Some Minor Detroit Tigers Roster Moves Are Coming
So far the hot stove hasn’t been so hot for the Detroit Tigers heading into the 2025 season. But fear not! Some small moves are (probably) coming this Tuesday, which is the deadline for teams to file their reserve lists. Some time near 6 PM Eastern fans should know which new players have been added to Detroit’s 40-man roster.
Let’s dig into the roster details a bit more, and then see which players might be added. If you’re a history buff you can read our previous versions of this piece.
Current Detroit Tigers Roster
The Detroit Tigers 40-man roster is currently full. That presents a problem when trying to add new players. So, if the Tigers do add new names to their roster, they are going to have to release players first.
We view Akil Baddoo, Mason Englert, Ryan Kreidler, Ricky Vanasco, and Brendan White as the five most likely players to lose a roster spot. We also wouldn’t necessarily rule out the removal of Alex Faedo, Wilmer Flores, or Eddys Leonard, though we don’t expect any of them to be cut.
As with all roster decisions surrounding the Rule 5 Draft, there are multiple factors at work here. Sometimes teams are just ready to move on from veterans. That would be the case with Baddoo, Englert, Faedo, and Kreidler.
Occasionally there are injuries behind the scenes that make it unlikely another team will add the player to their roster. Flores and White dealt with injuries for most of 2024, for instance. And sometimes, as the case may be with Leonard and Vanasco, the organization likes a player but thinks they may be able to sneak him through waivers and keep him in their system.
The one other thing to look out for on Tuesday is trades. Every year we see a handful of teams with an enviable problem: they have too many good players. They can’t fit everyone on the 40-man, so they end up trading fringy big leaguers or prospects who need to be added to the 40-man for younger prospects who don’t need to be added. The Detroit Tigers aren’t facing that sort of roster crunch. But they could be a decent trade partner for a team that is.
Now, let’s take a look at players the Tigers might want to add to their roster on Tuesday.
Trade Deadline Acquisitions
We’ll start with a quartet of players the Tigers acquired at the trade deadline last year. It might look kind of bad for the Tigers to trade for prospects only to turn around and lose them in the Rule 5 Draft. But could any of these players stick on another team’s active roster all year? (note: age is as of opening day 2025)
Liam Hicks – C – 25
Liam Hicks doesn’t have a particularly sexy profile. He’s an undersized catcher with well below-average power and fringy arm strength. But he has a terrific eye at the plate, he’s a left-handed hitter who makes lots of contact, and he works very well with pitchers. If the Tigers want to add a third catcher to their 40-man, he’s the most likely option.
Chase Lee – RHP – 26
Lee would be a fun, albeit unusual add to the roster. He’s a side-armer with a vertical release point under four feet, which is pretty rare these days. His fastball averages under 90 MPH, but it carried a 40% whiff rate, and he also throws a high-spin slider and a cutter. He pitched very well after the trade, but he feels more like a player who has to earn his spot on the roster in spring training.
Joseph Montalvo – RHP – 22
Montalvo was the most promising player the Tigers acquired in their two trades with the Texas Rangers. We saw him several times with the Whitecaps, and he’s an athletic mover with a low-90s fastball, an above-average slider, and a promising changeup. But he also needs to get bigger and stronger before he can handle more advanced hitters. It seems unlikely another team would try to stash him on their MLB roster, so the Tigers can probably wait another year before protecting him.
Tyler Owens – RHP – 24
Owens became a key member of Erie’s bullpen as they claimed their second consecutive Eastern League title, closing out their 3-2 win in the clinching game. Toward the end of the season his fastball frequently touched the upper-90s with natural cut, and he also showed feel for a slider and a split-change, both in the upper-80s. He looks like he could be a viable member of a big-league bullpen soon.
We Could See It Happening
Garrett Burhenn – RHP – 24
Teams always want starting pitching depth, and Burhenn led the Detroit Tigers system with 122.1 innings last year. He shows a five-pitch mix, led by a 92-95 MPH fastball and a cut-slider that flashes as an above-average offering. And his stuff would likely play up as a reliever, where we think he could develop into a solid 6th-7th inning guy.
Lael Lockhart – LHP – 27
If feels like if Lockhart were in the plans he would have been called up last year. But that doesn’t mean he’s not worthy of consideration for the Tigers, or other teams. He led the system in 2024 with 145 strikeouts and finished second with 121 innings. His fastball rarely tops 90 MPH these days, but it plays up a bit because of his excellent extension. And he boasts two stellar secondary offerings in his curve and splitter, which respectively drew 44% and 55% whiff rates in Triple-A last year.
Tyler Mattison – RHP – 25
Tyler Mattison was our Reliever of the Year in 2023. But he didn’t throw a single pitch last year after undergoing Tommy John surgery in March. When healthy, he shows a nasty mid-90s fastball with tons of carry, a sharp downer breaking ball, and a quality changeup. Ironically, his injury might make him an ideal Rule 5 pick. Players need only remain on the active roster for 90 days to officially become a member of their new organization. So a team could take him, stash him on the IL until June, and then use him sparingly over the final three months.
RJ Petit – RHP – 25
Petit is a lot like Tyler Owens, apart from being about a foot taller. He was also a huge part of the Erie bullpen, using a mid-to-upper-90s fastball and an average slider and changeup to rack up 76 strikeouts in 58.2 innings.
Maybe Next Year
We won’t go too in depth with this group, who all showed promise in the low minors. Roberto Campos quietly made a lot of progress in 2024, and he’s poised to break out next year. But it’s hard to envision him sticking on a big-league roster. Sadrac Franco was a recent free-agent signing who has good stuff, but he’s thrown just over 60 innings since 2019.
Eiker Huizi and Yosber Sanchez are two relivers with pretty big stuff who pitched very well in Lakeland. Sanchez’s success continued into High-A, while Huizi struggled in his three outings there. And lefty Gabriel Reyes was one of the breakout performers in the system last year, including a dominating performance in the playoffs for Lakeland.
Homegrown With Flaws
Eliezer Alfonzo, Justice Bigbie, Trei Cruz, Jake Holton, Marco Jimenez, Corey Joyce, Tanner Kohlhepp, Carlos Mendoza, Chris Meyers, Andrew Navigato, Dylan Smith, Gage Workman
This final group includes a lot of familiar names to fans of the the Detroit Tigers minor-league system. They are excellent pro ballplayers, but all are unlikely to stick on MLB rosters for a whole year. The biggest names here are probably Bigbie, Navigato, and Workman.
Bigbie’s inside-out hitting approach seemed to fail him at Triple-A, and corner bats need to hit more than four home runs to make it in the big leagues. Navigato and Workman had spectacular seasons in 2024, and they both offer impressive defensive versatility. But both face real questions about how their bats will play against the best pitchers in the world.
Our Best Guess
There’s not one player on this list who seems like a definite add, and it’s entirely possible the Detroit Tigers don’t protect anyone from the Rule 5 Draft tomorrow. That said, if we were forced to guess, we’d say Tyler Mattison, Tyler Owens, RJ Petit, Garrett Burhenn, and Liam Hicks are the mostly likely adds. You can never have enough pitching. And as far as third catchers go, you can do a lot worse than a lefty with a career .405 on-base percentage in pro ball.
Jayden Hewitt