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Tigers Rumors

Eduardo Rodriguez Begins Throwing Program, Targeted To Return In Late August

By Mark Polishuk | July 23, 2022 at 4:53pm CDT

Left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez has been in contract with Tigers GM Al Avila, manager A.J. Hinch, and pitching coach Chris Fetter in recent days, and Avila and Hinch told reporters (including MLive.com’s Evan Woodbery) that plans are in motion for Rodriguez’s return.  The hurler has already started a throwing program and is then slated to work out at the Tigers’ spring facility in Lakeland before embarking on some minor league rehab starts.

As Hinch put it, Rodriguez “has to go through another Spring Training” given all of his missed time, and thus the organization will take a “methodical” approach.  For now, Rodriguez is being targeted for a late-August return to Detroit, Avila said.  Rodriguez last pitched for the Tigers on May 18, as he spent close to a month on the injured list due to a ribcage strain before he was placed on the restricted list on June 13 due to unspecified personal matters.

The situation took a somewhat mysterious turn earlier this month when Avila and Hinch said they hadn’t heard from Rodriguez, and that the left-hander hadn’t been responding to the team’s overtures.  However, Avila said today that “he expressed to me that he’s working hard, his personal situations are being taken care of and at some point he’ll be over that.  He’s looking forward to re-joining the team and helping us win.”

The Tigers signed Rodriguez to a five-year, $77MM free agent in November, one of several major transactions made by a Detroit club that felt it was ready to end its rebuild.  Unfortunately, the Tigers have stumbled to a 38-56 record, due to both a near-total lack of hitting and several injuries to the rotation.  Rodriguez also got off to a slow start (4.38 ERA in 39 innings) before hitting the injured list, and his status on the restricted list has added an unusual twist on a lost season in the Motor City.

Rodriguez’s absence has come at a significant financial price, as he hasn’t been paid during his time on the restricted list.  Assuming he does get activated in late August as planned, the southpaw will have lost roughly $5.5MM of his $14MM salary for the 2022 season.

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Detroit Tigers Eduardo Rodriguez

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Tigers Sign Chi Chi Gonzalez

By TC Zencka | July 23, 2022 at 8:08am CDT

The Tigers have signed right-hander Chi Chi Gonzalez and assigned him to Triple-A, per Emily Waldon of Baseball America (via Twitter). Gonzalez has twice opted out of minor league opportunities this season, first with the Twins, and more recently with the Brewers. He did appear in the Majors with both clubs, tossing 11 1/3 innings over four outings (two starts) with Milwaukee and making two starts spanning seven innings with Minnesota. Overall, Gonzalez has registered a 6.87 ERA/6.01 FIP across 18 1/3 innings this season. In other recent news…

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Detroit Tigers New York Mets Seattle Mariners Trade Market Transactions Billy Eppler Chi Chi Gonzalez Matt Brash Taylor Williams

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Tigers Outright Drew Carlton

By Darragh McDonald | July 19, 2022 at 1:17pm CDT

The Tigers have announced that right-hander Drew Carlton has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Toledo. Carlton had been designated for assignment last week.

Carlton, 26, has seen sporadic MLB action over the past couple of seasons, throwing 3 2/3 innings out of Detroit’s bullpen last year and another 8 2/3 frames this year. He has a tidy 2.92 ERA in that small sample, but with a mediocre 15.7% strikeout rate along with average-ish walk and ground ball rates of 7.8% and 39.5%, respectively.

Carlton’s numbers at Triple-A this year are more concerning, however. Despite a 2.92 ERA with the Mud Hens last year, he has a 6.91 mark here in 2022. Despite solid strikeout and walk rates of 24.2% and 4.8%, respectively, he seems to have been undone by a .341 BABIP and 54.5% strand rate, both of which are much worse than the typical averages.

This is Carlton’s second outright of his career, meaning he has the right to reject the assignment and elect free agency. However, it’s not yet clear if he has made a decision in that regard. If he does decide to test the open market, he could still garner interest from teams, most likely on a minor league deal, given that he just cleared waivers. He still has options and is fairly young. If any team were willing to chalk up his poor Triple-A performance to bad luck, they could see the value in adding him as a depth option that doesn’t require a roster spot.

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Detroit Tigers Transactions Drew Carlton

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Tigers Option Spencer Torkelson

By Darragh McDonald | July 17, 2022 at 12:25pm CDT

The Tigers announced to reporters, including Chris McCosky of the Detroit News, that first baseman Spencer Torkelson has been optioned to Triple-A Toledo. The corresponding move will be announced later, as today’s game was postponed due to rain, meaning the Tigers don’t play again until after the All-Star break.

The first overall selection of the 2020 draft, Torkelson immediately shot onto prospect lists, with Baseball America ranking him #5 overall in 2021. Torkelson did nothing to diminish his prospect status last year, as he mashed at High-A, then got promoted to Double-A and Triple-A all in one year. Across those three levels, he hit 30 home runs, 29 double and a pair of triples, producing an overall batting line of .267/.383/.552. He walked in 14.5% of his plate appearances and struck out in 21.5% of them.

Coming into 2022, he was again slotted into the #5 spot on BA’s prospect list and seemed poised for big things after cracking the Tigers’ Opening Day roster. Unfortunately, he hasn’t yet been able to translate his immense hitting ability to the big leagues. Through his first 298 plate appearances, he has hit just .197/.282/.295, resulting in a 68 wRC+. Put another way, that’s production 32% worse than league average.

Torkelson is still capable of putting a charge into the ball, as his max exit velocity is considered to be in the 80th percentile, according to Statcast. However, his hard hit percentage is just 39th percentile and his barrel percentage just 37th, suggesting that he’s not lining up the ball with consistency.

While it’s surely a disappointing result for the Tigers and their fans, it’s worth remembering that there’s still plenty of time for Torkelson to turn things around. He only spent one year in the minors before the aggressive push by the club to add him to the big league team. He’s still just 22 years old, turning 23 in August. Since the club is 37-55 and has no hope of a postseason push this year, they can afford to take whatever steps they think give Torkelson the best chance of long-term success, which they think will be some time in the minors.

Manager A.J. Hinch spoke to reporters about the decision today (Twitter links from Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic and Jason Beck of MLB.com), saying that they want to get him back on track away from the scrutiny that comes from being in the big leagues. “It’s much less spotlight to do it in Triple A than it is to continue to do this in the big leagues,” Hinch said. “He’s too good a hitter for us to just continue to let him grind at this level and not reach the desired results.”

As for the timeline or Torkelson’s return, it seems like that will be dependent on his results. “I told Tork it could be 10 days, it could be two weeks, could be a month. It doesn’t matter how long it takes to get him back to feeling good.” The length of time of this optional assignment could potentially have impacts for Torkelson down the line in terms of arbitration and free agency. Since he made the club’s Opening Day roster, he was in line to earn a full year of MLB service time, setting him up to reach arbitration after the 2024 campaign and free agency after 2027. A major league season is 187 days long, but it takes just 172 days on a big league roster for a player to earn a full year of service time. If Torkelson misses more than two weeks of action, he could come up short of the one-year mark here in 2022, therefore pushing his free agency back by a year. Players also reach arbitration after three years, though it’s also possible to qualify as a Super Two player, with the top 22% of players between two and three years service time being eligible. That means the target moves slightly each year, oscillating from 2.115 to 2.146 since 2009.

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Detroit Tigers Newsstand Spencer Torkelson

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Chase Anderson Intends To Opt-Out Of Contract

By TC Zencka | July 16, 2022 at 12:10pm CDT

12:10 PM: Anderson has indeed opted out, per Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press (via Twitter).

8:30 AM: Chase Anderson plans to opt out of his contract in order to become a free agent today, per Robert Murray of FanSided (via Twitter).

Anderson was a fairly consistent rotation presence for the Diamondbacks and Brewers for the bulk of his career. He has struggled the past two seasons with the Blue Jays and Phillies as he has transitioned into more of a swingman role. The 34-year-old has logged time in the Majors in every season since 2014. He has compiled 190 appearances (176 starts) with a 4.20 ERA/4.66 FIP across 938 2/3 innings over the past eight seasons.

This year, he’s been starting in Toledo for the Triple-A Mud Hens. Across 15 starts and a pair of relief appearances, Anderson has a 4.63 ERA over 70 innings of work. The Tigers have had plenty of rotation issues of their own, but they have yet to call upon Anderson to help fill the void.

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Detroit Tigers Chase Anderson

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Big Hype Prospects: Meyer, Pratto, Ruiz, Greene, Cowser

By Brad Johnson | July 15, 2022 at 3:05pm CDT

This week in Big Hype Prospects, we’ll check in with a few recent and upcoming promotees along with a smattering of others.

Five Big Hype Prospects

Max Meyer, 23, SP, Marlins
AAA: 58 IP, 10.09 K/9, 2.95 BB/9, 3.72 ERA

Meyer is poised for his first taste of the Majors on Saturday, just ahead of the All-Star Break. As MLBTR’s Anthony Franco explored at the time his promotion was announced, the northpaw has made short work of minor league opponents at all stops. His ascent has not been without caveat. Some commentators worry about his ability to hold down a rotation role in the Majors for three reasons. The first is easiest to dismiss as unnecessary fretting. At 6’0’’, Meyer is slightly undersized which can presage an inability to tolerate 180-inning workloads. That said, there are plenty of “short” pitchers in baseball history, most notably Pedro Martinez.

The second and third issues are a bit more worrisome. They tie together, too. Meyer’s fastball command isn’t as sharp as his walk rates suggest. He’s gotten away with using it in the zone in the minors, but he could run into some trouble in the Majors. He relies almost exclusively on his fastball and an elite slider, a combination which often portends a future in the bullpen. That said, lower caliber pitchers like Brad Keller and Brady Singer have managed mid-rotation quality results with the same repertoire. We’ve also seen a few others like Spencer Strider thrive this season while using a different two-pitch repertoire.

Nick Pratto, 23, 1B, Royals
AAA: 337 PA, 17 HR, 8 SB, .240/.373/.484

Like many of his power-hitting Major League colleagues, Pratto got off to a slow start this season before eventually finding his stride. The Royals have promoted him for a series in Toronto in which they’ve infamously left 10 players south of the Canadian border. As such, his debut might be short-lived.

Pratto is a classic patient, left-handed slugger in the mold of Kyle Schwarber. Like the upcoming Home Run Derby participant, Pratto runs a mid-teens walk rate while striking out in around 30 percent of plate appearances. He makes up for so little contact by punishing those with which he does connect. Nearly half of his batted balls are flies and over 20 percent of those leave the yard. Per a home run calculator I’ve developed, Pratto projects for 33 home runs per 600 plate appearances. While he’s shown a willingness to run, he has below average speed. Like Schwarber, Pratto will probably be a volatile performer whose carrying trait is slugging.

Esteury Ruiz, 23, OF, Padres
AA: 232 PA, 9 HR, 37 SB, .344/.474/.611
AAA: 142 PA, 4 HR, 23 SB, .315/.457/.477

Ruiz draws his hype from our friends in the fantasy baseball realm where his combination of power and speed could make him one of the most celebrated players in the game. From a real-world perspective, there are a lot of things that could go wrong. Starting on defense, he only has about a year of experience as an outfielder. His routes can be inconsistent or even circuitous. Fortunately, he has enough speed to recover while he learns the position. Speed doesn’t guarantee eventual mastery as an outfield defender. Roman Quinn is similarly fleet and still takes baffling routes to the ball at times.

Scouts also worry about his hit tool. Prior to this season, Ruiz had consistently below-average plate discipline. He struggled with swinging strikes, strikeouts, and consistency of contact. Notably, he’s produced 13.9 percent walk and 17.4 percent strikeout rates this season across two levels. His swinging-strike rate has also improved. Perhaps a more selective approach has yielded better contact results (I’m still awaiting comment from my sources). Regardless, speed is his carrying trait. Nabbing 60 bases (69 attempts) in 374 plate appearances is seriously impressive work.
I’m reminded of Michael A. Taylor, an outfielder who, at his peak, occasionally hit for power, often stole bases, but never quite made enough contact to stick as a regular. He’s carved out a nice career based on gold glove caliber center field defense. As noted above, Ruiz will need to improve considerably to match Taylor on defense. The raw tools are there.

Riley Greene, 21, OF, Tigers
MLB: 109 PA, 1 HR, 1 SB, .255/.358/.340

Greene’s prospect eligibility will soon expire. His first taste of the Majors has yielded mixed results. On the one hand, he’s effectively working counts. His 21.1 percent strikeout and 7.9 percent swinging-strike rates exceed even the wildest hopes for his early-career performance. The swinging-strike rate, in particular, is a marked divergence from expectations.

On the other hand, Greene is supposed to be a power hitter. With just one home run, three doubles, and a triple to his name, he’s been one of the most punchless batters since his debut in mid-June. Only 19 players have a lower ISO over that span – mostly names like Geraldo Perdomo, Myles Straw, and Steven Kwan.

Better times likely await ahead. Greene is making consistent hard and barreled contact. It’s also encouraging to see him make adjustments. He’ll need to continue to do so to correct for the biggest flaw in his profile – an over-50 percent ground ball rate. While he’s currently using a shift-proof all-fields approach, he’s the kind of hitter who could benefit from a more pull-centric profile.

Colton Cowser, 22, OF, Orioles
High-A: 278 PA, 4 HR, 16 SB, .258/.385/.410
AA: 53 PA, 3 HR, 1 SB, .308/.491/.615

In a crowded Orioles system, a lot of attention is paid to Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson, Grayson Rodriguez, and DL Hall. However, Cowser is also a Top 50-caliber prospect who is quickly working his way towards a big league debut in early 2023. With a patient approach, good rate of contact, and a swing geared for high BABIPs, Cowser profiles as a top-of-the-lineup force. He produces premium line-drive rates while using an all-fields approach. A left-handed hitter, he won’t be as penalized by the new dimensions at Camden Yards as his right-handed hitting teammates. Yet, since he hits to all fields, he’ll still use the spacious left field pasture to splash doubles.

If Cowser has a shortcoming, it’s that he doesn’t consistently get to in-game power. As mentioned, his swing skews to low-angle contact. He produces plenty of well-hit balls, but his game is mostly geared around reaching base. In today’s MLB, you never know when a player will make an adjustment that unlocks another gear, but it’s not strictly necessary in Cowser’s case. The Orioles have plenty of mid-lineup bats penciled into their future lineups. However, they could use a leadoff hitter who works counts and jumps on mistakes in the zone.

Five More

Michael Massey, Royals (24 years old): Another temporary beneficiary of the Royals’ roster triage, Massey isn’t technically a hyped prospect. However, my best scouting resource has been talking him up for a full year as a future regular. While it isn’t the most exciting profile, he skews to line drive and “fliner” contact which helps him to run high BABIPs while also regularly hitting for extra bases. The elevated BABIP will be necessary if he’s to be an above average hitter – his plate discipline and contact skills are slightly below average. Defensively, he profiles as a utilityman who fits best at second base.

Eury Perez, Marlins (19): With Shane Baz returning to the injured list due to an ominous elbow sprain, Perez is the last truly elite pitching prospect (Baz, Daniel Espino, and Grayson Rodriguez) left standing. The Marlins are carefully managing his workload – both by holding him to around 20 batters faced per appearance while using him every seven or eight days. He’s carved through Double-A competition and could probably more than hold his own in the Majors. He’s only 19 years and three months old, so Miami is taking the long view with his development.

Jordan Walker, Cardinals (20): Walker has yet to appear in this column for two simple reasons. His performance hasn’t merited effusive praise or words of caution. As one of the youngest players in Double-A, he’s batting .302/.392/.476 with seven home runs and 15 steals while demonstrating good strike zone judgment and a batted ball approach based around liners and ground balls. His light-tower power is handicapped by hitting too many grounders. It’s not a death blow to his presumed future as a top slugger. Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. are among the notable power hitters who skew to low-angle contact.

Mick Abel, Phillies (20): With the usual caveats about injury, Abel will be one of the most-hyped pitching prospects this time next year. He’s performed well though not exceptionally at High-A this season, producing a 4.23 ERA with 10.50 K/9 and 3.95 BB/9. Recently, he’s struggled with both home runs and walks. The Phillies have allowed him to pitch surprisingly deep into his starts. He often faces 24 or more batters, which is more than the average big leaguer. This workload has been mitigated with extra rest between starts.

Brayan Rocchio, Guardians (21): Since a four-hit, two-homer game at the end of June, Rocchio is batting .452/.500/.833 over his last 46 plate appearances. In his second stint at Double-A, he’s noticeably improved upon his walk and strikeout rates. He’s beginning to track as a shortstop whose defensive and offensive prowess will remind Guardians fans of Francisco Lindor. Including last season, he now has 506 plate appearances at Double-A. A promotion to Triple-A is almost certainly imminent.

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Baltimore Orioles Big Hype Prospects Cleveland Guardians Detroit Tigers Kansas City Royals MLBTR Originals Miami Marlins Philadelphia Phillies San Diego Padres St. Louis Cardinals Brayan Rocchio Colton Cowser Esteury Ruiz Eury Perez Jordan Walker Max Meyer Michael Massey Mick Abel Nick Pratto Riley Greene

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Tigers Designate Drew Carlton For Assignment

By Steve Adams | July 15, 2022 at 10:06am CDT

The Tigers announced Friday that right-hander Jose Cisnero has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list and that fellow righty Drew Carlton has been designated for assignment in order to open a spot on the roster.

Carlton, 26, was Detroit’s 32nd-round pick back in 2017 and made his big league debut with them last season. He’s tossed a total of 12 1/3 innings in the Majors from 2021-22, logging a strong 2.92 ERA but a less impressive 8-to-4 K/BB ratio. Far more concerning, however, are Carlton’s struggles in Triple-A Toledo this season. The Florida State product has been hammered for a 6.91 ERA with the MudHens, yielding 33 hits — five of them home runs — and six walks in 27 1/3 innings.

Prior to this season, Carlton had a strong showing in his first run through Triple-A, working to a 2.92 ERA with a 23.6% strikeout rate and a 4.8% walk rate in 52 1/3 frames. He’s an extreme fly-ball pitcher whose fastball has averaged 90.6 mph in his limited big league time. Carlton can be optioned this year and for two more beyond the current campaign. The Tigers will have a week to trade him or attempt to pass him through outright waivers.

Cisnero, meanwhile, will rejoin the Tigers’ bullpen and look to build on a strong 2019-21, when he logged a 3.69 ERA with a 24.7% strikeout rate and 10.9% walk rate in 126 2/3 frames. Cisnero has averaged 96.6 mph on his fastball over that stretch and gone from an indie-ball reclamation project who’d been out of affiliated ball for five years to a valuable member of Detroit’s late-inning relief corps. He’s already 33 years old and will be a free agent after the 2023 season, so if he impresses in his first few outings after activation, it’s at least plausible that he could join several of his bullpen-mates as names of interest on the summer trade market. If not, he’ll give the Tigers a veteran arm to plug into the bullpen for the season’s second half and for the 2023 campaign.

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Detroit Tigers Transactions Drew Carlton Jose Cisnero

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Tigers Sign Nick Vincent To Minor League Deal

By Steve Adams | July 14, 2022 at 8:48am CDT

The Tigers signed veteran righty Nick Vincent to a minor league deal late last week and assigned him to Triple-A Toledo. The move flew a bit under our radar, as the organization never formally announced it, but Vincent has already made a pair of scoreless appearances in his new environs.

Vincent, who turned 36 just two days ago, is a veteran of ten Major League seasons. The PSI Sports Management client opened the 2022 season with the Braves’ Triple-A affiliate, pitching to a lackluster 5.12 ERA but turning in a brilliant 27-to-4 K/BB ratio over his 19 1/3 innings there. Atlanta released him last month.

Perhaps due to the fact that he’s a soft-tossing righty who’s never averaged even 91 mph on his heater, Vincent has been a rather unheralded reliever throughout his career — at least relative to his overall success. The right-hander has been rocksteady throughout his big league tenure, posting a career 3.30 ERA, 24.1% strikeout rate and 6.2% walk rate through 411 2/3 frames dating back to his 2012 debut with the Padres. Vincent has posted a sub-4.00 ERA in eight of his ten seasons in the Majors, and the only two exceptions were consecutive 4.43 ERA campaigns in 2019-20. He’s never been a full-time closer, but Vincent does have seven big league saves in addition to 97 career holds.

The Tigers have disappointed in general this season but have one of the most effective bullpens in Major League Baseball. However, with the trade deadline under three weeks away and several relievers coming up on free agency either at this season’s end or after the 2023 campaign, that group figures to generate plenty of trade interest over the next 19 days. Detroit could use any newly created vacancies to take a look at some additional young arms, but Vincent will give them a veteran option to help stabilize things if there is indeed something of a bullpen exodus in advance of this season’s Aug. 2 trade deadline.

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Detroit Tigers Transactions Nick Vincent

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The Tigers Will Be Getting Plenty Of Calls About Their Bullpen

By Steve Adams | July 13, 2022 at 1:20pm CDT

Not much has gone right for the Tigers so far in 2022. They’re without the majority of their projected starting rotation. Former No. 1 overall pick Casey Mize underwent Tommy John surgery, while their other recent No. 1 overall pick, Spencer Torkelson, has looked overmatched in the big leagues so far. Javier Baez, who signed a $140MM contract over the winter, has had a roller coaster season en route to an overall .211/.248/.372 batting line. Their trio of productive veterans from the 2021 season — Jonathan Schoop, Jeimer Candelario and Robbie Grossman — are all struggling through arguably the worst seasons of their career.

The 2022 Tigers serve as a reminder that not all rebuilding efforts go as smoothly as the most famous success stories in Houston and Chicago, but for all the bleak outcomes thus far, they’ve had their share of successes. Tarik Skubal has struggled of late but looks like a bona fide mid-rotation starter or better through a half season of innings. Outfielder Riley Greene, the No. 5 overall pick in 2019, has ascended to the top of Baseball America’s Top 100 prospect rankings and held his own through his first 99 plate appearances. And perhaps most surprisingly, despite all the struggles in the rotation and the tax that typically takes on a team’s relief corps, the Tigers rank third in all of baseball with a collective 3.05 bullpen ERA.

Success from Detroit’s collection of relievers shouldn’t be a total surprise, though few would’ve expected quite this extent. Flamethrowing lefty Gregory Soto established himself as a quality ’pen option last year, and former Rookie of the Year Michael Fulmer handled his early-2021 move to the bullpen fairly well. The Tigers brought in one of the more underrated free agents on the market this past offseason when they inked lefty Andrew Chafin to a two-year pact (the second season of which is a player option).

That said, the Tigers have gotten contributions from some fairly unexpected names. Joe Jimenez was once hailed as the closer of the future in Detroit, but he pitched his way out of a roster spot in 2021, when he was optioned to Triple-A on multiple occasions (for the first time since 2017). This year, he looks like the power arm he was always expected to be. Twenty-six-year-old righty Alex Lange, acquired in the 2019 trade that sent Nick Castellanos to the Cubs, has improved upon his 2021 rookie strikeout and walk rates, setting himself up as a potential long-term option in the late innings. Righty Will Vest, briefly lost to the Mariners via the Rule 5 Draft but thankfully (well, for the Tigers) returned midway through that season, has a 3.55 ERA in 33 frames (and a 2.25 mark if you set aside one fluky five-run meltdown). Starter-turned-reliever Tyler Alexander has a 1.06 ERA out of the ’pen — albeit with less convincing secondary marks.

There have been other contributors, but the overarching point here is that the Tigers have received unexpectedly sound contributions from their relief corps — including the expected veterans and some more controllable, young options alike. Over the next three weeks, those more experienced arms figure to be among the more popular names on the trade market. Let’s run through some of the possible names available…

Michael Fulmer, RHP, 29 years old ($4.95MM salary, free agent at season’s end)

Fulmer, in particular, seems a likely candidate to be moved. After injuries decimated the former rotation stalwart’s mid-20s, he’s returned as a shutdown option in the late innings, serving as the primary bridge to the hard-throwing Soto. Through 33 1/3 innings so far in 2022, Fulmer owns a 1.89 ERA with a 24.2% strikeout rate against an 11.7% walk rate. Fulmer’s K-BB% could certainly stand to improve, but it’s hard to overlook the fact that he’s yielded just one earned run over his past 18 innings (0.50 ERA), punching out 30.1% of his opponents along the way.

Since moving to the ’pen on a full-time basis on May 5 of last season, Fulmer boasts a superlative 2.10 ERA with 23 holds, 16 saves, an above-average strikeout rate and walk/ground-ball tendencies that are only slightly below par. He’s limiting hard contact and barrels, averaging 95.3 mph on his heater and has generally looked the part of a quality late-inning arm. Fulmer is a free agent at season’s end, and his $4.95MM salary is generally affordable. It’d frankly be a surprise if the Tigers didn’t trade him.

Andrew Chafin, LHP, 32 years old ($5.5MM salary, $6.5MM player option for 2023)

As with Fulmer, it’d be a surprise if Chafin lasted in Detroit beyond the deadline — although the circumstances surrounding him are slightly different. He’s technically signed through the 2023 season, but next year’s $6.5MM guarantee comes in the form of a player option. Based on Chafin’s 2.30 ERA, 30.3% strikeout rate, 7.3% walk rate and 50.8% ground-ball rate, it’d take a mammoth second-half collapse or a serious injury for him to opt into the second season of the contract.

At one point this winter it looked as though Chafin might’ve been a candidate to land a three-year deal, but the two-year pact and the player option likely mean he’ll come out ahead of where he’d have been with a straight three-year arrangement. Chafin just turned 32 last month, and this second straight dominant season proves two things: his shaky performance in 2020 was a small-sample fluke, and the huge gains he made in terms of his command appear to be sustainable.

Barring an unexpected collapse or the aforementioned injury scenario, Chafin seems like a lock to hit the market in search of either a three-year deal or a two-year pact with a higher annual value than his current $6.5MM level. Teams will view him as a likely rental, though the downside of being potentially “stuck” with him following an unforeseeable injury (due to that player option) could tamp down his value a slight bit.

Joe Jimenez, RHP, 27 years old ($1.785MM salary, arb-eligible through 2023)

Although he’s controllable beyond the current season and the Tigers are trying to put together a winning club, it’d be understandable if they were tempted to capitalize on the 27-year-old Jimenez’s bounceback from an awful 2020-21 stretch (6.35 ERA in 68 innings).

Jimenez looks every bit like the late-inning arm the Tigers foresaw earlier in his career. Last night’s pair of runs allowed did bump his ERA from 2.97 to 3.48, but Jimenez has punched out exactly one-third of his opponents and walked just 5.9% of them. This year’s 95.8 mph average fastball velocity is a career-best mark, and Jimenez is tied for 25th among 173 qualified relievers when it comes to inducing chases off the plate (37.2%). With top-of-the-scale four-seam spin rate and excellent percentile rankings in most key Statcast metrics, Jimenez looks like he’s finally arrived — it just happened several years later than hoped.

Detroit will have a decision to make: cash in now and try to get max value when Jimenez has more than a season of club control remaining, or hold onto him and risk a return to his prior struggles. A healthy Jimenez could play a key role on what the Tigers’ front office surely hopes will be a more competitive 2023 team, but it’s also possible that he could be used as a part of a trade to acquire a more controllable piece who could contribute to that same club.

Wily Peralta, RHP, 33 years old ($2.5MM salary, free agent at season’s end)

Peralta revived his career with the 2021 Tigers and has enjoyed solid results out of the bullpen despite shaky command this season. He’s sporting a 2.16 ERA but also has a below-average 19.6% strikeout rate and a lofty 14% walk rate. Still, Peralta throws hard (95.6 mph average fastball), keeps the ball on the ground (48.4%) and has yielded roughly average levels of hard contact. He’s also a former starter who’s no stranger to working multiple innings.

Peralta is currently out with a hamstring injury, which further clouds his trade possibilities. Still, the asking price won’t be high, and there’s little reason for the Tigers not to move him, unless they simply don’t find an interested party willing to give anything up in return. But with the number of teams needing bullpen help and rotation depth, one would imagine a pitcher with a 3.57 ERA over his past 201 1/3 big league innings and a near-96 mph average on his sinker would drum up modest interest, sub-par command or not.

Gregory Soto, LHP, 27 years old ($722K salary, arb-eligible through 2025)

The longest shot among Tigers bullpen arms to be traded due to that remaining club control and the team’s stated desire to compete sooner than later, Soto is also the most tantalizing raw talent in the group. Lefties who average 98.6 mph on their fastballs aren’t exactly common, after all, and Soto’s 11.3% walk rate in 2022, while still well north of the league average, is the best of his career.

Soto doesn’t miss as many bats as one would expect for a pitcher with his raw stuff, and this year’s 24.1% strikeout rate is a career-low — due in no small part to a decrease in the usage of a slider that hasn’t been nearly as effective in 2022 as it was in prior seasons. In that sense, moving Soto would almost be “selling low” at this point, which is a counterintuitive thing to say about someone recently named to the All-Star team.

In all likelihood, it’s a moot point. The Tigers are aiming to compete as soon as next season, and they control Soto all the way through the 2025 campaign. It’d take a massive return for them to move him, and he’s listed here more because teams will likely try to pry him loose than because he actually has a chance to be moved.

—

By the time Aug. 3 rolls around, it seems likely that Detroit will have found deals to their liking for Fulmer and Chafin at the very least. Jimenez, with just one season of club control remaining and some shaky performances in his recent track record, would seem a decent candidate to go as well. Peralta should move if healthy. The Tigers will undoubtedly get ample interest in the likes of Soto, Lange and some of their more controllable arms, but that’s tougher to envision.

It’s not the type of busy deadline that GM Al Avila and assistant GMs Jay Sartori, David Chadd and Sam Menzin hoped to have, but it seems likely that they’ll still be plenty active over the next 20 days.

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Detroit Tigers MLBTR Originals Andrew Chafin Gregory Soto Joe Jimenez Michael Fulmer Wily Peralta

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Tigers To Shut Down Austin Meadows’ Rehab Assignment Due To Achilles Soreness

By Darragh McDonald | July 11, 2022 at 1:30pm CDT

The Tigers are planning to pull outfielder Austin Meadows off his rehab assignment due to soreness in both of his achilles tendons, reports Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press. “I think we’re going to have to stop his rehab and start over,” manager A.J. Hinch tells Petzold.

Acquired from the Rays in an offseason trade, the Tigers were hoping that Meadows would be an anchor in their lineup as they transitioned from rebuilders into competitors this year. Instead, it’s been a frustrating season defined by mounting injury woes, both for Meadows and the team at large.

Meadows first landed on the IL in May due to vertigo-like symptoms. He returned in June but then landed on the COVID list just over a week later. As he was about to go on a rehab assignment to get back into game shape, he was placed on the traditional injured list due to achilles strains. He attempted to start a rehab assignment last week but only got into two games before being sidelined once more. Due to these setbacks, he’s only been able to play in 36 games for the Tigers so far this year.

The frustrations with Meadows are just one piece of a frustrating puzzle in Detroit, as a host of injuries have dragged down the club this year. Many regular players and most of the starting rotation being sidelined for various ailments throughout the campaign, with the club limping to a 36-49 record thus far. Adding salt to the wound is the fact that Isaac Paredes, who went the other way in the trade, is having a breakout season for the Rays, hitting 13 home runs and slashing .240/.304/.548 for a 143 wRC+.

With the Tigers likely to do some deadline selling and stay out of the postseason race, there’s no reason to rush Meadows back until he has recuperated. Still, he and the club would surely like to get him some reps in the second half and get him into good form before the winter. He is still under club control via arbitration for two more seasons, though he likely won’t earn much of a raise on this year’s $4MM salary due to missing so much time.

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Detroit Tigers Austin Meadows

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