Guessing Who the Detroit Tigers Send to Arizona
The Detroit Tigers have big plans for this fall. They have all but wrapped up the AL Central division title, and they remain in strong contention for the best record in the American League. We understand if that’s focus for now. A World Series win would do wonders.
But the Fall Classic isn’t the only baseball action in October and November. Every year MLB teams send a handful of their top prospects to the Arizona Fall League (AFL) to continue honing their skills. For many players it’s one final challenge before they reach the big leagues. For others, it’s a chance to make up for time lost during the regular season due to injury or illness. And sometimes it’s just a chance to showcase exciting young prospects, or take one last look at veteran minor leaguers who are Rule 5 eligible.
You may remember last year’s group of Detroit Tigers prospects. It included left-handed pitcher Jake Miller, who continued his breakout season with a 24/3 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 16.2 innings. Thayron Liranzo vaulted himself onto top-100 prospect lists after posting a 1.158 OPS and looking like viable catcher.
And then there was Josue Briceño, who put together possibly the best performance in AFL history. Barely 20 years old at the time, and with fewer than 150 games of pro baseball experience, Briceño took home MVP honors and became the first ever AFL Triple Crown winner by batting .433 with 10 home runs and 27 RBIs.
Today we’re going to look at a variety of Detroit Tigers prospects who could head to Arizona this year. It’s impossible to expect anyone to duplicate the sort of success we saw from Tigers prospects last year. Although if anyone can do it, it’s…
Kevin McGonigle – INF
Kevin McGonigle is wrapping up arguably the best season from a Tigers position prospect in decades. He has actually slowed down slightly over the past few weeks, hitting just .167 since August 18th. Teams are peppering him with secondary stuff, and he’s rolling a lot of grounders to the right side. And yet, he still owns a 114 wRC+ in that time thanks to an 18.9% walk rate and .238 ISO.
McGonigle figures to be a key part of the 2026 Detroit Tigers season. He missed about a month of game action earlier in the year, so the AFL will give him a chance to continue working on his defense. McGonigle is not a viable MLB defender at shortstop right now, and he needs all the reps he can get. The Tigers may also use the AFL as a chance to get him reps at second or third base.
Kevin McGonigle gets 100 from Jarlin Susana and hits it a billion feet to right for a solo homer. It’s his 7th with the SeaWolves. @Greg_Gania on the call. pic.twitter.com/iUwWrbQ41x
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) August 19, 2025
Brett Callahan – OF
A leg injury caused Brett Callahan to miss about two months of game action this year. Injuries also held Callahan to just 71 games in 2024, and he turns 24 in November, so the AFL is a good chance to get him some experience against better pitching. When he’s at his best, Callahan shows four tools that are average or better. His pure hitting ability is the biggest question mark in his profile. The AFL should be a good challenge for him.
Brett Callahan golfs a 2-run homer to deep right center to give West Michigan the lead. It’s his 6th home run of the year. @wangler_nathan on the call. pic.twitter.com/DdlHjPavY4
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) August 10, 2025
Jack Penney – IF
Penney was Detroit’s 5th-round pick in 2024, and he has generally remained under the prospect radar since. But he’s a well-rounded player who probably deserves a little more attention, and he could be poised for a breakout campaign in 2026. Like McGonigle and Callahan, he missed time this year with injuries, and the AFL would give him a good challenge and much needed reps.
Jack Penney tripled in the 1st inning, and now he does a great job beating the shift for a double into the left corner. pic.twitter.com/nc2rmCI84s
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) August 30, 2025
Jaden Hamm – RHP
A year ago Jaden Hamm was being mentioned as a potential top-100 prospect in all of baseball. But the 2025 season has been rough for his, with diminished velocity, poor results, and an injury that cost him a month of starts. It may be best for him to take some time and do a full reset in the offseason. But if the Detroit Tigers intend to keep developing Hamm as a starter, they will probably want to continue building up his innings. He threw 99 innings in 2024, and he’s just under 80 for 2025.
Pitching Options
Jake Miller – LHP
We mentioned Miller above as a breakout player from last season. Unfortunately, his breakout has been delayed by injury this year. Had he been healthy all season, it’s conceivable he would be in the Detroit Tigers bullpen right now. But Miller just returned to the mound after a four-month absence, and his second outing was cut short by a hard liner that hit him in the back. Miller is Rule 5 eligible, and he needs to get more innings this year, so he seems like a lock for a return to the AFL…if that line drive didn’t do too much damage.
Jake Miller looked healthy and good in his first rehab outing. Ran into a little hard luck, but 30 of his 40 pitches were strikes, and he picked up 11 whiffs (4 FB, 5 SL, 2 CH). pic.twitter.com/x86ZL1BSJN
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) August 30, 2025
Carlos Marcano – RHP
Our final name from the group of players who missed time with injuries is Carlos Marcano. Marcano had been a low-minors innings eater over the past two seasons, racking up 212 innings. But he missed closed to three months this year, and has now made 4 starts in Lakeland. The fascinating thing about Marcano, who just turned 22 in July, is that he’s throwing 2-3 MPH harder this year. There still might not be enough here to make him a future MLB player. But he’s sitting at 95 MPH with his sinker, touching 97, and posting a 47% whiff rate on his slider during his rehab stint. He could be a very interesting candidate to potentially get some relief looks in the AFL.
Whitecaps starter Carlos Marcano ends the 5th inning with his 9th strikeout, which ties his career high. pic.twitter.com/CoZjCWUgez
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) June 9, 2024
Other Players
Other Arizona Fall League Options
Veteran Performers
This is a spot mostly reserved for Trei Cruz and Eduardo Valencia, but if you want to include Colin Fields, Jake Holton, or Troy Watson, we won’t argue too much. These players have all had fabulous statistical performances in the minors this season, and they’re all Rule 5 eligible. The Tigers may send them out west to get one more evaluation data point or showcase them for offseason deals.
Eduardo Valencia crushes a 3-run homer 416 feet to center to put Toledo up 6-3. It’s his 19th home run of the season. pic.twitter.com/VxgeZHohv5
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) September 5, 2025
Relievers
Injury status always plays a role in these decisions, but there are a whole mess of options here. They include: Wilmer Flores, Dariel Fregio, Richard Guasch, Marco Jimenez, Tanner Kohlhepp, Jordan Marks, Tyler Mattison, Tyler Owens, Freddy Pacheco, and Yosber Sanchez, among others. One name we’ll highlight is Moises Rodriguez, who has had a real breakout season. He has already thrown a career high in innings, so he may not be an option. But it would be fun to see how his upper-90s sinker, slider, and cutter fare against more advanced hitters.
Prospects and Workhorses
The Tigers could always just have fun and challenge some of their prospects with another month of baseball. If they go that route, we could see Max Anderson, Max Clark, Woody Hadeen, Hao-Yu Lee, John Peck, or Seth Stephenson head to the AFL, even though they’ve all played 100+ games already.
Max Clark launches a 2-run moonshot to right to put Erie up 10-2. It’s his 6th home run with the SeaWolves, and his 13th on the season. pic.twitter.com/aEUXwfxIHp
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) September 4, 2025
Speculation is fun, but we’ll know the actual AFL rosters in a few weeks. And you can bet we’ll be covering all the fall baseball action this year, whether it’s exhibitions in Arizona, or a World Series in Detroit.
Rogelio Castillo 
Jerry McKennan