play.

His results backed up early in 2024. He started the season with a 4.34 ERA through 18 2/3 innings. His 23.3% strikeout rate, 18.9% walk rate and 45.8% ground ball rate all moved in the wrong direction relative to the year before.

The Tigers optioned him to the minors in late May. He injured himself a few weeks later, requiring lat surgery in mid-June. The Tigers didn’t announce an expected recovery timeline but it has taken Lange 14 months to get back to the majors. They put him on the major league 60-day IL when they signed John Brebbia back in February.

Now Lange finally gets a chance to get things back on track after all those challenges. For what it’s worth, his recent rehab numbers have been similar to his previous performance. He tossed 13 1/3 Triple-A innings with a 4.73 ERA, 31.5% strikeout rate, 13% walk rate and 62.1% ground ball rate.

Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images

MLBTR Podcast: Walk-Year Performances, Roman Anthony’s Extension, And More!

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • Should Tigers fans be nervous? Is the club worse off going into next year? Should they trade Tarik Skubal this winter? (38:55)
  • The Mets didn’t trade Mark Vientos at the deadline and Pete Alonso is trending towards opting out. Will the Mets move on from Alonso this time? (51:05)
  • The teams that are considering six-man rotations, should they piggyback two of them in one game? (57:20)

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Eric Hartline, Imagn Images

Luke Jackson Elects Free Agency

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Aug. 10: Jackson cleared waivers and has chosen to become a free agent rather than accept an outright assignment to Triple-A Toledo, as per Jackson’s MLB.com profile page.  Because Jackson has previously been outrighted in his career, he had the right to opt for free agency.

Aug. 8: The Tigers have recalled right-hander Codi Heuer from Triple-A Toledo, with fellow righty Luke Jackson designated for assignment. The moves haven’t been officially announced but Craig McCosky of Detroit News was among the reporters to relay them.

The Tigers picked up Jackson a couple of weeks ago after he had been released by the Rangers. He had been having a rough season in Texas but has a good track record, so the Tigers scooped him up, hoping for a bounceback.

Unfortunately, they didn’t get it. He tossed 4 2/3 innings for Detroit, allowing four earned runs via three hits and five walks while striking out four. Combined with his results with the Rangers, he has a 4.54 earned run average in 39 2/3 innings this year. His 52.5% ground ball rate is good but his 16.1% strikeout rate and 13.8% walk rate are both noticeably worse than league average.

Despite the rough numbers, he might get another shot somewhere. The Rangers are still on the hook for the remainder his $1.5MM salary. That means another club could sign Jackson and would only have to pay him the prorated version of the $760K league minimum for any time spent on the roster. That amount would be subtracted from what the Rangers pay.

From 2018 to 2024, Jackson tossed 289 2/3 innings in the majors with a 3.91 ERA. His 10.2% walk rate in that time was a bit high but he punched out 27.1% of batters faced and got opponents to hit the ball into the ground on 54.3% of balls in play.

The punchouts haven’t been there this year, which is why he’s now twice been designated for assignment. But with the trade deadline now passed, it’s harder for clubs to find useful pitching upgrades. Since Jackson has a good track record and would essentially be free, some team might take a shot on him soon.

Photo courtesy of Junfu Han, Imagn Images

Tigers Place Matt Vierling On 10-Day IL With Oblique Strain

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The Tigers announced today that they have placed Matt Vierling on the 10-day injured list with a left oblique strain. Trey Sweeney was recalled to take his place on the active roster. Manager A.J. Hinch told reporters, including Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic, that the strain is “mild.” Yet, with just seven weeks left in the regular season, it’s not out of the question that Vierling could be done for the year. Hinch, however, remains optimistic, saying, “We have not eliminated the chance for him to come back.”

Vierling played a big part in Detroit’s surprising success last year but hasn’t been able to contribute much in 2025. He missed the first two months of the season with a rotator cuff strain in his throwing arm and only made it back for four games in late May before inflammation in the same shoulder shelved him for another month. When healthy, he has struggled to impact the baseball. His hard-hit rate is roughly in line with his career average, and his barrel rate is a career high, but his power numbers have never been worse. He has just three doubles and one home run in 31 games, good for a .307 slugging percentage. His .068 isolated power is the worst on the team (min. 100 PA).

Hinch told reporters yesterday, including Christian Romo of the Detroit Free Press, that Vierling had been nursing “intermittent soreness” in his oblique throughout August. Evidently, the issue eventually proved serious enough for the outfielder to hit the IL.

For now, the Tigers can move Javier Báez back to center field in Vierling’s place. Wenceel Pérez is another option to play the position; he suffered a right foot contusion on Saturday, but tests came back negative. He expects to be available today off the bench (per Evan Woodberry of MLive.com). As for Sweeney, he can cover at shortstop when Báez is playing the outfield. At some point further down the line, however, Detroit will hope to have Parker Meadows back as the everyday center fielder. He has been out with a quad strain since late July. While he doesn’t yet have a timeline to return, Hinch told Chris McCosky of The Detroit News that Meadows is “doing better and better” in his rehab. The skipper said the Tigers are trying to move him along “as fast as [they] can” without causing a setback.

Minor MLB Transactions: 8/9/25

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Leading up to the trade deadline, dozens of moves were made. In the wake of those trades, several players were designated for assignment. Here are the results of a few recent DFAs which MLBTR hasn’t yet covered…

  • Right-hander Sean Hjelle has been sent outright to Triple-A Sacramento, per his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He was designated for assignment by the Giants when they traded Tyler Rogers to the Mets. Two of the players the Giants received, José Buttó and Blade Tidwell, required 40-man roster spots. The departure of Rogers opened one spot, with Hjelle DFA’d to open another. This was Hjelle’s first career outright and he has less than three years of service time, meaning he didn’t have the right to elect free agency. He will give the Giants non-roster depth and try to earn his way back to the majors. His Triple-A numbers have been good this year, having tossed 41 2/3 innings with a 2.81 ERA, 25.7% strikeout rate, 5.7% walk rate and 52.7% ground ball rate.
  • Left-hander Zach Penrod has been outrighted to Triple-A Oklahoma City, per his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He was designated for assignment by the Dodgers when left-hander Blake Snell was reinstated from the 60-day injured list. This was his first career outright and he has less than three years of big league service time, meaning he had to accept the assignment. Penrod was just acquired from the Red Sox in a DFA trade in June and was kept on optional assignment, so he still hasn’t pitched for the Dodgers in the majors.
  • Right-hander Connor Gillispie has been outrighted to Triple-A St. Paul, per his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He had been designated for assignment by the Twins in late July when Michael Tonkin was selected. This was Gillispie’s first career outright and he has less than three years of big league service time, meaning he had to accept the assignment. He reported to the Saints but they put him on the minor league injured list a few days later. It’s unclear what his current health status is but he hasn’t pitched since July 27th.
  • Right-hander Geoff Hartlieb is back with the Tigers on a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He was designated for assignment in late July when Detroit signed Luke Jackson. Hartlieb cleared waivers and elected free agency, which was his right as a player with a previous career outright, but reunited with the Tigers on a new minor league deal. He has a 7.95 career ERA in the majors but better minor league numbers. He has tossed 41 Triple-A innings this year with a 3.29 ERA, 27.5% strikeout rate, 6% walk rate and 40.6% ground ball rate.

Photo courtesy of Eakin Howard, Imagn Images

Poll: Who Had The Best Deadline In The AL Central?

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The trade deadline has come and gone. While trade season was slow to get started this year, when all was said and done, there were several dozen trades made in a flurry of movement over the final few days before the deadline arrived. The full impact of these trades won’t be known for years to come, but that doesn’t mean we can’t analyze the deals and decide whose haul looks the best right now. Over the next week-plus, MLBTR will be running a series of polls asking which club in each division had the best deadline. So far, the Phillies, Reds, Padres, and Mariners have each come out on top in their respective divisions. Today, we’ll be continuing on with the American League with the AL Central. A look at each of the five clubs, listed from best to worst record in 2025:

Detroit Tigers

The Tigers have the biggest lead in their division in all of baseball, and that might have led them to a much more cautious deadline than previously expected. Aside from a handful of minor trades of players (Matt Manning, Dietrich Enns, Brewer Hicklen) who had been squeezed off of the 40-man roster, the Tigers acquired seven pitchers across six trades. It was clearly a quantity over quality approach, however, as the rotation was deepened by adding Charlie Morton (5.42 ERA at the time of the trade) and Chris Paddack (4.95 ERA at the time of the trade) to the back of the staff.

That pair of starters was joined by five relievers: Randy Dobnak, Codi Heuer, Rafael Montero, Paul Sewald, and Kyle Finnegan. Dobnak and Heuer have both made just one MLB appearance this year. Montero carried a 5.40 ERA when he arrived in Detroit, and Sewald won’t pitch again until September due to injury. That leaves Finnegan and his 95 ERA+ in a Nationals uniform this year as the most impactful addition of the Tigers’ deadline this year, at least on paper. While Detroit added plenty of pitching depth to the roster without surrendering any of the prospects within their Top 15 according to Baseball America, it’s hard not to see a quiet deadline in what could be Tarik Skubal’s penultimate season with the club as a potential missed opportunity.

Cleveland Guardians

The Guardians’ performance this trade season must be viewed in the context of the potentially franchise-altering reality that struck just days before the deadline: superstar closer Emmanuel Clase, a potential trade candidate and foundational piece of the Guardians’ roster, was placed on administrative leave as part of a sports betting investigation. That news not only severely damaged whatever hopes the Guardians may have had of making it to the playoffs this year, but also took one of their most valuable trade chips off the market.

That led the Guards to make just two trades this summer: one that shipped Sewald to the Tigers for a player to be named later or cash, and a second one that sent Shane Bieber to Toronto for right-hander Khal Stephen. Both trades were sensible moves. Stephen is a particularly well-regarded prospect to receive for a pitcher who hasn’t thrown at the big league level this year, and the Sewald trade cleared the remainder of a currently injured rental reliever’s $7MM salary. Bigger than the moves they did make, arguably, is the ones they did not: outfielder Steven Kwan and star reliever Cade Smith, among other rumored trade candidates, remain in Cleveland as controllable building blocks for the future.

Kansas City Royals

Despite sitting around .500 for the majority of the year, the Royals were actually the most aggressive buyer in their division. They made their intention to eschew selling clear when they extended Seth Lugo on a deal that could keep him in town through the end of the 2028 season. Aside from locking up Lugo, the Royals deepened their lineup and pitching staff.

A trio of controllable, starting-caliber arms were brought in to join Lugo and Michael Wacha in the short-term while providing depth behind Cole Ragans and Kris Bubic for the future. Bailey Falter was acquired from the Pirates, while the Royals surrendered backup catcher Freddy Fermin to the Padres in a deal that netted both Stephen Kolek and Ryan Bergert. Aside from those rotation additions, the club made a trio of rental acquisitions to try and boost the offense. Adam Frazier is unlikely to be a needle-mover, but both Mike Yastrzemski and Randal Grichuk have been impactful complementary pieces for playoff clubs in the past.

Even if the Royals end up missing the postseason, they won’t have lost much by pushing in this year; their best trade chip (Bubic) suffered a season-ending injury shortly before the deadline, and No. 15 prospect (per Baseball America) Yunior Marte was the top young talent they surrendered (in return for Yastrzemski).

Minnesota Twins

The Twins completely changed the trajectory of the trade deadline when they kicked off a massive fire sale. The club made ten trades in total while moving 11 players out of the organization. Paddack and Dobnak were shipped to Detroit in a deal for catching/first base prospect Enrique Jimenez that also cleared the remainder of Dobnak’s low-cost but ill-fated $9.25MM extension off the books. Rentals Willi Castro, Harrison Bader, and Danny Coulombe were shipped out in deals that should help to fill out the middle ranks of the Minnesota farm system. Fellow rental Ty France was packaged with dominant young reliever Louis Varland to bring back a big league-ready outfielder, Alan Roden, and Triple-A southpaw Kendry Rojas (The new No. 7 prospect in the Twins’ revamped system, according to MLB Pipeline).

Varland wasn’t the only star reliever to move. The Twins traded both Jhoan Duran and Griffin Jax to the Phillies and Rays, respectively. Duran netted a pair of top-100 prospects from the Phils, who surrendered catcher Eduardo Tait and right-hander Mick Abel to get the deal done. Jax was traded away in a one-for-one swap that brought back young starter Taj Bradley. A slightly less impactful bullpen arm with control remaining was also moved when Brock Stewart was shipped to the Dodgers in a deal for post-hype outfielder James Outman. Of course, the most shocking trade of the deadline was the Twins’ decision to deal Carlos Correa back to the Astros in what amounted to a salary dump. 26-year-old High-A southpaw Matt Mikulski was the only player who Correa brought back to Minnesota, even as the Twins ate $33MM of the $103.5MM Correa is owed going forward.

On the one hand, the Twins undeniably did well with the return for several of the players they moved. Abel, Bradley, and Rojas form a wave of young, upper-level starting pitching talent that could impact the team as soon as 2026. They should form an organizational strength in conjunction with young arms like Simeon Woods Richardson, Zebby Matthews, and David Festa going forward. On the other hand, dumping two-thirds of Correa’s salary for no prospect return and decimating a bullpen that has been a major strength are tough pills to swallow for fans.

Chicago White Sox

The White Sox had a surprisingly quiet deadline for one of the league’s most obvious sellers. They acquired Will Robertson and Blake Sabol while dealing away Tristan Gray in three separate cash deals with the AL East, though none of those moves is much of a needle-mover. Outside of those minor transactions, they added a rental veteran starter in Aaron Civale and change-of-scenery first baseman Andrew Vaughn to the Brewers in order to get the deal done. Vaughn has blossomed (albeit in a small sample) with Milwaukee, which would surely be easier for fans in Chicago to swallow had the White Sox managed to flip Civale for a prospect return. Civale is pitching well of late but remains on the South Side.

The White Sox made just two sell-side trades ahead of the deadline. Outfielder Austin Slater was shipped to the Yankees in a deal that brought back right-hander Gage Ziehl (the club’s new No. 14 prospect, per Pipeline), and the biggest deal of the club’s deadline sent righty Adrian Houser to Tampa. In return for Houser, the White Sox brought in infielder Curtis Mead, Triple-A reliever Ben Peoples, and Triple-A starter Duncan Davitt. Davitt seems likely to be a back-end starter or swingman in the mold of Houser. Peoples seems unlikely to be more than a middle reliever. Still, it’s a solid return for a rental arm signed in-season, particularly when considering that Mead was a consensus top-50 prospect in the sport just a few short years ago. Chicago didn’t make many trades for a selling club, but the ones they made look like strong ones.

Most surprising was the South Siders’ decision to hang onto Luis Robert Jr. The talented center fielder finally began to come alive at the plate in early June, and many thought the Sox would capitalize on his first productive stretch since 2023 to bring in some young talent, even if it meant paying down Robert’s contract. Instead, they held onto Robert and will now consider picking up the first of two $20MM club options for the 2026 season. If Robert keeps raking down the stretch, it may prove to bring a better return in the long run (assuming he eventually is traded), but there’s plenty of risk in this approach.

No division in baseball did less buying than the AL Central this year. While the Royals made some savvy additions and the Tigers at least bolstered their depth, no impact additions were made as the Guardians, Twins, and White Sox all focused on selling at varying levels. Who did the best of this quintet during trade season? Have your say in the poll below:

MLBTR Podcast: Sifting Through The Trade Deadline Deals

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams and Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to go over the various deadline dealings, including…

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Chadd Cady, Imagn Images

Tigers Re-Sign Tyler Owens To Minor League Deal

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Right-hander Tyler Owens has re-signed with the Tigers on a minor league deal, reports Evan Woodbery of MLive Media Group. Detroit recently released Owens but the two sides have quickly reunited.

Owens, 24, was designated for assignment a week ago when the Tigers acquired Rafael Montero. At the time he was designated for assignment, Owens was on the minor league injured list due to a hip injury. Teams aren’t allowed to place injured players on outright waivers. Once Owens was in DFA limbo, the club had to either trade him or release him.

They eventually went with the latter option. Owens had a few days to field interest from all 30 clubs but decided to return to the Tigers on a new pact, a fairly common sequence of events in situations like this. He gets to stay in a familiar place while the Tigers get to keep the player without him taking up a roster spot.

Owens had a limited major league track record. He made his big league debut earlier this year by pitching three innings for Detroit, allowing one earned run. His recent minor league numbers have been solid. From the start of 2023 to the present, he has tossed 147 1/3 innings on the farm with a 3.73 earned run average, 23.1% strikeout rate, 9.4% walk rate and grounders on about half the balls in play he allowed.

Photo courtesy of Gary A. Vasquez, Imagn Images

Scott Harris Discusses Tigers’ Deadline Approach

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The AL Central-leading Tigers were one of the league’s busier teams at the trade deadline, even if the team’s moves were more about adding depth and raising the talent floor than raising the roster’s ceiling in pursuit of a World Series.  The big focus was on pitching, as Charlie Morton and Chris Paddack joined the rotation, and Kyle Finnegan, Rafael Montero, and (when he is healthy) Paul Sewald will contribute to the bullpen mix.

Focusing on relief pitching perhaps led to Detroit’s strategy, as president of baseball operations Scott Harris told reporters (including the Detroit Free Press’ Evan Petzold and the Detroit News’ Chris McCosky) earlier this week.  “Some of the prices around the game were really high for short-term rental relievers,” Harris observed.  “We felt like it was a better approach for us to attack it in volume with some guys that we like, some guys that are doing some things under the hood that we really value.”

Detroit’s highly-ranked farm system remained pretty much intact in the wake of the deadline, as the Tigers didn’t move any of their best prospects.  There wasn’t really any sense that Detroit was even considering any of its top minor leaguers, and as Petzold notes, there weren’t many trades involving top-100 type prospects at this deadline.  By that same token, however, Petzold also notes the several prominent deals that didn’t involve elite prospect talent, and wondered if the Tigers could’ve just been a little aggressive in outbidding rival teams for the likes of Merrill Kelly, David Bednar, or Ryan Helsley.  (Kelly and Bednar were known to be Detroit trade targets leading up to the deadline.)

This being said, we don’t know what kind of returns clubs were demanding from the Tigers, and Harris indicated that teams wanted a lot.  “When it came to the actual prices, a lot of the moves that we passed on felt like moves that were going to haunt us for many years to come,” Harris said.  “We have what we think is one of the best, if not the best, farm system in all of baseball.  We felt like, at this moment in time, giving up on young players to chase short-term fixes is not in the best interest of the Tigers, both in the short- and long-term.”

The long view is key to Harris’ thought process, as the PBO doesn’t view 2025 as an all-in sort of season.  Between the Tigers’ return to the playoffs in 2024 and now their big division lead this season, Harris sees this as the first of many opportunities for the club over a sustained period of time, rather than a window that may align with Tarik Skubal’s remaining two-plus years under arbitration control.

“We want to be good every year.  Really, really good every year,” Harris said.  “I don’t think we thought about this deadline as different from future years.  I always want to sit in front of you and say we’ve got a real good baseball team and we’ve got a lot of chances to get better.  I think I can credibly say, we have a really good baseball team by our competitive standing right now.  I think I can also credibly say we got better [at the deadline].  And I can credibly say that we have some players coming in our farm system, both for this year and for future years, that are going to help us get even better.”

Time will tell if Harris has made the right call or not, and it should be noted that baseball history is full of under-the-radar deadline additions that ended up making a huge impact on a championship team.  That said, there are also plenty of example of contenders who didn’t strike while the iron was hot, and injuries and under-performance then scuttled what seemed to be very promising rosters.  Detroit fans waiting for the team’s first World Series title since 1984 may not share Harris’ big-picture view, but the executive is fine with being patient.

“My job is to make the best decisions for this organization,” Harris said.  “I understand everybody wants to go grab the flashiest name and not give up any good players.  But that’s not an option.  We can’t do that.  If we’re going to grab those players, we’re going to give up some really talented players and I didn’t think that was in the best interest of our organization.”

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