Detroit Tigers: Myles Jaye and Kyle Ryan reportedly on outright waivers

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CLEVELAND, OH – SEPTEMBER 11: Manager Brad Ausmus #7 removes starting pitcher Myles Jaye #65 of the Detroit Tigers from the game during the fourth inning against the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field on September 11, 2017 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) /

Detroit Tigers fans could see more roster change in the coming days as The Detroit Free Press’ Anthony Fenech reported in a tweet that Detroit put Myles Jaye and Kyle Ryan on outright waivers.

Detroit Tigers executive vice president of baseball operations and general manager Al Avila—along with the rest of the front office—reportedly made another move on Friday.

The Tigers are in the midst of an offseason overhaul with a rebuilding effort now fully underway.

Thursday saw the team lose Andrew Romine on waivers to the Seattle Mariners.

What’s more, reliever Jeff Ferrell and outfielder Tyler Collins, Jim Adduci and Alex Presley were all outrighted off the 40-man roster.

It looks like more change is on the way, at least according to a tweet from The Detroit Free Press’ Anthony Fenech.

Fenech tweeted the following on Thursday night:

“The Tigers have placed right-hander Myles Jaye and left-hander Kyle Ryan on outright waivers, I’m told.”

Jaye was acquired by the Tigers from the Texas Rangers in the Bryan Holaday trade that also netted Detroit Bobby Wilson. Wilson would later be flipped back to Texas for Chad Bell.

The 25-year-old performed showed well in the upper minors for Detroit, posting a 3.63 ERA and a 1.369 WHIP and 6.7 strikeouts per nine innings in 99.1 frames for Toledo.

Myles Jaye

Jaye looked like he could bring some rotation depth to Detroit, and potentially provide value as a starter.

However, the former Blue Jays farmhand had an up-and-down first five appearances in the Majors.

Joining the Major League team in September, Jaye scattered three hits and two walks over his first 5.2 innings. He didn’t allow a run in that span.

However, the right-hander lasted just seven combined innings in his next three outings, allowing 18 runs, 15 hits, eight walks and two home runs.

It was a small sample size, but Jaye also turned in a .308 BABIP, which doesn’t look great considering it wasn’t an inflated stat.

Kyle Ryan

While Myles Jaye made his Major League debut in 2017, Kyle Ryan had plenty of experience at the game’s highest level entering 2017—122.1 innings of experience to be exact.

An occasional starter earlier in his career, Ryan shifted to the bullpen full-time in 2016 and found plenty of success.

Despite just 5.7 strikeouts per nine innings, the southpaw notched a 3.33 FIP and a 1.132 WHIP.

He also posted a 3.07 ERA and a 3.97 SIERA as he registered a 0.6 fWAR.

Heading into Spring Training, Ryan seemed a decent bet to join Justin Wilson as one of the Detroit Tigers two left-handed relievers.

However, as the season began, the 26-year-old struggled mightily.

KANSAS CITY, MO – JUNE 19: Kyle Ryan #56 of the Detroit Tigers pitches in the 13th inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium on June 19, 2016 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images) /

Ryan’s 2017 struggles

In just 5.2 innings he was tagged for nine hits, seven walks and five earned runs. Ryan’s last appearance came in a 19-9 win over the Seattle Mariners on April 25.

That ended up being his final game in the Majors in 2017.

Ryan spent the rest of the season with Triple-A Toledo, pitching to a 4.96 ERA, a 5.04 FIP and a 4.36 xFIP in 45.1 innings.

He missed more bats (7.74 strikeouts per nine frames), but the run prevention numbers didn’t exactly help his cause in terms of returning to Detroit bullpen.

Even with Wilson’s mid-season trade, Ryan is seemingly buried on the depth chart where left-handed relievers are concerned.

The former 12^th-round pick has been passed up by Daniel Stumpf, while Jairo Labourt should warrant a spot in the bullpen going forward.

More on Outright waivers

MLB.com’s glossary lists the following as the definition for outright waivers.

“A club attempting to remove a player from the 40-man roster and send him to the Minor Leagues must first place that player on outright waivers, allowing the 29 other Major League clubs the opportunity to claim him. … Should the player clear waivers, he can be sent to any Minor League affiliate the club chooses.”

If both go unclaimed, Detroit could end up keeping the two pitchers.

While neither exactly dominated in the minors or Majors in 2017, they could be useful depth pieces waiting in Toledo—especially considering they wouldn’t take up a 40-man roster spot.

This could be especially helpful down the line considering Jaye just made his Major League debut while Ryan—according to Spotrac—still has four years of controllability remaining.

Both reported moves should help the Detroit Tigers clear up more 40-man roster space.

Next: Moving forward, Tigers payroll should continue to shrink

This, in turn, will give Avila and the rest of the front office that much more flexibility heading into the offseason.

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Detroit Tigers fans could see more roster change in the coming days as The Detroit Free Press’ Anthony Fenech reported in a tweet that Detroit put Myles Jaye and Kyle Ryan on outright waivers.

Myles Jaye

Kyle Ryan

Ryan’s 2017 struggles

More on Outright waivers

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