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Justyn-Henry Malloy

Tigers Trade Justyn-Henry Malloy To Rays

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The Tigers and Rays announced a trade that sends Justyn-Henry Malloy to Tampa Bay for cash considerations. Detroit had designated him for assignment before the holiday DFA freeze when they officially re-signed reliever Kyle Finnegan. Tampa Bay had two openings on the 40-man roster and didn’t need to make a corresponding move.

A sixth-round pick by the Braves in 2021, Malloy was traded to Detroit after his first full minor league season in exchange for reliever Joe Jiménez. Prospect evaluators praised the righty-hitting Malloy’s plate discipline but questioned whether he’d find a home defensively. The positional fit remains the biggest issue. Malloy was drafted as a third baseman but was well below average there. Detroit used him as a full-time corner outfielder in 2024 and split his time between the corner outfield and first base last season.

Malloy, 26 in February, is a below-average runner and athlete, so the hope is that he’ll be merely adequate somewhere. There’s a high bar to clear offensively if he’s limited to first base or a full-time designated hitter role. Malloy hasn’t been close to clearing that in his scattered MLB opportunities, as he’s a .209/.311/.346 hitter over 357 career plate appearances.

The big league numbers are probably weighed down by his lack of consistent playing time. Malloy has been a fantastic offensive player in the minor leagues. He has a near-.900 OPS in his minor league career, including a .296/.424/.478 line in more than 1200 plate appearances against Triple-A pitching.

Malloy has decent power and popped 23 homers in Triple-A a couple seasons ago. The calling card is an extremely patient offensive approach that has allowed him to work walks at a massive 17.2% rate in the minors. Major league pitchers are going to do a better job challenging him within the strike zone, yet Malloy has still managed a 12% walk rate over his MLB work. That has come alongside an elevated 32.8% strikeout rate that he’ll need to bring down if he’s to carve out a long-term role.

Tampa Bay has Yandy Díaz and Jonathan Aranda lined up for the first base and DH playing time. There’s more opportunity in the outfield if the Rays feel Malloy can be a passable defender on the grass. He’d otherwise be ticketed for a depth role, either as a bench bat or stashed at Triple-A Durham. Malloy still has two minor league options remaining, which gives the team some roster flexibility, though he doesn’t have much to prove against minor league pitching.

Players In DFA Limbo

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When a team designates a player for assignment, he is removed from that club’s 40-man roster. The team then has a period of time with some ability to impact what is next for that player. This is colloquially referred to as “DFA limbo”.

The team can trade the player to another club, unless the trade deadline has passed and the new offseason has not yet begun. The team can also place the player on outright or release waivers. This limbo period can last as long as seven days. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the team has a maximum of five days to work out a trade.

Or at least that’s the case for most of the year. It’s different around the holidays, with several instances in recent years of players being in DFA limbo for longer than two weeks. For instance, catcher Sam Huff was designated for assignment by the Rangers on December 23rd of 2024. He stayed in DFA limbo until he was claimed off waivers by the Giants on January 8th of 2025, 16 days later.

There has never been an official announcement made about what the rules are but it’s clear there’s some sort of freeze on the DFA clock around the holidays in late December and early January.

In this morning’s edition of The Opener, MLBTR mentioned two players who had been designated for assignment on December 17th, expecting those situations to be resolved today. There have been no updates as of the publication of this post. It’s possible the situations have been resolved but just haven’t been reported publicly because of media/communications people taking time off for the holidays. It’s also possible that those players have had their DFA clocks frozen and will remain in limbo into January.

Below is a list of players who have been designated for assignment in the past week without resolution, listed chronologically.

December 17th

December 19th

December 20th

December 22nd

December 23rd

Photo courtesy of Ken Blaze, Imagn Images

Tigers Designate Justyn-Henry Malloy For Assignment

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To clear a 40-man roster spot for reliever Kyle Finnegan, the Tigers have designated outfielder Justyn-Henry Malloy for assignment. It’s the first DFA in Malloy’s young career. He appeared in 52 games with Detroit last season.

Detroit acquired Malloy and lefty Jake Higginbotham from Atlanta in a December 2022 trade that sent right-hander Joe Jimenez to the Braves. Jimenez has dealt with injury issues, but has provided strong work in the Atlanta bullpen when healthy. The Tigers haven’t had much to show for their end of the deal. Malloy has hit .209 across 357 plate appearances in his two big-league stints with the club. He’s struck out at a massive 32.8% rate at the MLB level. Higginbotham spent two seasons in Detroit’s minor league system, topping out at Triple-A (one game). He signed with San Diego as a minor league free agent last offseason.

The Braves took Malloy in the sixth round of the 2021 draft. He zoomed through the system, reaching Triple-A in 2022. Malloy compiled a sterling 144 wRC+ across three levels that season. MLB.com ranked him seventh among Detroit’s prospects in 2023. He slugged 23 home runs at Triple-A in his first season in the organization. Malloy continued to do damage with Toledo in 2024, though his strikeout rate ticked up to 28%. He earned a promotion in June and spent the majority of the remainder of the season with the Tigers. Malloy showed some power with eight home runs, but he struck out at a massive 37% clip.

Malloy has a good sense of the strike zone, as evidenced by a career 12% walk rate and a sub-20% chase rate. It’s making contact when he does choose to swing that’s been the problem. Malloy had a hefty 36.6% whiff rate in 2024. He improved that number to 29.1% this past season, though that mark was still well below average. Malloy trimmed his strikeout rate to a reasonable 25.2% in 2025. Unfortunately, his batted ball metrics fell off. Malloy posted a decent 37.8% hard-hit rate in his debut year, but it tumbled to 31.1% this season. After recording a double-digit barrel rate in 2024, that mark plummeted to 4.1% this year.

Most of Malloy’s at-bats came as a DH or pinch-hitter in 2025. He’s totaled -4 Outs Above Average in his career. Malloy came up as a third baseman, but he’s only played the outfield since joining the Detroit organization. He was a bat-first prospect, and he’s trending toward a DH-only future.

Photo courtesy of Junfu Han, Imagn Images

Tigers Reinstate Parker Meadows From 60-Day IL

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The Tigers announced that outfielder Parker Meadows has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. Fellow outfielder Justyn-Henry Malloy has been optioned to Triple-A Toledo in a corresponding active roster move. To open a 40-man spot, right-hander Ryan Cusick has been designated for assignment. Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press reported the Meadows and Malloy moves prior to the official announcement.

Meadows, 25, will be making his season debut as soon as he gets into a game. Way back in February, he was battling some inflammation in his upper right arm. It was later revealed that this was due to issues with the musculocutaneous nerve. He was placed on the 60-day IL in late March, indicating he wouldn’t be an option for the Tigers in the first two months of the season.

He seems to be fine now. He has played eight rehab games over the past two weeks and put up a stout .259/.394/.556 line in those. His throwing was a concern when the issue first cropped up but he’s been playing the field during his rehab, so he’s presumably fine in that regard as well.

Now that he’s back, it should be a boost for the Tigers. Meadows hit .241/.317/.413 for a 106 wRC+ in 119 games over the previous two seasons. He also stole 17 bases and received strong marks for his center field defense. FanGraphs credited him with 3.1 wins above replacement in that time, even though he had played less than a full season’s worth of games.

The Tigers have had a number of health problems in the outfield this year. In addition to Meadows, Matt Vierling and Wenceel Pérez have also missed significant time. Vierling was recently reinstated but went right back on the IL after just a few days.

The club has managed to weather that storm about as well as could have been expected. Riley Greene and Kerry Carpenter have both been great while utility guys like Javier Báez and Zach McKinstry have also made nice contributions. Now that Meadows and Pérez are back, that should further strengthen a team that already leads the majors with a 39-21 record.

Cusick, 25, was just claimed off waivers from the A’s a few days ago. He will likely wind up back on waivers again in the coming days and it’s possible he’ll clear. As the best team in baseball, the Tigers are last on the waiver priority list, so the other 29 clubs passed on him just a few days ago.

A former first-round pick of Atlanta, Cusick’s minor league work hasn’t produce much optimism yet. He posted poor numbers for the A’s in the minors in 2022, 2023 and through the first half of 2024. A move to relief last year inspired some optimism, as he posted a 1.73 ERA in his final 26 innings. However, his results have backed up here in 2025. He had a 6.75 ERA in 14 2/3 Triple-A innings before the A’s designated him for assignment. Since being claimed, he has tossed one scoreless inning for Toledo.

Photo courtesy of Junfu Han, Imagn Images

Tigers Place Gleyber Torres On Injured List

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The Tigers announced they’ve placed second baseman Gleyber Torres on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to March 29, because of a left oblique strain. Justyn-Henry Malloy is up from Triple-A Toledo in a corresponding move.

Torres departed Friday’s loss to the Dodgers in the sixth inning. He’d experienced what the team initially called rib tightness. Torres didn’t play in the following day’s series finale, and the team evidently diagnosed the side discomfort as an oblique strain. The club has yet to provide an indication of the severity. He’ll be out until at least next Tuesday, and there’s a decent chance this will shelve him beyond the minimum 10 days. Even low-grade oblique strains usually cost hitters a few weeks.

Javier Baez came off the bench in Torres’ place on Friday. The Tigers moved Colt Keith over from first to second base for the following game. They plugged Spencer Torkelson back at first, allowing Kerry Carpenter to work as the designated hitter. That drew Manuel Margot into the lineup in right field. That’ll presumably be the most common alignment while Torres is out of action. Baez and Andy Ibáñez could pick up some extra playing time as well — either at second or at the hot corner, with Zach McKinstry moving over from third base in that scenario.

Torres joins Parker Meadows, Matt Vierling and Wenceel Pérez as position players on Detroit’s injured list. The veteran infielder, who signed a one-year, $15MM free agent deal, was Detroit’s biggest acquisition on the offensive side. He’s coming off a pedestrian final season with the Yankees (.257/.330/.378 with 15 homers), though that’s mostly attributable to a terrible April. The 28-year-old had a more characteristic .267/.339/.409 slash from the start of May onward. He picked up three hits (including a home run) and a walk through his first eight plate appearances as a Tiger.

Malloy replaces Torres on the active roster for what’ll be his first MLB action of the season. The 25-year-old appeared in 71 games as a rookie last year. He struggled to a .203/.291/.366 slash across 230 plate appearances. Malloy has a robust offensive track record in the minors. He’s a career .280/.410/.464 hitter in just shy of 1600 minor league plate appearances. That includes a 5-13 start with a pair of walks through three games in Toledo this year. Malloy doesn’t have a clear defensive home, but he could pick up some at-bats at DH or in the corner outfield, especially against left-handed pitching.

Tigers Moving Colt Keith To First Base

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Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris met with reporters this afternoon, shortly after the team finalized its one-year deal with Gleyber Torres. The team provided video of the 16-minute media session.

Harris confirmed the Tigers will play Torres at second base. Colt Keith will move to first base. Harris indicated that Keith could return to the keystone in future years but noted that “for 2025, our best team has Gleyber at second base and Colt at first base.” Keith spent the entire ’24 campaign at second base, where he logged nearly 1100 innings as a rookie.

Keith’s defensive grades were mixed. Statcast rated him as a slightly above-average second baseman. Defensive Runs Saved was a lot less enthusiastic, estimating he was eight runs below par. Scouting reports on the 6’2″, 211-pound infielder have pegged him as a bat-first player. Keith may be a capable defender at the keystone but wasn’t likely to develop into a Gold Glove winner.

That was the youngster’s first full season as a second baseman. Keith was drafted as a third baseman and continued playing the hot corner until midway through the ’23 campaign. Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free-Press wrote this morning that the Tigers weren’t willing to move Keith back to third base because of concerns about a prior labrum injury in his throwing shoulder.

Keith’s bat guarantees him a spot in the starting lineup. The lefty hitter had a .260/.309/.380 slash with 13 homers. Those numbers are weighed down by a terrible first few weeks. Keith had a .154/.222/.165 showing through the end of April. He hit .282/.328/.426 in 457 plate appearances from the start of May onward. Keith managed solid production against pitchers of either handedness. He should be in the lineup against almost all right-handed pitchers. Skipper A.J. Hinch could shield him from a few lefties, but the Tigers are unlikely to relegate Keith to a strict platoon role.

If the Tigers aren’t willing to play Keith on the left side of the infield, the Torres deal essentially forced him to first base. Torres has been a full-time second baseman since the Yankees moved him off shortstop in 2022. The Nationals showed interest in moving him to third base. Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported last night — before Torres signed with Detroit — that the infielder rebuffed Washington because he didn’t want to change positions.

Between the infield shakeup and some early offseason chatter about the Tigers potentially pursuing a veteran first baseman, it’s fair to wonder if former first overall pick Spencer Torkelson still has a role on the roster. Unsurprisingly, Harris suggested publicly that remains the case. Detroit’s front office leader said he spoke with Torkelson before the Tigers announced the Torres signing. “My message to Tork was: ’if you have a big offseason and a big spring training, there’s a role for you on this team.’ This team needs more right-handed power and we’ve seen Tork do that in the past,” Harris said.

The Tigers have sought right-handed hitting since the start of the offseason. Torres addresses that to some extent, though he’s more a solid hitter than a great one. His 38-homer showing from 2019 looks like a clear outlier. Torres respectively hit 24 and 25 homers in 2022 and ’23. That dropped to 15 round-trippers this year, in part because of an ice cold April in which he didn’t hit a single home run.

Torkelson connected on 31 homers with a .233/.313/.446 slash line in 2023. A strong second half provided optimism coming into this year. Instead, he stumbled to a .219/.295/.374 mark with 10 homers through 92 games — struggles that led the Tigers to option Torkelson to Triple-A Toledo for a stretch. A change-of-scenery trade still seems a distinct possibility.

Kerry Carpenter should get the bulk of playing time at designated hitter. The lefty-swinging Carpenter will be in the lineup at either DH or in the corner outfield against all righty pitching. He’ll probably be shielded from left-handers, but carrying Torkelson as a short-side platoon bat with limited defensive value isn’t a great use of a roster spot. Harris said today that the Tigers don’t view Torkelson as a candidate for any reps at third base or in the corner outfield, though he opined that “with the DH plate appearances and opportunity at first base, there are still plenty of plate appearances for him.”

Justyn-Henry Malloy, a righty hitter, is also in the DH/first base mix. Malloy has been a high-OBP bat in the minors. He hit just .203/.291/.366 with eight homers in 71 MLB games as a rookie. He still has a full slate of minor league options, but he’s another hitter without a clear defensive fit and a limited major league track record.

The Tigers are one of a handful of teams that has been recently linked to the top unsigned position player, Alex Bregman. While the Torres signing doesn’t directly impact third base, it deepens the infield more generally. Harris declined comment on Bregman, as the CBA prohibits team personnel from saying whether they’re in or out on specific free agents.

He indicated there’ll be more moves on the horizon while suggesting he’s encouraged by how the roster is shaping up. “The roster isn’t done yet. It’s not even 2025 yet. There’s still some time in the offseason to fully flesh out our roster. But when I stare at our group right now, this is the deepest we’ve ever been — on both sides of the ball,” Harris said.

Since signing Alex Cobb, the Tigers have downplayed their desire for another starting pitcher. The exception is their pursuit of NPB star Roki Sasaki, who’ll be limited to a signing bonus below $10MM because of his status as an international amateur. Harris said that the Tigers have presented an initial presentation to Sasaki’s representatives at Wasserman. He indicated that the Tigers are awaiting a response from Sasaki’s camp as to whether they’ll get an in-person meeting after the holidays.

Agent Joel Wolfe suggested at the Winter Meetings that Sasaki, who took preliminary meetings with a handful of teams last week, would begin narrowing the field after returning to Japan for the holiday. The Tigers don’t seem a likely landing spot for Sasaki, but they’d certainly welcome an opportunity to make a pitch to the 23-year-old righty.

Jace Jung Underwent Wrist Surgery, Expected To Be Ready For Spring Training

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Tigers third baseman Jace Jung underwent an arthroscopic procedure on his right wrist in October, the team announced this evening. The talented infielder has already begun a hitting program and is expected to be full go for Spring Training.

Jung is the in-house favorite for Detroit’s third base job. The Tigers have been frequently connected to Alex Bregman, largely because of the history with manager A.J. Hinch, but there’s no indication they’re willing to make that level of long-term commitment. Jung’s minor surgery isn’t going to have any impact on a potential Bregman pursuit, of course. Assuming he recovers as expected, he’s on track to vie with Matt Vierling and Andy Ibáñez for playing time.

A former 12th overall pick, Jung made his MLB debut late in the season. He appeared in 34 games, hitting .241/.362/.304 without a home run through 94 trips to the plate. The lefty-hitting Jung had a strong year in Triple-A. Over 91 games, he hit .257/.377/.454 with 14 longballs and an excellent 16.1% walk rate.

In another development on the Detroit infield, Cody Stavenhagen of the Athletic tweets that Colt Keith and Justyn-Henry Malloy will take offseason reps at first base. Keith is expected to remain the team’s primary second baseman, as the measure is simply designed to increase his versatility on the right side of the infield.

It could be a more consequential development for Malloy, who has always been a promising hitter without a defensive home. Malloy worked in the corner outfield or at designated hitter as a rookie. He played third base in the minors through 2023 but was panned by scouts for his glove. Malloy logged a little bit of first base action in college but hasn’t played there professionally. Former first overall pick Spencer Torkelson could have a tenuous hold on the starting job. Detroit is reportedly among the teams that have been in contact with Paul Goldschmidt as they look for a right-handed bat this winter.

Tigers Designate Buddy Kennedy For Assignment, Release Keston Hiura

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The Tigers announced a series of roster moves today, selecting the contract of outfielder Justyn-Henry Malloy, which was reported on yesterday. To open a spot on the active roster, they optioned first baseman Spencer Torkelson, a move that was also previously reported. To open a 40-man spot for Malloy, infielder Buddy Kennedy was designated for assignment. The Tigers also released first baseman Keston Hiura, with Torkelson taking over as the regular first baseman for Triple-A Toledo. Evan Woodbery of MLive was among those to relay the Hiura news on X.

Kennedy, 25, was claimed off waivers from the Cardinals in February. He has spent most of this year on optional assignment, only stepping to the plate 13 times in the big leagues. In 163 plate appearances for the Mud Hens, he has drawn walks at a strong rate of 11.7% but produced a tepid line of .234/.331/.383. That translates to a wRC+ of 88, indicating he’s been 12% below league average.

The Tigers will now have a week to trade Kennedy or pass him through waivers. If the past year is any indication, he should have plenty of interest around the league. Kennedy spent most of his career with the Diamondbacks until he was designated for assignment in September of last year. He then bounced to the Athletics, Cardinals and Tigers via waiver claims in the next few months.

The interest is understandable when looking at Kennedy’s combination of plate discipline and positional versatility. He’s always drawn a fair amount of walks, taking a free pass 16.8% of the time with Arizona’s Triple-A club last year. He slashed .318/.444/.481 for Reno last year, a mark that led to a 133 wRC+ even in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. He’s also spent time at all four infield spots, though just two innings at shortstop, and has appeared in left field as well.

He is in his final option year but could be stashed in the minors for the next few months by any club willing to give him a 40-man roster spot. The offense hasn’t been quite as impressive this year but it’s been a fairly small sample and he’s just a few months removed from being a popular waiver claim target. If he were to clear waivers, he has a previous career outright, which will give him the right to elect free agency rather than accept another outright assignment.

Hiura, 27, signed a minor league deal with the Tigers in the offseason and has been playing regularly for the Mud Hens. He has hit six home runs but also been punched out in 28.1% of his plate appearances. His .232/.312/.401 line translates to an 83 wRC+. That has generally been the formula with Hiura throughout his career. He has 50 major league home runs in 1,057 plate appearances but also has a massive 36% strikeout rate in the big leagues.

With Torkelson now taking over the first base gig for Toledo, Hiura will return to the open market and see what opportunities are out there for him. He hasn’t been in especially good form this year but the power potential is always intriguing.

Tigers To Promote Justyn-Henry Malloy

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The Tigers are calling up outfielder Justyn-Henry Malloy, Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press reports (X link).  Malloy will be making his MLB debut when he first appears in a game, which could happen as early as Monday when the Tigers begin a series with the Rangers.  The corresponding move or moves aren’t yet known, as Detroit will have to open up space on both the 26-man and 40-man rosters.

Malloy was a sixth-round pick for the Braves in the 2021 draft, and was dealt to Detroit in December 2022 as part of the trade that brought Joe Jimenez into the Atlanta bullpen.  Drafted as a third baseman out of Georgia Tech, Austin Riley’s presence in Atlanta made him something of an expendable piece, as the Braves apparently weren’t sold on Malloy’s potential as an outfielder after deploying him exclusively as a left fielder in Double-A and Triple-A.

He still saw some work at the hot corner after joining the Tigers organization, but Malloy went into 2024 prepping to be a full-time outfielder, and he has indeed played only in the corners (and at DH) at Triple-A Toledo this season.  Baseball America and MLB Pipeline each rank Malloy as the sixth-best prospect in the Tigers’ farm system, and their scouting reports both indicate Malloy has a strong throwing arm, even if his time at third base was hampered by some accuracy issues in throwing to first base.

Even if Malloy is just a passable defensive outfielder, the Tigers will happily make do as long as Malloy can hit.  Malloy has a .272/.417/.474 slash line over 838 career plate appearances at the Triple-A level, and has drawn raves for his approach at the plate.  According to BA’s report, “Malloy manages to get to average or better power — despite modest raw juice — because he’s an highly intelligent hitter with a plan at the plate and an excellent idea of the strike zone.”  His high on-base numbers reflect his outstanding batting eye, and he has sharply increased his line drive rate from 24% in 2023 to 28.3% this season.

The 24-year-old Malloy is a right-handed hitter, so he’ll add to a Detroit lineup that now tilts even more heavily to the right side since Kerry Carpenter is on the injured list.  However, lineup balance will take a back seat to production of any kind, given how the Tigers have been struggling to score runs.  Carpenter will be sidelined for an indefinite amount of time with a lumbar spine stress fracture and Mark Canha has been trying to play through some hip problems, though Canha was back in today’s lineup.

Malloy could slide right in as a makeshift replacement for Carpenter, getting work at either corner outfield spot or as a DH depending on how the Tigers build their lineup.  This might also end up being Malloy’s general usage over the long term if he can stick as an outfielder, potentially replacing Canha if the veteran moves on as a free agent after the season.

Harris: Tigers Unlikely To Add “Another Everyday-Type Bat”

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The Tigers’ acquisition of Mark Canha from the Brewers was the first trade of the offseason for any team, but it seems it’ll also be the team’s only addition of a veteran hitter who’s expected to have a regular role. President of baseball operations Scott Harris tells Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press that he doesn’t envision adding anymore veteran hitters who’d be in the lineup on an everyday basis, citing a desire to ensure playing time for younger hitters whom the organization needs to evaluate against big league pitching.

Harris notes that the Tigers have a young hitter either at every position on the diamond or on the cusp of debuting. “We got to commit to those guys,” says Harris. “There aren’t a ton of at-bats available for another everyday-type bat.”

That’s largely true. Spencer Torkelson (first base), Riley Greene (right field), Kerry Carpenter (DH/left field), Parker Meadows (center field) and Jake Rogers (catcher) have all generally staked claims to jobs. The Tigers signed top prospect Colt Keith to a six-year deal with a trio of club options before he even made his debut with an eye toward him winning the second base job in camp. Third base could be a platoon between Zach McKinstry and one of Matt Vierling or Andy Ibañez early in the season, but 22-year-old Jace Jung isn’t far from the big leagues after the 2022 first-rounder torched High-A and Double-A pitching last season.

The veteran Canha will be the primary left fielder, though he could mix in at designated hitter as the season wears on. The Tigers have 23-year-old Justyn-Henry Malloy coming off a .277/.417/.474 showing in Triple-A. He’s played third base and the outfield in the minors, but the team now plans for him to focus solely on outfield work, per Evan Woodbery of MLive.com (X link). Given his outstanding showing in Toledo, Malloy will be in the mix for an Opening Day roster spot. If he doesn’t make the club, he figures to get his first MLB call at some point this season. Javier Baez will reprise his role at shortstop, as his contract is all but untradeable and leaves the club with little choice but to hope for a rebound.

It’s a young lineup, and the Tigers aren’t likely to convert on each and every young player they’re penciling in around the diamond. But the vast majority of their young hitters haven’t even received a full season’s worth of big league at-bats, and they’re all knocking on the door at roughly the same time. It’s sensible to take an extended look at several of their potential cornerstone pieces before blocking them with an experienced veteran. If the club is in contention but sees a young hitter or two falter in the season’s first half, it stands to reason that the Detroit front office could look to augment the lineup on the summer trade market. And if poor performance or injury changes the organization’s view of any of their young hitters in 2024, the Tigers will have ample payroll space to make an addition next winter.

The Tigers have been loosely connected to veterans like J.D. Martinez and Matt Chapman over the course of the winter, but Harris’ comments quash what already looked to be longshot odds of either player landing in Detroit.

It should be noted that Harris’ comments don’t expressly rule out any subsequent additions, be they via the trade or free agent market. The Tigers have a veteran backup catcher, Carson Kelly, but the rest of their projected bench (Vierling, Andy Ibanez, Akil Baddoo) has minor league options remaining. Bringing in a seasoned bench bat who could step into a larger role in the event of an injury or struggles from a young hitter would be reasonable enough, but the team hasn’t tipped its hand that even a smaller-scale move of that nature should be expected.

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