Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Tigers Rumors

Tigers Designate Sam Howard For Assignment

By | at

The Tigers announced Tuesday that they’ve designated left-hander Sam Howard for assignment. His spot on the roster will go to righty Drew Hutchison, who’s back up for a third stint with the big league club. Hutchison is starting tonight’s game.

Howard, 29, was a waiver claim out of the Pirates organization in mid-May but has yet to pitch at the big league level with Detroit. He’s logged a dozen innings with the Tigers’ top minor league affiliate in Toledo, pitching to a 3.75 WERA with a huge 36.5% strikeout rate but also a very concerning 17.3% walk rate.

There’s little doubting that Howard has the ability to miss bats in droves. He punched out 30.1% of the batters he faced in 66 innings with the Pirates from 2020-21 and, for a time early in the 2021 campaign, at least brandished impressive surface-level numbers. Howard opened the 2021 season with 25 2/3 innings of 2.45 ERA ball and had whiffed 33% of his opponents to that point in the season. However, he’d also walked 15.5% of opponents and skated by with an unsustainable 88.2% left-on-base rate and .163 average on balls in play.

Howard was torched for six runs on June 18 last year, hit the injured list with knee tendinitis, and returned to give up another six runs over his next 3 1/3 innings. An oblique strain then sent him to the shelf for another six weeks. He returned to yield another nine runs in his final 15 1/3 innings, maintaining the ability to miss bats but also maintaining his lack of comment and displaying increased susceptibility to home runs.

Taking a broader look, Howard’s strikeout numbers exploded when the Rockies, who selected him with their third-round pick in 2014, moved him to the bullpen for the 2019 season. However, the command issues that have plagued him over the past two seasons have been an ongoing problem, never more so than in the past two seasons. The Tigers will have a week to trade Howard, attempt to pass him through  outright waivers, or release him.

Tigers To Select Drew Hutchison

By | at

Righty Drew Hutchison is headed back to the Tigers for his third stint this season. Chris McCosky of the Detroit News reports that Hutchison’s contract will be selected this week so that he can start one of the final two games of the team’s current series against the Guardians. The Tigers will need to make a corresponding 40-man roster move to accommodate Hutchison’s selection back to the big leagues.

Hutchison inked a minor league deal with the Tigers back in March, made the Opening Day roster and has twice been designated for assignment by the team. He elected free agency and quickly re-signed on a new minor league deal in both instances. That’s not entirely uncommon for veteran players of this nature who are playing on minor league contracts.

Hutchison discussed the cyclical nature of his Tigers tenure with McCosky, praising the team for being “very upfront” and honest with their communication. “That’s all you can ask for as a player,” said Hutchison. Given the circumstances of Hutchison’s latest call to the big leagues — the Tigers again find themselves in need of a starter for an injury-depleted rotation — the whole process could eventually play out again. However, none of the Tigers’ absent starters appear close to a return at present, so Hutchison could be entrusted with multiple starts this time around.

The 31-year-old Hutchison has made just one appearance in Triple-A Toledo since rejoining the Tigers late last month, tossing four innings and yielding three runs on five hits and no walks with six punchouts on June 30. He threw 67 pitches in that outing — his most in any Major League or Triple-A game this season — which suggests he could build on that a bit further in his forthcoming start for the Tigers. Hutchison has a 3.95 ERA in 13 2/3 innings with Toledo this season and a 4.81 mark in 24 1/3 Major League innings.

Injury Notes: Jansen, Faedo, Lewis, Stephenson, Dunn

By | at

Kenley Jansen’s problems with irregular heartbeats have plagued him for over a decade, yet that familiarity has also made this serious issue seem oddly matter-of-fact for the Braves closer.  With Jansen again on the injured list, he spoke with reporters (including MLB.com’s Mark Bowman) about his latest bout with atrial fibrillation.  Jansen said he actually first had an irregular heartbeat on June 18, but after a visit with doctors, he pitched five more times before his symptoms continued to the point that some time off was necessary.  However, after being placed on the IL on June 28, Jansen said he plans to miss only the minimum 15 days.

More on other injury situations from around baseball…

  • Tigers right-hander Alex Faedo left during the third inning of today’s start due to what the club described as right hip soreness.  More will be known about Faedo’s condition after the game, yet another injury would continue Detroit’s horrific luck with pitcher health this season.  Just about all of Detroit’s starting pitchers have spent time on the IL at some point and several are still recovering, which opened the door for Faedo to both make his MLB debut and then make 11 starts in his rookie season.
  • Kyle Lewis has started a Triple-A rehab assignment, and Mariners manager Scott Servais told reporters (including MLB.com’s Daniel Kramer) that Lewis will get “a healthy dose of playing time” as an outfielder.  Lewis suffered a torn meniscus in May 2021, and thus far in 2022 has played almost exclusively as a DH in minor league action and in four Major League games.  A return to regular outfield work is a positive sign for Lewis, who has missed over a month on the concussion-related IL.
  • Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson is set begin a Triple-A rehab assignment today, while Justin Dunn will make his next minor league rehab start on Wednesday, according to Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer (Twitter links).  Stephenson suffered a fractured right thumb on June 9, but looks on pace to return within the original 4-6 week projected recovery timeline.  Dunn, meanwhile, has yet to pitch at all since the Reds acquired him from the Mariners as part of the Eugenio Suarez/Jesse Winker trade package in March — a shoulder injury sidelined Dunn in Spring Training.  Dunn has two rehab outings under his belt already, and he is slated to throw around 60-65 pitches in his next trip to the mound.

Tigers Select Garrett Hill

By | at

The Tigers announced that they have selected the contract of right-handed pitcher Garrett Hill. He will take the active roster spot of fellow righty Rony Garcia, who has been placed on the 15-day injured list with right shoulder soreness, retroactive to June 30. To create space on the 40-man roster, Matt Manning has been transferred to the 60-day IL.

Hill, 26, was selected by the Tigers in the 26th round of the 2018 draft. Since then, he’s climbed the rungs of the minor league ladder, racking up strikeouts at each level along the way. He started this year at Double-A and made seven starts for the SeaWolves. In that time, he struck out 40.9% of the batters he faced, walking 7.9% of them and getting grounders at a 33.3% clip.

Based on those strong results, he was moved up to Triple-A and made eight starts for the Mud Hens. The higher level of competition naturally resulted in lesser results, though Hill still fared well. His Triple-A ERA is 4.06, along with a 28.7% strikeout rate, 9.4% walk rate and 32.6% ground ball rate. Baseball America ranked him the #21 prospect in the system as part of a recent update. The Tigers’ plan is for Hill to start one of the games in tomorrow’s doubleheader against the Guardians, which will be his MLB debut.

Detroit was supposed to have their rotation as a strength this year but have seen a litany of injuries derail that plan. Casey Mize underwent Tommy John surgery and is out for the rest of the year, joining Spencer Turnbull, who underwent the procedure last year. Matt Manning has only made two starts due to shoulder issues. Eduardo Rodriguez made eight starts before landing on the IL and then the restricted list due to a personal matter. Michael Pineda spent about six weeks on the IL as well, but has since returned. Now Rony Garcia is the latest starter to land on the shelf.

Due to all of that, the Tigers have leaned hard on their starting depth this year, giving MLB debuts to pitchers such as Beau Brieske, Alex Faedo, Elvin Rodriguez and Joey Wentz, with Hill now stepping up as the next rookie to get a shot.

The move for Manning is strictly procedural as he’s been on the IL for over 60 days already. He will be eligible to return as soon as his health allows, though he will need to be added back onto the 40-man roster at that time. He is close to starting a rehab assignment but will need some time to build back up into game shape.

Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press reported Hill’s promotion before the official announcement.

AL Central Notes: Twins, Guardians, Blitzer, Ilitch, Tigers

By | at

The bullpen will be a focus for the Twins heading into the trade deadline, even though “the reliever (trade) market is always the toughest one to navigate and always the toughest one to pin down,” chief baseball officer Derek Falvey told The Athletic’s Aaron Gleeman and other reporters.  “It all depends on what’s available, but this year we’ll be more open-minded to adding whatever what we think will be something that will help us more toward the middle or the back end, ideally.”

However, it doesn’t seem like a trade may come together quickly, as with a month still left before the trade deadline, Falvey noted that many teams still haven’t decided if they’ll be buying or selling.  “You can’t really accelerate that part of the conversation,” Falvey said.  “Sometimes it’s ’all right, we’ll wait and see, we’ll put you down as interested in Player X and we’ll circle back if we’re moving in that direction.’ ”  While the Twins could push the market with an aggressive offer, that only increases the risk of overpaying for a player now when they could get the same pitcher for less in a few weeks’ time.  Getting at least one of Emilio Pagan or Tyler Duffey pitching well would greatly help Minnesota’s bullpen and trade leverage, but until that happens, the club may need to continue to explore outside options.

More from around the AL Central…

  • The Guardians figure to make some middle-infield prospects available at the trade deadline, as The Athletic’s Zack Meisel writes that the club has such a surplus that some names will eventually need to be moved by this offseason at the latest.  In terms of deadline targets, Meisel figures Cleveland will look to add in the bullpen and perhaps at catcher, though the rotation (for the first time in a while) could also be an area of need.  Adding one more quality starter would help reinforce a rotation that has been only okay this season, rather than its normal above-average quality.
  • David Blitzer is now officially a minority owner of the Guardians, though GM Mike Chernoff told Marla Ridenour of the Akron Beacon Journal and other reporters that “I wouldn’t expect our operating philosophy to change.  The industry economic model is what it is and so we know what our challenges are being a small market.  We don’t shy away from those at all.”  While the financial status quo will remain in place for now, it remains to be seen what could happen if Blitzer eventually becomes the Guards’ majority owner — in six years’ time, Blitzer has an option to buy a majority share of the franchise.
  • The Tigers have a disappointing 29-46 record, but owner Christopher Ilitch is still “very pleased with the progress” of his team.  “Despite a very slow start this season with our team, there’s actually some good progress happening with some of the young guys that have come up and developed and so on and so forth,” Ilitch told reporters, including Evan Petzold of The Detroit Free Press.  After years of rebuilding and a big offseason spending spree, the Tigers were expected to take a big step forward this season, but Ilitch sees these struggles as another natural part of “a process that takes time.”

Austin Meadows Placed On Injured List With Achilles Strains

By | at

Austin Meadows’ injury-plagued first season in Detroit continues, as the Tigers announced this evening that he’s been placed on the 10-day injured list with Achilles strains in both legs. The outfielder had been on the COVID-19 list for the past 11 days; he’d been set to go on a minor league rehab assignment but the Achilles issues represent a notable setback. Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free-Press writes there’s currently no timetable for his return.

Meadows also lost a couple weeks in May while fighting vertigo-like symptoms. The series of health issues has kept him to 36 games thus far, and his production at the plate has taken a step back. Meadows is hitting .250/.347/.328 across 147 plate appearances, and he’s yet to hit his first home run in a Tiger uniform. The left-handed hitter popped 27 homers and 29 doubles for the Rays last season, but he’s unfortunately not had much of an opportunity to get into a groove this year.

Needless to say, it’s not been the kind of season the Tigers front office envisioned when acquiring Meadows from the Rays for infielder Isaac Paredes and a draft choice just before Opening Day. It’s been something of a Murphy’s law season altogether for the Tigers, who have been hit by a host of injuries in the starting rotation and an offensive drought throughout the lineup. Detroit entered play tonight 28-44 and is certain to move some shorter-term players over the coming weeks after their hopes of competing this season were dashed early on.

Meadows is playing this season on a $4MM salary after avoiding arbitration with the Rays over the winter. He’s controllable twice more via the arb process and can stick around in Detroit through the end of the 2024 campaign.

Tigers Re-Sign Drew Hutchison

By | at

The Tigers have re-signed righty Drew Hutchison to a new minor league contract, MLBTR has confirmed. Chris McCosky of the Detroit News tweeted yesterday that a new deal between the Tigers and the ACES client was expected to come together at some point this week.

That’s now three minor league deals with Detroit in the past three months for Hutchison. Originally signed in mid-March, Hutchison cracked Detroit’s Opening Day roster and pitched out of their bullpen for the first month of the season before being designated for assignment and electing free agency mid-May. He returned a couple weeks later, was selected back to the big league roster in mid-June, and was again designated for assignment last week. Hutchison elected free agency at that point but will return for another stint with the Tigers organization.

The 31-year-old Hutchison has pitched well in Triple-A this season and has been a serviceable source of big league innings both in the rotation and bullpen for an injury-depleted Tigers pitching staff. In 24 1/3 Major League frames, he has a 4.81 ERA, though his 17-to-16 K/BB ratio is rather ominous. Hutchison recently made a pair of starts for the Tigers, who have four starting pitchers on the injured list, and allowed five runs over a total of 8 2/3 frames.

The 2022 campaign is the seventh in which Hutchison has logged big league time. He’s tallied 506 Major League innings between the Blue Jays, Pirates, Phillies, Rangers and Tigers, pitching to a combined 4.96 ERA with a 20% strikeout rate, an 8.3% walk rate and a 39.3% ground-ball rate in that time.

AL Central Injury Notes: Moncada, Smith, Staumont, Meadows

By | at

White Sox third baseman Yoan Moncada should be activated from the 10-day injured list on Tuesday, manager Tony La Russa told MLB.com’s Scott Merkin and other reporters.  Moncada’s placement (due to a right hamstring strain) was retroactive to June 18, so Tuesday would represent the minimum 10 days for the infielder.

Between this brief IL visit and the oblique injury that sidelined Moncada for the first month of the season, Moncada seems to have barely gotten out of the blocks in 2022, hitting only .179/.230/.292 in 113 plate appearances.  While the Sox are happy to remove a name from their increasingly crowded injured list, they’ll need Moncada to get back to his old form in order for Chicago to start making a move in the playoff race.

Let’s catch up on some other injury situations from around the AL Central…

  • The Twins placed veteran reliever Joe Smith on the 15-day injured list due to tightness in his upper trap muscle.  Left-hander Jovani Moran was called up from Triple-A in the corresponding move.  Now in his 15th Major League season, Smith has 2.78 ERA over 22 2/3 innings out of Minnesota’s bullpen, with his 62.7% grounder rate helping make up for an unimpressive set of Statcast metrics.
  • The Royals placed right-hander Josh Staumont on the 15-day IL (retroactive to June 23) due to a neck strain.  In corresponding moves, K.C. also optioned lefty Foster Griffin to Triple-A and called up right-handers Jackson Kowar and Matt Peacock.  Staumont told MLB.com’s Anne Rogers and other reporters that his neck problem had been “lingering for the past couple games,” and Rogers noted that Staumont’s velocity had clearly been impacted over those last few outings.  Staumont has a 3.81 ERA, 27.6% strikeout rate, and a high 14.7% walk rate over 26 innings for the Royals this season, and six of Staumont’s 17 walks allowed have come over his last four games.
  • Austin Meadows will start a minor league rehab assignment this week, with Tigers manager A.J. Hinch telling reporters (including Chris McCosky of The Detroit News) that Meadows will likely start game action on Tuesday.  Meadows was placed on the COVID-related IL on June 17 after testing positive for the coronavirus, but he has now cleared health protocols.

A.J. Hinch Under Contract With Tigers Through 2025

By | at

Just before the 2020 season concluded, the Tigers finalized agreement with A.J. Hinch to take over as manager. At the time, the club announced the hiring only as a “multi-year” deal, and it’d remained unclear for how long he was under contract until this week. Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic reports that Hinch signed a five-year pact, taking him through the end of the 2025 campaign. Rosenthal adds that general manager Al Avila’s deal wraps up before that point, although its specific terms are still unreported.

The five-year term for Hinch is a fairly lengthy commitment for a manager, but it reflects the atypical track in which he was hired. Generally regarded as one of the sport’s best skippers for much of his tenure with the Astros, Hinch was suspended for the entire 2020 season after the extent of the club’s 2017 sign-stealing operation became public. Houston dismissed both he and GM Jeff Lunhow almost immediately thereafter, but Hinch became an in-demand managerial candidate virtually the second his suspension was up.

The 48-year-old oversaw 100-win teams for each of his final three seasons in Houston. The Astros claimed a pair of pennants during that stretch and won the 2017 World Series. Those teams’ star-studded rosters obviously played a big role in that success, but the manager had drawn plenty of plaudits for the Astros’ excellence before the sign-stealing revelations.

Since landing in Detroit, Hinch has endured quite a bit more losing. That was to be expected last season as the club neared the end of a massive rebuild. The Tigers were coming off their third last place finish in four years, and a dismal April killed any chance they had of hanging in contention in 2021. Detroit played fairly well from May onwards, however, leading to some optimism they might turn a corner this year.

Instead, the Tigers have begun the season at a 26-43 pace. They’re virtually certain to finish below .500 for a sixth straight year, and they’ve been outscored by 100 runs through play Thursday. Detroit’s rotation has been gutted by injuries, with only Tarik Skubal staying healthy all season. Spencer Turnbull also underwent Tommy John surgery last year and was always expected to miss most or all of the season. Virtually any team would have a tough time overcoming the losses of six of its top seven starters, but the Tigers’ problems have gone beyond rotation woes.

The bigger indictment for the organization has been a generally anemic offense that ranks last in MLB with 198 runs scored. (Every other team has plated at least 220). Detroit has a .226/.281/.327 slash line that translates to a 75 wRC+, indicating they’ve been 25 percentage points worse than the average hitting team. That figure is tied with the A’s for worst in the league. The Detroit lineup has been problematic essentially top to bottom; of 11 players with at least plate appearances, Miguel Cabrera and Austin Meadows are the only two with a wRC+ better than the 100 league average. Cabrera (.299/.336/.374) and Meadows (.250/.347/.328) have only been marginally above par themselves.

The team’s disappointing first half is magnified by the aggressiveness with which Avila and his staff attacked this past offseason. Detroit signed Javier Báez to a $140MM guarantee with a post-2023 opt-out opportunity. That came on the heels of a $77MM investment in starter Eduardo Rodríguez, while the club picked up Meadows and Tucker Barnhart via trade. Most public projection systems still viewed Detroit as a longshot to contend for a playoff spot, but few would’ve forecast them struggling to this extent.

Avila has overseen the entirety of Detroit’s rebuild. A longtime member of the front office, he took over baseball operations in August 2015 when Dave Dombrowski left the organization. Avila assumed an aging roster with a bottom-tier farm system, so it wasn’t surprising the club embarked on a retooling effort. Detroit has had a top ten draft pick in five of the last six seasons.

Players like Casey Mize, Riley Greene, Spencer Torkelson and Matt Manning have all reached the majors and still have plenty of long-term promise, but they’ve not yet pushed the team especially close to contention. Mize and Manning have dealt with injury issues — including a recent Tommy John procedure for the former — while Torkelson has stumbled to a .191/.282/.291 showing through his first 63 big league games.

As the August 2 trade deadline approaches, Avila and his staff look likely to serve as at least moderate sellers. Relievers Andrew Chafin and Michael Fulmer are each nearing free agency (Chafin after 2023, Fulmer following this season) and should draw interest from contenders. Barnhart, Robbie Grossman and Michael Pineda all are impending free agents and could be dealt for cost savings and/or a minimal prospect return. The Tigers won’t be offering the kind of impact talent of some other sellers this summer, but they seem likely to move a few shorter-term players for help in 2023 and beyond.

Drew Hutchison Elects Free Agency

By | at

The Tigers announced Wednesday that righty Drew Hutchison, who was designated for assignment over the weekend, cleared outright waivers and elected free agency rather than accepting an assignment to the minors (presumably to Triple-A Toledo). That doesn’t necessarily preclude Hutchison from returning to the Tigers; he rejected one outright assignment earlier this year, only to return on a new minor league deal a few days later. (Newly brokered deals can include more timely opt-out opportunities, new terms, etc.)

Hutchison, 31, has tossed 24 1/3 innings for the Tigers this season, pitching to a 4.81 ERA with shaky strikeout and walk tendencies (17 strikeouts, 16 walks). He yielded five runs through 8 2/3 frames during this most recent big league stint and also carries a 2.79 ERA through 9 2/3 innings in Triple-A so far this year.

After showing some promise with the Blue Jays earlier in his career and even earning an Opening Day starter nod with Toronto, Hutchison has settled in as a journeyman starter/reliever, now having pitched for five different big league teams across the past six seasons (in addition to Triple-A stops with three other clubs). In 506 Major League innings, he has a 4.96 ERA with an even 20% strikeout rate against a roughly average 8.3% walk rate.

Hutchison sports a sub-4.00 ERA in 591 2/3 career Triple-A frames as well, making him a solid depth option to have on hand — be it for the Tigers or another club with pitching needs. Few clubs have had as many pitching injuries this year as Detroit, however, so it wouldn’t be a shock to see him return for another stint, as the path back to the big leagues is more open there than with most organizations.

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