Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Tigers Rumors

Tigers Option Isaac Paredes, Keep Zack Short On Active Roster

By | at

After splitting today’s doubleheader with the Astros, the Tigers announced that they are keeping 27th man Zack Short on the active roster and optioning Isaac Paredes to Triple-A. Paredes, 22, was given an opportunity to fill in for Niko Goodrum when the latter was placed on the injured list.

With a 17.1 percent walk rate and 14.3 percent strikeout rate in a small sample of 35 plate appearances, Paredes has shown a solid, contact-first approach. The bottom line results haven’t been there yet, however, as he slashed .143/.286/.321 in that time. His .130 BABIP suggests some poor luck, and his batted ball numbers (such as exit velocity, hard-hit percentage, and barrel rate) are a touch below average. Paredes will head back to the minors with hopes of producing more solid contact in regular playing time at Toledo.

Short, 26, is having a stellar season at the plate, both in Triple-A (.132 wRC+ in 124 plate appearances) and with the parent club (143 wRC+ in 16 plate appearances). The former Cubs’ farmhand can play all over the infield while filling Paredes’ role as a right-handed complement to switch-hitting infielders Jeimer Candelario and Willi Castro. Short may not have the long-term promise that Paredes does, but he has impressed in short-run samples this season, earning himself an opportunity.

Moving to the outfield, the Tigers have another roster decision coming soon, writes Evan Woodbery of Mlive.com. With Derek Hill and Victor Reyes close to returning from the injured list, the Tigers will have a surplus of outfielders. The most obvious move would be to activate Hill and option Reyes back to Triple-A, but Woodbery wonders whether Detroit might find this the right time to cut ties with Nomar Mazara.

Though still just 26, Mazara is seemingly running out of chances to prove himself a Major League hitter. After struggling through the shortened season with the White Sox, Mazara has put up similar production this year. Slashing .201/.273/.317 through 154 plate appearances, Mazara doesn’t have any trade value, and on a one-year, $1.75MM contract, he can be cut loose without significant financial consequence.

If the Tigers don’t see Mazara as a part of their future, there’s certainly some logic to allocating his playing time elsewhere. The Tigers can pull from a pool of outfielders that includes Robbie Grossman, Akil Baddoo, Daz Cameron, Hill, Reyes, JaCoby Jones, Christin Stewart, Jacob Robson. Infielders Castro and Goodrum (when he returns from the injured list) are also capable of playing the outfield.

2021 Amateur Draft Rumors: Pirates, Mayer, Orioles, Mock Drafts

By | at

The 2021 amateur draft begins on July 11, and with the later date comes more time for analysis, predictions, smokescreens, rumors, and possible major changes up and down teams’ draft boards.  With this in mind, there is naturally quite a bit of uncertainty over which prospects will land with which teams, as a real consensus has yet to develop in almost every single spot in the first round.

Baseball America’s Carlos Collazo, The Athletic’s Keith Law, MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis, and ESPN.com’s Kiley McDaniel have all published new mock drafts within the last week, and one constant emerged between the four pundits — the Pirates taking California high school shortstop Marcelo Mayer with the first overall (1-1) pick.  It isn’t a sure thing by any means, however, as the Pirates are said to be focused “only on position players at this point,” according to Law, so such candidates as Louisville catcher Henry Davis (Callis cites Davis as Pittsburgh’s apparent “Plan B”) or high school shortstops Jordan Lawlar and Khalil Watson could still be in the mix.  Collazo also believes the Pirates are considering Vanderbilt right-hander Jack Leiter.

The Pirates’ $14,394,000 draft bonus pool is the highest of any team, and they plan to maximize value by drafting a player at 1-1 who is thought to be less willing to insist on the full slot price $8,415,300 slot price for the first overall pick.  “I think that’s what Pittsburgh’s pick will come down to: taking the one that is clearly cheaper to sign,” McDaniel writes, which certainly isn’t welcome news to Pirates fans long frustrated by the team’s unwillingness to spend.

That being said, many teams have deployed the strategy of spreading around their draft bonus money in the past.  The most famous example was the Astros’ pick of Carlos Correa (seen as a slight reach at the time) first overall in 2012, and Houston signed Correa to a below-slot bonus and then using that saved money to sign 41st-overall pick Lance McCullers Jr. to an above-slot deal.  It also isn’t like Mayer would be a controversial choice at 1-1, considering that MLB Pipeline ranks him first on their top 250 draft prospects list, and McDaniel’s most recent prospect ranking has Mayer second overall.

While Mayer looks like the favorite at the moment, it is quite possible the perceived price tags could still fluctuate in the next three weeks.  For instance, the three pundits all note that the Tigers love Mayer, so he isn’t likely to fall beyond Detroit at the third overall pick if the Pirates and Rangers (who pick second) both pass.  As McDaniel observes, this impacts Mayer’s leverage in potential negotiations with the Pirates, since the young shortstop can be reasonably certain of at least landing a bonus in range of the $7,221,200 slot price attached to the third overall pick.

There is no consensus whatsoever in the mock drafts after a hypothetical Pirates/Mayer 1-1 pick, so if Pittsburgh went in another direction, the draft boards would be entirely blown up.  To give you an idea of the wide range of scenarios, here is the list of players cited by Callis, Collazo, Law and McDaniel as possibilities for each team drafting in the top eight, along with which pundit selected which prospect for each top-eight team in their mock draft.

  • 1. Pirates: Mayer (Callis/Collazo/Law/McDaniel), Henry Davis, Jordan Lawlar, Khalil Watson, Jack Leiter
  • 2. Rangers: Leiter (Callis), Lawlar (Collazo/Law), Davis (McDaniel), Kumar Rocker, Mayer, Watson….in a contrast to the other three pundits, Callis writes that Texas has Lawlar and Davis “on the back burner” behind Watson, Mayer, and Leiter.  “Watson has real heat at this spot,” Collazo writes.
  • 3. Tigers: Mayer, Jackson Jobe (Callis/Collazo), Leiter (Law), Brady House (McDaniel), Lawlar, Watson, possibly Rocker “as a big maybe” in Collazo’s words
  • 4. Red Sox: Lawlar (Callis), Davis (Law), Leiter (Collazo/McDaniel)….Collazo doesn’t believe Leiter would fall beyond Boston at fourth overall,
  • 5. Orioles: Davis (Callis), Colton Cowser (Law), Watson (Collazo/McDaniel), House, Harry Ford, either of Mayer/Lawler if they happened to fall….Baltimore is widely expected to take a college position player at an under-slot price, as a way of keeping money in reserve to go over-slot on other picks.
  • 6. Diamondbacks: Rocker (Callis), Davis (Collazo), Watson (Law), Lawlor (McDaniel), Jobe
  • 7. Royals: Watson (Callis), Rocker (Collazo/Law/McDaniel)….this is another minor consensus area, as Law and McDaniel believe that Rocker isn’t likely to fall beyond Kansas City.  “The market for Rocker is weirdly specific,” Law writes, citing the Rangers, Red Sox, Royals, Nationals, and Mets as perhaps the only true interested parties.  Of course, Callis projected the D’Backs to take Rocker at sixth overall, so Arizona could also be a candidate for the Vanderbilt righty.
  • 8. Rockies: House (Callis/Collazo/Law), Benny Montgomery (McDaniel), Jobe

All four mock drafts are well worth reading in full, to get a sense of what the 29 teams with first-round picks are generally targeting this year or have historically looked for in past drafts.  (The Astros aren’t included, as they lost their first-rounder as part of their punishment for the sign-stealing scandal.)

For more on the prospects themselves, you can check out the aforementioned lists from McDaniel and MLB Pipeline, Baseball America’s top 500 list, or some of the individual writeups from the Sports Info Solutions blog on such top college players as Florida outfielder Jud Fabian, Wake Forest right-hander Ryan Cusick, UCLA shortstop Matt McClain, and Mississippi right-hander Gunnar Hoglund.

Twins Claim Beau Burrows From Tigers

By | at

The Twins announced Tuesday that they’ve claimed righty Beau Burrows off waivers from the Tigers, who’d previously designated the former first-rounder for assignment. He’ll report to Triple-A St. Paul.

Burrows, 24, was the No. 22 overall pick back in 2015 and long rated as one of the Tigers’ better prospects, but he’s struggled both in the upper minors and in his brief time with the MLB club. In 8 1/3 innings with the Tigers, he’s surrendered eight runs on 10 hits and three walks with six strikeouts. Burrows’ work in Triple-A hasn’t yielded better results, as he’s been tagged for a 5.66 ERA in 82 2/3 frames.

That said, Burrows isn’t terribly far removed from ranking as the game’s No. 77 prospect in the estimation of Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com back in 2018. He’s battled shoulder and biceps injuries over the years and was limited to just 74 innings during his last full season in 2019. But Burrows sat 94.5 mph with his fastball in his brief MLB time this year and was at 93.7 mph last year. His fastball draws average or better reviews in scouting reports, but Burrows has had trouble settling on and consistently executing his mix of secondary pitches. He’s at times used a changeup, curveball, slider and cutter, but none has settled in as a consistently above-average offering to this point.

The Twins have been hit hard by injuries so far in 2021 and had an open spot on the 40-man roster, so there’s little harm in taking what amounts to a free look at a once-promising prospect. Burrows can be optioned for the remainder of the 2021 season and also has one additional minor league option year remaining beyond the current campaign.

Tigers Release Wilson Ramos

By | at

TODAY: The Tigers have requested unconditional release waivers on Ramos, the team announced.

TUESDAY: The Tigers have designated catcher Wilson Ramos and righty Beau Burrows for assignment, according to a club announcement.  That opens up 40-man roster spots for additions Wily Peralta and Miguel Del Pozo, moves covered in this post.

Ramos, 33, is a 12-year Major League veteran.  The Tigers signed him to a one-year, $2MM deal back in January, and Ramos started the majority of the team’s games at catcher until going on the shelf on May 7th with a back injury.  Ramos started strong, with six home runs in his first nine games.  However, Eric Haase and Jake Rogers have proven themselves capable.  The 28-year-old Haase, who was removed from the Tigers’ 40-man roster back in January, has already blasted eight home runs in 100 plate appearances.

Ramos has had a long, successful career, with his finest years coming as a member of the Nationals.  He’s generally been regarded as a bat-first catcher, and posted a 105 wRC+ over a career-high 141 games for the 2019 Mets.  He’s reached double-digit home runs in nine different seasons and has a pair of All-Star appearances under his belt.

Burrows, 24, was drafted 22nd overall by the Tigers back in 2015 out of high school, two spots ahead of Walker Buehler.  Not long after that, Burrows was rated as a 60-grade prospect by Baseball America.  Though he wasn’t particularly successful in the high minors, prior to this season BA still gave Burrows a 45 grade, saying, “Without a true out pitch, it’s hard to project Burrows as much more than a low-leverage reliever.”  Unfortunately, the most memorable part of Burrows’ lone MLB outing this season was his vomiting on the pitching mound.

Tigers Place Niko Goodrum On 10-Day IL

By | at

  • The Tigers placed Niko Goodrum on the 10-day injured list yesterday due to a tendon injury in his left finger.  Goodrum suffered the injury while diving for a ball on Friday.  Tigers manager A.J. Hinch told reporters (including Chris McCosky of The Detroit News) that Goodrum is “seeing some doctors and they are sending films to some hand doctors around the country.  But essentially, he’s got an issue with the tip of his left index finger.  No surgery is required, but we have to get the swelling out of his entire hand.”  Goodrum has played mostly shortstop over the last two seasons but he has been a valuable utility piece for Detroit, playing all over the field during his four seasons with the Tigers.  While Goodrum was a Gold Glove finalist at shortstop in 2020, his defensive metrics have been subpar this year, and he has struggled at the plate for the second consecutive year — Goodrum has hit .202/.281/.332 in 398 PA since the start of the 2020 campaign.  Willi Castro, Harold Castro, and call-up Isaac Paredes will all see time at shortstop while Goodrum is sidelined, Hinch said.

Matthew Boyd Out Through All-Star Break

By | at

  • Tigers starter Matthew Boyd has been to see a “number of doctors” about the arm discomfort that landed him on the injured list on June 15th. He won’t pitch again before the All-Star break, but there is no structural damage in the arm, per the Athletic’s Cody Stavenhagen (via Twitter). Detroit plans to be cautious with the 30-year-old southpaw, adds Evan Woodbery of the Mlive Media Group (via Twitter). In 13 starts this season, Boyd has a 3.44 ERA/3.75 FIP across 70 2/3 innings. In terms of the positive, his 6.4 percent walk rate is better than his career norm. On the other side, Boyd’s strikeouts are down (18.8 percent strikeout rate). If all goes well, the Tigers hope to have a healthy Boyd back in the rotation for the second half.

Boyd, Turnbull Out Until Second Half?

By | at

  • Matt Boyd will visit Dr. Neal ElAttrache for an examination of the Tigers southpaw’s ailing left arm, manager A.J. Hinch told reporters (including Chris McCosky of The Detroit News).  More will be known once the exam takes place, though the team is already considering holding Boyd and Spencer Turnbull back until after the All-Star break.  “Are we going to push these guys before the All-Star break versus utilizing the time (the four-day break) and targeting them back after the break?  That’s the assessment that’s going to be done over the next couple of weeks on how we’re going to ramp these guys back up,” Hinch said.  A forearm strain sent Turnbull to the IL on June 5, and while his injury wasn’t though to be overly serious, naturally the Tigers will be cautious with any forearm issue.  Boyd — and perhaps Turnbull as well — figure to be trade chips for Detroit at the deadline, so while the team would surely want both hurlers to prove they’re healthy prior to July 30, there is no point in rushing them back and risking further injury.

Tigers’ Matt Manning To Make MLB Debut Thursday; Matthew Boyd To IL

By | at

The Tigers announced a series of roster moves today, the most exciting of which is the planned MLB debut of acclaimed pitching prospect Matt Manning.  Manning, 23, will start Thursday night in Anaheim against the Angels.  Additionally, pitchers Matthew Boyd and Alex Lange hit the IL, Wily Peralta and Miguel Del Pozo had their contracts selected, and Jeimer Candelario was reinstated from the IL.

Manning was drafted ninth overall by the Tigers in 2016 out of high school.  Prior to the season, Baseball America ranked Manning as the 33rd-best prospect in the game.  The COVID-19 pandemic deprived Manning and many others of a minor league season in 2020, and he also dealt with a right forearm strain.   Manning made his Triple-A debut on May 4th of this year.  He’s scuffled to an 8.07 ERA in seven starts, with more than 27% of his flyballs leaving the yard.  Still, Manning’s last outing was solid, and he retains “frontline starter potential” according to Baseball America.  He’ll get a tough assignment, going up against Shohei Ohtani.

Boyd, 30, exited Monday’s start due to an arm injury that Tigers manager A.J. Hinch described today as “more toward the elbow.”  Through 13 starts, he was experiencing a resurgent season with a 3.44 ERA in 70 2/3 frames.  With a strikeout rate of just 18.8%, Boyd is likely still a 4.50 ERA type pitcher whose flyballs happened to stay in the yard over a brief sample.  Still, he’s under team control through 2022 as an arbitration eligible player and should be a solid late July trade candidate if the injury turns out to be minor.  Boyd joins rotation-mate Spencer Turnbull on the IL.

Lange, a 25-year-old rookie reliever, struggled to the tune of a 7.31 ERA over 18 fairly low-leverage outings before hitting the IL with a shoulder strain.  He was rated as a 40-grade prospect by Baseball America prior to the season.

Peralta and Del Pozo will be new additions to the Tigers’ 40-man roster.  One such spot was opened with the transferring of Rony Garcia to the 60-day IL.  Peralta, 32, joined the Tigers on a minor league deal back in February.  He was once a productive member of the Brewers’ rotation, peaking with a 3.53 ERA in 198 2/3 innings back in 2014.  He managed to give the Mud Hens six mostly solid but brief outings and is an option to take Boyd’s spot Saturday in Anaheim, Hinch told reporters.

Del Pozo has 13 big league innings to his name.  The 28-year-old southpaw inked a minor league deal with the Tigers back in January.  He’s been dominant in a dozen Triple-A relief outings, punching out 34.7% of batters faced and walking only 6.1%.

Matthew Boyd Exits Start Due To Triceps Issue

By | at

10:50pm: Tigers manager A.J. Hinch tells reporters in his postgame session that Boyd felt something abnormal in his triceps during the third inning (Twitter link via Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic). They’ll know more following an additional wave of tests tomorrow, but Hinch suggested a cautious approach is likely to be taken.

9:25pm: Tigers lefty Matthew Boyd is being evaluated after exiting tonight’s start during the third inning with what the team is terming “left arm discomfort,” per a club announcement. Boyd signaled into the dugout for a trainer to come out after 2 1/3 innings of work against the Royals tonight (video link).

While the hope is that he’ll avoid any notable injury, the departure of such an obvious trade candidate this time of year is plenty notable. Boyd has pitched quite well thus far in 2021, bouncing back from an awful 2020 season to post a 3.44 ERA through his first 70 2/3 innings. His 19.6 percent strikeout rate is his lowest since 2017, but Boyd’s 6.4 percent walk rate is also the second-best mark of his career (narrowly trailing a 6.3 percent mark from 2019).

Boyd, 30, was a popular target on the trade market a couple years back, but the Tigers had more than three years of control over him at that point and opted to hold on with the hope of extracting a better offer at some point down the road. Unfortunately, Boyd took a step back in 2019 and then had the worst year of his career in 2020, so that opportunity has yet to present itself.

At this point, the Tigers control Boyd for just one more year after the current season, making him perhaps one of the likeliest players in all of baseball to be dealt — assuming he’s healthy. He’s earning a reasonable $6.5MM salary in 2021 and has been more effective than ever before against right-handed opponents, in part due to an increase in the use of a changeup that has generally befuddled opposite-handed opponents.

Opposing hitters are batting just .224/.246/.343 in the 69 plate appearances Boyd has finished off with a changeup, and the pitch itself has generated a 29 percent whiff rate, per Statcast. Entering play tonight, Boyd had thrown just two changeups to lefties all season but 244 to right-handers; he threw just 187 changeups in a similar workload last season and only 182 over the course of 32 starts in 2019.

Even if the discomfort proves minor enough that Boyd doesn’t miss an outing, his performance and health from this point forth will obviously be all the more important to monitor for those who closely follow the trade market. There’s still a bit more than six weeks to go until the July 30 deadline, so if Boyd shakes off the current ailment and continues at his previous pace in the weeks leading up to the deadline, this will be a quickly forgotten blip on the radar. If he requires a lengthy absence or sees an immediate dip in his results in the coming weeks, there will be obvious implications for the Tigers that extend well beyond their 2021 win-loss record.

Tigers Select Buck Farmer

By | at

The Tigers announced this morning they’ve selected the contract of Buck Farmer. Beau Burrows was optioned to Triple-A Toledo last night to clear active roster space. Jeimer Candelario was placed on the COVID-19 injured list yesterday while he goes through intake protocols after going on bereavement leave. That temporarily opens a 40-man roster spot for Farmer, but Detroit will need to make another 40-man move once Candelario clears the intake process.

Farmer returns to Detroit, where he’s logged big league action in every season since 2014. The right-hander was a durable and generally productive middle reliever from 2018-20, a stretch in which he tossed 158 1/3 innings of 3.92 ERA/4.20 FIP ball. His strikeout, walk and groundball rates were all just worse than league average, but his ability to soak up decent innings out of the bullpen made him a fairly valuable part of the Detroit pitching staff.

The 2021 season began in nightmarish fashion for the 30-year-old, though. In 10 2/3 frames, Farmer coughed up fifteen runs on as many hits, walking nine batters while striking out ten. Between his huge spike in walks and massive drop in grounders, the Tigers felt they could no longer keep him on the active roster. Detroit designated Farmer, who is out of minor league option years, for assignment and passed him through waivers last month. He’s since tossed 11 1/3 relief innings with Toledo, allowing five runs with a 7:4 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Since Farmer is out of options, the Tigers will need to carry him on the active roster from this point forward or again designate him for assignment.

Show all

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

hide arrows scroll to top