Detroit Tigers: Mikie Mahtook is perfect example of why team should take fliers on young talent

Detroit Tigers and waiver claims

In terms of claiming players on waivers, a team must have a free 40-man roster spot or else they need to remove a player from the 40-man unit to make room.

As it stands, it isn’t as if the Detroit Tigers have a full 40-man roster.

The team currently has 39 players on the 40-man roster. Detroit could be saving the open roster spot for a prospect not on the roster who will be called up in September.

That being said, the 40-man roster count could conceivably go down as well.

Detroit could try and sneak Arcenio Leon (12.15 ERA in 6.2 innings for Detroit, 5.24 ERA currently for Toledo) or another struggling pitcher through waivers.

Regardless of the state of the 40-man roster, the Tigers should be looking to take fliers on players via waivers.

Considering the Detroit’s low spot in the standings, Al Avila and company are high up the totem pole when it comes to priority for players designated for assignment by other teams.

Depth

The front office should be using this to their advantage to find added depth ahead of the 2018 campaign.

Not only can Detroit find talent via waiver claims, but the team can also find depth pieces via the waiver process.

If a team claims a player who was recently designated for assignment and later designates the same player for assignment, they can try sneaking him through waivers.

Should this happen, the franchise has a depth piece to stash in the high minors.

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The Tigers have been burned by lack of Major-League ready depth in the past, but with waivers claims, the team should be able to add better depth for the future as the team’s reconstruct the roster.