Detroit Tigers should be aggressive on waiver wire in the offseason

The 40-man roster

In actuality, the Detroit Tigers do have a full 40-man roster at the moment.

Still, the team could make room if need be.

Buying out Sanchez will create a roster spot. Trades of Iglesias and or Kinsler will also create room.

While Detroit will have to add prospects like Mike Gerber, Derek Hill, Adam Ravenelle and Paul Voelker to the 40-man unit if the franchise wants to protect them from the Rule 5 draft, there are other players who could conceivably be removed from the 40-man roster.

The Tigers could opt to part with veteran players like Victor Martinez, Andrew Romine, Jim Adduci, Efren Navarro, Alex Presley, Bryan Holaday and Tyler Collins in order to give more playing time to younger options.

There’s also the pitching staff that featured a number of hurlers who struggled mightily last season.

Warwick Saupold (5.13 SIERA in 62.2 innings pitched), Blaine Hardy (5.37 xFIP in 33.1 innings pitched) and Chad Bell (1.80 WHIP, 5.47 FIP in 62.1 innings pitched) all hemorrhaged runs at times.

Meanwhile, the likes of Kyle Ryan and Bruce Rondon weren’t recalled to the Majors when rosters expanded in September despite already being on the 40-man unit.

Detroit could also decide to move on from the likes of Buck Farmer, Drew VerHagen, Myles Jaye and Jeff Ferrell in favor of younger hurlers.

In other words, the Detroit Tigers have the ability to create some roster space rather quickly without significantly impacting the team’s future core.

Next: Hypothetical free agent starting pitcher fits part 1

It could also be that the Tigers are able to sneak a player, or players, through waivers if Detroit needs to clear 40-man roster space of their own. This would certainly help from an overall depth perspective.