First look at the Tigers 40-man roster decisions this offseason

It’s a good sign for the organization that these decisions are getting tougher each offseason.

This offseason the deadline for major league clubs to finalize their 40-man rosters in advance of the Rule 5 draft appears set for November 19. Scott Harris, Jeff Greenberg, and their staff have a few tough decisions ahead of them. With an active roster that just made their first playoff run, and a strong farm system, it will be impossible to protect everyone. The Tigers aren’t at a point where they’re in danger of losing anyone important yet, but teams without that depth will have some Tigers farm hands to consider on December 12, when the Winter Meetings conclude with the Rule 5 draft.

Currently the Tigers 40-man roster stands at 39 players. Once the World Series concludes, they’ll have to add back any players on the 60-day IL. The Tigers currently have RHP Alex Faedo, RHP Sawyer Gipson-Long, RHP Brendan White, and SS Javier Báez on the 60-day injured list.

Since adding them all would get them to 43 players, there are already three cuts that will have to be made on that basis assuming the Tigers do decide to keep all four. The Tigers will certainly be signing some pitchers and hunting for bats they believe can help the offense. Harris said as much in his end of season press conference. So cuts will be required to open space on the roster for new additions eventually as well.

The last Rule 5 pick they made was taking RHP Mason Englert from the Texas Rangers in the 2022 edition. Harris didn’t take a player in the 2023 Rule 5 draft. Of course, a selection has to stay on the active roster all season for the selecting team to keep them, so this is an easy decision. They won’t be using the Rule 5 pick this year, and that’s a good thing.

Current 40-man roster

Pitchers Position Players

RHP Beau Brieske C Jake Rogers

RHP Mason Englert C Dillon Dingler

RHP Alex Faedo – 60-day IL SS Javier Báez – 60-day IL

RHP Wilmer Flores INF Andy Ibáñez

RHP Jason Foley INF Jace Jung

RHP Sawyer Gipson-Long – 60-day IL 2B Colt Keith

LHP Sean Guenther INF Ryan Kreidler

RHP Brenan Hanifee INF Eddys Leonard

LHP Tyler Holton 1B Bligh Madris

LHP Brant Hurter INF Zach McKinstry

RHP Jackson Jobe SS Trey Sweeney

RHP Alex Lange 1B Spencer Torkelson

RHP Ty Madden OF Riley Greene

RHP Kenta Maeda CF Parker Meadows

RHP Matt Manning RF Kerry Carpenter

RHP Casey Mize INF/OF Matt Vierling

RHP Keider Montero OF Wenceel Pérez

RHP Reese Olson OF Akil Baddoo

LHP Bryan Sammons OF Justyn-Henry Malloy

LHP Tarik Skubal OF Ryan Vilade

RHP Ricky Vanasco

RHP Will Vest

RHP Brendan White – 60-day IL

Who to add, who to subtract

Other additions to the 40-man roster may come from Tigers’ farm hands who have to be protected from the Rule 5 draft.

Let’s start with the possible additions and then on to the likely cuts and the tough decisions in between.

60-day IL additions

Of the four players who will have to be added back of the 60-day injured list right after the World Series, Javier Báez is the obvious lock to be added back. The veteran shortstop will be back in 2025, and the Tigers will have to see if the hip surgery he had in August helps him to finally get his body right and become a useful contributor at the plate again. Presumably, he and the left-handed hitting Trey Sweeney will split time at the shortstop position. It’s possible that Báez could fill in at second or third base as well from time to time.

Of the other three, RHP Sawyer Gipson-Long isan obvious addition back to the 40-man roster as well. His 2023 major league debut was pretty impressive, and while Tommy John surgery will keep him out until at least mid-season, the Tigers clearly like him. He may provide some depth to the rotation in case of injury in the second half, or work in middle relief out of the bullpen once he’s rehabbed and back in form.

Gipson-Long showed a solid fastball and a good set of secondary pitches, including a fine changeup, in 2023. He also features huge extension to the plate, a trait the Tigers have valued more than many teams recently. Assuming his rehab is progressing well, adding him to the 40-man again is pretty much a lock as well.

Right-hander Brendan White is a bit trickier case. He’ll turn 26 in November, and showed pretty good stuff in his 2023 major league debut. His mid-90’s fourseamer was effective with good ride from a low release point, and while command of his slider-sweeper combination remained elusive that year and led to some walks, both pitches can rack up plenty of whiffs. He also has shown ability to limit home runs to a reasonable degree.

White dealt with arm trouble all year, from an elbow strain early in the season to radial nerve discomfort that surfaced in his rehab work and kept him from getting back to the club. He had a hydrodissection procedure to clean up scar tissue around the nerves in his elbow back on August 20 but his rehab apparently went well as he began throwing bullpens again by late September. There was no shortage of attention on his pitching elbow all season long, and yet he avoided surgery, which seems like a good sign. He should be in the clear now for a normal offseasonp.

The stuff is good, and if White can just tighten up his command a bit further, the Tigers have a good reliever here. His loss this season was one of several that really impacted the bullpen depth in the first half of the season. They found some options to forge a new pen that helped lead them to the postseason, but of all the players who weren’t on the active roster in September, White is probably their best relief option after Alex Lange, who has his own injury and command problems to recover from this offseason. My bet is that they’ll keep him and see how things go next spring, but it’s definitely not a sure thing.

The one likely release here is RHP Alex Faedo, who will turn 29 in November and hasn’t been able to establish himself as even a solid relief presence. He posted a 3.61 ERA in 57 ¹⁄₃ innings in 2024, but that’s by far the best mark of his career, and a 4.91 FIP with his typically high home run rate says he hasn’t been able to conquer that problem. Drafted with their first round pick way back in 2017, they’ve had plenty of time to work with the right-hander, and he just hasn’t been able to take a big step forward. A shoulder injury in August ended his season early. With roster space at a premium, it’s very likely that he’ll be cut loose even if he temporarily survives being added back to the 40-man off the 60-day IL today.

Prospect additions and holds

Rule 5 draft eligibility for prospects is determined by length of their time in professional baseball. Players who were signed at age 18 or younger, meaning most prep prospects taken in the major league draft each July as well as most international free agents, who typically sign at 16 or 17 years of age, have to be added to the 40-man roster within five seasons. Players who were signed at age 19 or older must be added within four seasons.

The Tigers don’t have too many guys to worry about this season. This is a big list of eligible players for the Rule 5, but it’s hard to imagine many of them drawing interest. Teams are typically looking for near major league ready relief help, or less often a toolsy position player who hasn’t quite put it together, a la Akil Baddoo when the Tigers selected him in the 2020 edition of the Rule 5. It’s difficult to take on a young project who isn’t near major league ready and hold them on the active roster all season long.

Outfielder Justice Bigbie had a very strong 2023 campaign but has really hit a wall at the Triple-A level. He’s already Rule 5 eligible and wasn’t selected by another team last year. That will be the case once again this December and the Tigers have no reason to add him to the 40-man roster.

The decisions are pretty easy at the Double-A level as well. The top two prospects in the Tigers system at that level are infielder Hao-Yu Lee and RHP Troy Melton. However, neither is Rule 5 eligible until December 2025, so the Tigers don’t have to worry about them yet. I will merely note that Melton has good power stuff and is an improvement in command away from helping the Tigers.

Hao-Yu Lee was absolutely wrecking Double-A pitching until second half injuries spoiled the rest of his age 21 season. At some point next summer, Hao-Yu Lee mania will sweep Detroit. He’ll be red hot and fans will want him up. There should probably be more excitement about his future among the fanbase. He may ultimately be more of an athletic first baseman than a true third baseman, but he can hit and the power was showing up in a big way until a pair of plunkings in the head and then a back injury felled him in the summer months.

The Tigers acquired catcher Liam Hicks, RHP Chase Lee, and RHP Tyler Owens from the Texas Rangers in exchange for Carson Kelly back in July. They spent the rest of the season with Double-A Erie, and both are Rule 5 eligible in December. Lee and Owens are pretty likely to be added to the 40-man roster, but Hicks is a bit more of a toss-up.

Lee is the most vulnerable, as he thrived with the Tigers after coming over from Texas. He cut his typically high walk rates way down, and struck out 32.3 percent of hitters he faced. Lee has a really good slider, and the Tigers have already helped him avoid hard contact on his more pedestrian fastball. He will likely be a relief option for the major league roster next season, and because he’s had Triple-A success, is arguably the likeliest to be selected in the Rule 5 draft.

Owens has a really good fastball that is tough to pick up, and his breaking ball improved after coming to the Tigers development system. He was a good closing option for Gabe Alvarez down the stretch and will be a relief option for the Tigers in 2025. That proximity to the majors makes him the one reliever that I think is really in danger of getting selected in the Rule 5 draft.

Heading into the offseason, Hicks is their best option upper level catching prospect. Still, they will likely supplement him with a more seasoned defensive minded catcher via a minor league signing, however. Veteran catcher Tomas Nido, acquired right at the end of the season, might fill that role. Hicks puts the ball in play a lot, and if he can improve defensively he could certainly be their third best option at catcher. He just doesn’t look ready for prime time behind the plate just yet.

As a result. Hicks probably isn’t acceptable to Hinch and Harris as their first backup in the minors. Expect the Tigers to try another veteran catcher with MLB experience to add to the 40-man. It’s also not impossible that they simply sign Carson Kelly to a one-year deal with a second year option and buyout attached, and suddenly Dingler is their depth catcher again. That would be advisable in my view, as an inexpensive way to boost the offense and build excellent depth at the position, but we’ll see how the Tigers feel about Dingler this offseason. In that eventuality, Hicks is expendable as far as the 40-man roster is concerned. Either way, it’s just not that likely that he gets claimed so I’ll put it at 50/50 whether they decide to protect him or not.

The most interesting decision of all the prospects involves aforementioned infielder Gage Workman. The Tigers didn’t add him to the 40-man roster last offseason, and that was a pretty easy decision considering a Double-A strikeout rate of 38.8 percent in 2023. As expected, he wasn’t picked in the Rule 5 draft, but things have changed after finished his 2024 repeat season at Double-A in significantly better form.

Workman’s numbers against left-handed pitching have always been rough, and prior to the 2024 season he finally agreed with the Tigers that he should ditch switch-hitting and make some adjustments to clean up his left-handed swing a bit. The results were pretty good as the soon-to-be 25-year-old hit 18 home runs, stole 30 bases, and posted a .366 on-base percentage for the Eastern League winning Erie SeaWolves.

He still strikes out a lot despite the high walk rate and doesn’t profile as a starting player, but the ability to play acceptable shortstop, combined with his speed and raw power, does make him a potential member of the supporting cast for the 2025 Tigers. Workman turns 25 in just days, but the tools remain pretty strong for a player who is a pretty good defender on the left side of the infield. If he can continue to mash against right-handed pitching in Toledo next spring, he might be a depth option for the major league roster.

The Tigers will probably add him to the 40-man roster. They should be busy making upgrades this offseason, and while Workman had a nice season, it’s still hard to imagine him getting to his power against major league pitching in 2025. But when a player with big secondary tools is improving as a hitter, you should probably hang onto him and see how far he can take it. Workman probably takes Ryan Kreidler’s spot on the roster and the Tigers give him some run at the Triple-A level next year. It’s a make or break year for him, but I think his strong second half and game altering presence in the SeaWolves lineup in their postseason run convinced the Tigers to stick with him another year.

The rest of the eligibles does include numerous pitchers the Tigers definitely want to hang onto. First on the list is RHP Joseph Montalvo, who the Tigers acquired for Andrew Chafin. Still, he’s far from a finished product yet and I can’t imagine the Tigers using a 40-man roster spot on him as he isn’t likely to contribute at the major league level until 2026. They can’t protect all these arms, and if some bottom feeder team is willing to stash a High-A level arm on their major league roster all season long, more power to them.

It’s a similar story for some of their better relief prospects. RHP Yosber Sanchez is arguably their best pure relief prospect with a very good fastball-slider combination developing, but he still needs to develop his command and hasn’t pitched at the Double-A level yet.

RHP RJ Petit is another potential future reliever who had a good year for the Double-A SeaWolves this year. He too collects a lot of strikeouts, limits home runs, but still doesn’t have the command to forecast a quick jump to the majors in 2025. Petit might be more likely to be selected since he’s survived the more offensive heavy Double-A environment, but with 40-man spots at a premium, I rather doubt the Tigers add either Petit or Sanchez to the roster yet.

Finally, RHP Tyler Mattison was one of the Tigers best relief prospects heading into the 2024 season, but suffered a UCL tear that required Tommy John surgery in April. Mattison is a solid young relief pitcher, but even his top end projections don’t reach high leverage ace levels. So the Tigers don’t really have reason to use a spot on him just hoping that he makes it back late this summer.

Making the roster cuts

So we’ll assume that Báez, Gipson-Long, and probably White will be re-added to the 40-man roster. With the 40-man currently at 39 spots, that will require two cuts. Then they will likely add Lee and Owens, and maybe Workman and/or Hicks.

So if we’re trying to clear five spots on the roster at most, the most obvious players to be released from the 40-man are as follows.

UT Ryan Vilade

SS Ryan Kreidler

OF Akil Baddoo

RHP Alex Faedo

LHP Bryan Sammons

1B Bligh Madris

RHP Ricky Vanasco

RHP Mason Englert

There are eight players that the Tigers could release without any issue.

According to FanGraphs, Baddoo is arbitration eligible this offseason after earning $1.55M in 2024. There is still a bit of uncertainty about whether his service time will qualify him or not, however. The Tigers don’t have much in the way of outfield depth behind him, but paying $2.5M or more to a depth outfielder at the Triple-A level isn’t likely to be part of the plans this offseason. It seems time to let Baddoo go and see if he can catch on elsewhere with a team that has major league playing time available. The rest of the potential releases are pretty easy decisions.

Maybe they want to keep Vanasco, who showed some promise under Tigers tutelage late in the season. Maybe they still love them some Mason Englert, or want to hang onto Madris until at least spring camp as some insurance at first base. But in general I’d be surprised to see more than one or two players on the cut list survive into 2025 with the Tigers unless it’s on a minor league free agent contract. The crunch is here, but at this point the Tigers still aren’t in danger of losing any high end prospects or players they really need to hang onto.

One possibility that can alleviate a bit of the potential crunch, is to trade a player or two off the 40-man for a player they like better. Obviously the Tigers need some starting pitching help, and they need to boost the infield defense. That doesn’t all have to come via free agency. Harris has even specifically mentioned that they’re at a point where they might deal from the farm system to get a player they want this offseason. It’s also possible someone like Matt Manning or even Casey Mize could be included in such a deal, for example, opening up the roster space needed for the player they’re adding in trade.

It’s also possible that they don’t bother to protect all of White, Lee, Owens, Hicks or Workman. None are crucial players for the future, and it’s not as though they leap off the page to other teams. White isn’t Rule 5 eligible anyway, and perhaps the rest could get through without getting picked by another team. Hicks profiles as a major league backup at best, so losing him wouldn’t be painful, and he also seems pretty unlikely to be picked by another team. It’s just that the Tigers are weak in catching depth beyond Hicks and minor league veteran Stephen Scott until hopefully Thayron Liranzo is close to readiness in 2026.

Gage Workman still seems the only likely position player for a team to select, and thus the more likely player for the Tigers to protect. His defense, power, and speed makes him a good infield depth piece for the Tigers to start the season, considering they don’t have any true shortstop prospects arriving in 2025. On the other hand, it’s still a wide open question as to whether Workman will ever hit enough to get regular major league work.

We’ll assume Ryan Kreidler’s time with the Tigers is up, and that Workman takes that spot as shortstop depth at the Triple-A level. So I’m going to guess he’s added to the 40-man along with Chase Lee and Tyler Owens, though certainly none are exactly crucial additions. It all depends on how many spots the Tigers need to add talent this offseason.

So for now, they’ll cut two players to add the 60-man IL guys back to the 40-man roster immediately. That’s Baez, Gipson-Long, and White. Faedo I think is out, but the Tigers may disagree. I will put my money on Baddoo and Kreidler as the first two cuts to make room.

The Tigers have reached a point where they aren’t picking players in the Rule 5 draft, and that’s a good sign of their improvement. Whether they’re at a point where teams are taking players from them is another matter. Even if it happens, it shouldn’t be a big loss this time around. Those decisions will get tougher next season as another crop of good prospects becomes Rule 5 eligible.