Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Tigers Rumors

Minor MLB Transactions: 8/9/25

By | at

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?

By | at

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:

Which AL Central team had the best deadline?
Minnesota Twins 33.06% (919 votes)
Kansas City Royals 30.97% (861 votes)
Detroit Tigers 18.45% (513 votes)
Cleveland Guardians 9.28% (258 votes)
Chicago White Sox 8.24% (229 votes)
Total Votes: 2,780

MLBTR Podcast: Sifting Through The Trade Deadline Deals

By | at

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

By | at

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

By | at

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.”

Nationals Claim PJ Poulin

By | at

The Nationals announced this afternoon that they’ve claimed left-hander PJ Poulin off waivers from the Tigers. Poulin was designated for assignment to make room for right-hander Charlie Morton on the club’s 40-man roster on the day of the trade deadline.

Poulin, 29, was an 11th-round pick by the Rockies back in 2018. A two-way player in college, Poulin committed to pitching upon his move to affiliated ball. He looked quite good in the lower minors as a reliever in his first two years as a professional, but the canceled minor league season in 2020 lost him a year of development and he generally struggled with his effectiveness in the upper minors during his time with the Rockies organization. He was dealt to the Tigers prior to the 2024 season and has looked quite good since then, with a 2.10 ERA, 2.59 FIP, and 29.8% strikeout rate across the Double- and Triple-A levels last year.

The southpaw returned to Triple-A Toledo this year and has pitched well in 42 2/3 innings of work, with a 3.38 ERA and a fantastic 33.7% strikeout rate against a 9.2% walk rate. Those huge numbers got the attention of the Tigers last month, and led them to add Poulin to the 40-man roster after he exercised an upward mobility clause in his contract. Unfortunately for Poulin, he did not make it to the majors in Detroit before being DFA’d this past week. The good news, however, is that he’s been plucked off the waiver wire by a Nationals team that will be in need of bullpen help down the stretch after parting with key relievers like closer Kyle Finnegan and lefty Andrew Chafin in a sell-off at the deadline.

That should give Poulin a clear shot to make the majors and show what he can do at the big league level at some point down the stretch, and if he impresses the Nationals would have full control over him given that he has not yet made his big league debut and has zero MLB service time. He’ll be competing with players like Konnor Pilkington and Shinnosuke Ogasawara to serve as a left-handed bullpen option for the team now that Jose A. Ferrer is seemingly ticketed for the closer role in Finnegan’s stead.

Minor MLB Transactions: 8/2/25

By | at

Here’s the latest on a trio of players who were recently designated for assignment. All information is courtesy of the transactions log on that respective player’s MLB.com profile page.

  • Veteran southpaw Rich Hill has elected free agency after being DFA’d by the Royals earlier this week. Hill, 45, is the oldest active big leaguer and held off on signing a contract this year until he joined the Royals on a minor league deal back in May. He was added to Kansas City’s big league roster late last month and made two starts for the club, pitching to a 5.00 ERA in nine innings of work with eight walks against just four strikeouts. It was a lackluster pair of outings for the veteran, and he’s served as more of an innings-eating depth starter as he’s entered his mid-40s with a 5.38 ERA over 159 innings of work since the start of the 2023 campaign. The lefty has 21 years in the majors with 14 different MLB clubs under his belt at this point, however, and if one of the other 16 clubs in the league picks him up at some point down the stretch he’d surpass Edwin Jackson (with whom he’s now tied after joining the Royals) as the player to suit up for the most clubs in MLB history.
  • Outfielder Sean Bouchard has been outrighted to the minor leagues after being DFA’d by the Rockies late last week. The 29-year-old was a ninth-round pick by the Rockies back in 2017 and made his big league debut with the club during the 2022 season. He’s spent each of the past four seasons in a Rockies uniform as an up-and-down bench player, and in his first two seasons he excelled with a .304/.428/.563 slash line in 48 games. Unfortunately, he’s struggled badly in 63 games over the past two seasons, hitting just .178/.272/.274 with a 33.1% strikeout rate. Bouchard now figures to serve as non-roster depth for the Rockies down the stretch, but will have the opportunity to elect free agency after the 2025 campaign if not added back to the 40-man roster.
  • Right-hander Tyler Owens has been released after being DFA’d by the Tigers earlier this week. The 24-year-old made his big league debut with Detroit earlier this year and surrendered one run on three hits and three walks across three innings of work while striking out one batter during that abbreviated cup of coffee. Owens had been sidelined by a hip injury was he was removed from the club’s 40-man roster, which means he could not be assigned outright to the minors and had to be released after clearing waivers. He’s now free to sign with any MLB club, though a 5.40 ERA in 30 Triple-A innings with nearly as many walks (21) as strikeouts (27) makes it likely that he’ll be limited to only minor league offers.

Tigers Acquire Charlie Morton

By and | at

The Tigers have acquired right-hander Charlie Morton from the Orioles in exchange for minor league left-hander Micah Ashman. Baltimore will also send cash considerations. To free up space on their 40-man roster, the Tigers designated left-hander PJ Poulin for assignment. Jeff Passan of ESPN was the first to report that Morton was heading to Detroit.

Morton, 41, joins Chris Paddack as the Tigers’ second veteran rotation addition near the trade deadline.  Morton signed a $15MM free agent deal with the Orioles in January, but lost his rotation job after five disastrous starts.  After the Orioles designated Kyle Gibson for assignment on May 18th, Morton returned to the rotation.  He’s been a new pitcher in those 11 starts, posting a 3.88 ERA, 22.7 K%, and 8.9 BB%.

Now Morton joins the first-place Tigers, who are tied for the best record in the American League.  The club’s rotation consists of ace Tarik Skubal, Jack Flaherty, Casey Mize, Paddack, and Morton.  Reese Olson is out for the season with a shoulder strain, while free agent signing Alex Cobb was able to resume his rehab assignment on Tuesday as he recovers from a hip injury.  Rookie Troy Melton, who drew two starts this month, has been moved to the bullpen to accommodate Morton.

It’s unclear how the Tigers would make it work if all six veteran pitchers are healthy, but that’s a good problem to have.  Morton could perhaps serve as the Tigers’ fourth starter in the playoffs.  He has extensive postseason experience, including for manager A.J. Hinch’s 2017-18 Astros.

Perhaps because of the success of his team or a desire to hang on to his best prospects, Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris didn’t shoot for the top of the market at the trade deadline.  Aside from adding Morton and Paddack to the rotation, Harris picked up Kyle Finnegan, Rafael Montero, the injured Paul Sewald, and Codi Heuer as bullpen reinforcements.  It was not unlike the club’s offseason, which consisted of modest free agent deals for Flaherty, Cobb, Gleyber Torres, Tommy Kahnle, John Brebbia, Manuel Margot, and Jose Urquidy.

At one point it seemed like the Orioles might move three starting pitchers, but Zach Eflin and Tomoyuki Sugano ended up staying put.  Eflin was placed on the IL today with back discomfort, while Sugano likely didn’t move the needle for teams given his 15.2 K%.  The Orioles still traded Ryan O’Hearn, Ramon Laureano, Ramon Urias, Cedric Mullins, Andrew Kittredge, Seranthony Dominguez, Gregory Soto, and Bryan Baker this month, so it was an incredibly active trade deadline for Mike Elias and company.

Ashman, 22, was drafted in the 11th round by the Tigers last year out of the University of Utah.  The reliever has a 1.49 ERA and 25.5 K-BB% in the minors this year and moved to Double-A earlier this month.  It appears the Tigers are taking on all $4.76MM owed to Morton for the rest of the year, which likely dampened Baltimore’s return.

Tigers Trade Dietrich Enns To Orioles

By | at

The Orioles and Tigers apparently made a last minute trade before the deadline. Detroit dealt left-hander Dietrich Enns to Baltimore for cash. He’d been designated for assignment just this afternoon when the Tigers acquired Codi Heuer from Texas.

Enns, 34, could get a look in the Baltimore rotation. The O’s traded Charlie Morton and placed Zach Eflin on the injured list. They’re more or less playing out the string and need pitchers who can take innings behind Trevor Rogers and Tomoyuki Sugano. Enns has struggled in a limited big league look, giving up 12 runs in 17 2/3 frames spanning seven appearances. He has posted excellent numbers over 14 Triple-A starts, working to a 2.89 ERA with a near-27% strikeout rate against a tidy 5.6% walk percentage.

Prior to this season, Enns’ major league experience consisted of brief stints with the 2017 Twins and ’21 Rays. He has also pitched in Japan and Korea, turning in a 4.19 ERA over 30 starts in the KBO last season. The O’s will give him an opportunity to see if they can get similar mid-30s production from Enns as they did with Albert Suarez a year ago.

Phillies Acquire Matt Manning

By | at

The Tigers announced that right-hander Matt Manning has been dealt to the Phillies in exchange for minor league outfielder Josueth Quinonez.  Manning was designated for assignment by Detroit earlier today, and this trade was completed just under the wire before the 5pm CT trade deadline.  Philadelphia designated right-hander Devin Sweet for assignment in a corresponding roster move.

Selected ninth overall by the Tigers in the 2016 draft, Manning’s time in the organization will officially end without the righty living up to his lofty potential as one of baseball’s top pitching prospects.  Manning has a 4.43 ERA over 254 career big league innings from 2021-24, along with an uninspiring 16.4% strikeout rate and 7.8% walk rate.  Some injuries surely played a role along the way, and yet with Manning now in his last minor league option year, Detroit chose to just walk away from a pitcher that was once seen as a future cornerstone.

Despite Manning’s struggles in the majors, he is still only 27 years old, and it isn’t surprising that the Phillies quickly arranged a trade soon after Manning was DFA’ed.  There’s little risk for the Phils in seeing if Manning can still be a post-hype breakout after a change of scenery, or at least turn himself into a decent contributor if not a star.  In the immediate short term, Manning replenishes the rotation depth chart after the Phillies traded Mick Abel to the Twins as part of the Jhoan Duran swap.

Sweet is also a former Tiger, acquired by Philadelphia in a trade last November.  Sweet’s lone bit of MLB experience came in the 2023 season when he tossed 8 2/3 innings over seven games with the Mariners and Athletics, and he has since been pitching at the Triple-A level.  The results weren’t great this year in Lehigh Valley, as Sweet has a 5.50 ERA and six homers allowed over 37 2/3 innings, with a modest 20.3% strikeout rate.

Sweet has battled control issues for each of the last two seasons, and he’ll find himself back in DFA limbo.  He has been outrighted before, so if the 28-year-old clears waivers, he can reject an outright assignment off the Phillies’ 40-man roster and instead opt for free agency.

Quinonez signed by the Phils during the 2024 international signing period, and the outfielder has played a lot of center and right field in the early stages of his pro career.  Quinonez has hit .301/.397/.383 in 310 plate appearances with the Phillies’ Dominican Summer League teams, and he’ll now head to Detroit’s system as a long-term prospect.

Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top