When the Tigers owned the American League Central in the first half of this decade, Gordon Beckham tried to spoil their dreams. With 10 career home runs against Detroit, he was a nemesis.
The agent for Tigers outfielder Nicholas Castellanos said in January his client would prefer a trade, but the slugger met with the media Sunday and told reporters, including Chris McCosky of the Detroit News, he’d be willing to discuss a long-term contract with the club. The rebuilding Tigers made a legitimate effort to move Castellanos in the offseason, yet they were unable to find a taker because general manager Al Avila suggested there was no real market for the 26-year-old. Although...
After striking out nearly a batter per inning in Double-A Erie, 22-year-old Burrows may make it to The Show this year. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. “Beau Burrows is a great under-the-radar prospect.” Overshadowed by fellow top-end pitching prospects Casey Mize, Matt Manning, and even Franklin Perez in the Detroit Tigers’ farm system, Burrows has built an impressive résumé while climbing the ranks in the minor leagues without drawing much attention. Entering 2019,...
This is the new reality of Spring Training. While coaches still spend hours with players every day, trying for that swing or delivery that feels just right, they now have data to complement it -- or for some players, reinforce it. It's the new race among clubs, to get not just the best talent, but also the technology to help get the most out of that talent. The Tigers have been working quickly to catch up.
As fastball after fastball popped into the catcher's mitt during a bullpen session Friday morning, it was hard to tell Joe Jimenez had taken a break. Now, it's up to the Tigers to help keep his arm strong through the season.
Rogers will be one of the best defensive backstops in the game the instant he hits the majors. One of the more memorable introductions written for an article on this site was crafted by John Marlatt for a piece on free agent backstops back in November 2016. “Catchers are like toothbrushes,” he wrote. “They are necessary and do an important job, but aside from the really expensive ones that do special stuff, there’s really nothing exciting about acquiring one. Even the ones you spend...
The Tigers have won their arbitration hearing against right-hander Michael Fulmer, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (via Twitter). He’ll now earn the $2.8M salary that the team filed rather than the $3.4M submitted by his camp. Fulmer, 26 next month, struggled through the worst season of his young career in 2018, recording a 4.69 ERA with 7.5 K/9, 3.1 BB/9, a career-high 1.29 HR/9 and a career-low 44.1 percent ground-ball rate. The righty was also limited to a career-low 132 1/3 innings as...
The Tigers' first salary-arbitration hearing in 18 years ended with the same result as their last one. An arbitration panel sided with the club in its hearing with right-handed starter Michael Fulmer, sources told MLB.com.
Though pitcher Michael Fulmer lost his salary arbitration case against the Tigers and will make $2.8 million in 2019, players finished hearings with a 6-4 advantage in decisions.
The Tigers came away the winners of their first arbitration hearing in almost two decades. Since 2001, the Detroit Tigers had avoided going to an arbitration hearing with any of their players. That streak finally ended with Michael Fulmer. In his first year of arbitration eligibility, the 25-year-old right-hander and 2016 AL Rookie of the Year, and the Tigers, couldn’t come to an agreement. Both sides pleaded their case on Wednesday, and things didn’t turn out as Fulmer had hoped....
The Tigers hadn't gone an arbitration hearing in 18 years. Credit Michael Fulmer and general manager Al Avila for having some fun with the end of the streak.
When Detroit prospect Franklin Perez gets on the field and throws, as he did for his bullpen session Thursday morning, there's a reminder why he was the prized return in the trade that sent longtime Tiger Justin Verlander to Houston.
The team is taking a winner-take-all approach to the season. No one is taking credit for hanging it, but there is a new sign outside the Detroit Tigers spring training clubhouse in Lakeland, Fla. It shows a picture of the Commissioner’s Trophy, and says “Believe this is going to be US!! Don’t walk through this door until you do!” Manager Ron Gardenhire insists it wasn’t him. In fact, when he was initially asked about it by reporters, he said he hadn’t even seen it yet. Yeah,...
It’s that time of year again for Detroit Tigers fans! It’s that time of year again, when even the most casual baseball fan begins imagining the scent of fresh-cut grass and the warmth of the summer sunshine on their faces under the brim of their favorite team’s ball cap. While the northern air still nips at much of the country, down in Florida and Arizona, professional ballplayers coalesce at their team’s springtime homes to literally and figuratively warm up for the long season...
Fister was with the club for some of their best seasons. There was a time when Doug Fister was a part of the best pitching rotation in baseball, and this week, just as pitchers and catchers report to their camps, he has announced that he is retiring from the game. During the 2012 and 2013 Detroit Tigers seasons, Fister did some of the best work of his career. In his three-season total with the team he had a 3.29 ERA, 3.20 FIP, and 1.191 WHIP. He went to the World Series in 2012. Also in 2012...
As the Tigers open camp this week, Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire talked with Minor League coaches and staff Wednesday about holding players accountable and not letting careless mistakes slide. And he plans to set a similar tone in big league camp.
Detroit's dream is of a spring in which its top four prospects are not only in big league camp, but become the core of its rotation. That's at least a couple years away. For this spring, all of them are expected to open the season in the Minor Leagues.
With all eyes on Mize, the Tigers top prospect is keeping things cool in his first major league camp. Spring training is blessedly here and, as expected, one of the Detroit Tigers’ main attractions so far has been top prospect Casey Mize. Detroit’s No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 MLB draft saw a bit of Florida State League action last summer, so he is familiar with the environment and coaching staff, but this is his first time in major league camp. Still, any nerves were not apparent as...
Michael Fulmer and Daniel Norris wrapped up their throwing sessions quickly. Relief prospect Zac Houston was done soon after. By the middle of the morning Tuesday, seven of the eight bullpen mounds on the back fields at Tigertown were empty. The one mound that still had a pitcher on it had an audience.
The Tigers first round pick in 2017 hit a wall at the Double-A level last year. Prospect currency is more volatile than the markets, particularly when that prospect is a pitcher. When the Tigers selected Alex Faedo in the first round of the 2017 draft, that decision was pretty well received. Faedo was rapidly installed on many top 100 prospect lists, bolstering the Tigers’ core of good young pitchers. By the time the big right-hander had shown out in leading the University of Florida to a...