Detroit Tigers: Who fills open 40-man roster spot?

The Tigers, like any other team, are always monitoring roster moves around the league. And teams are constantly releasing, waiving or designating players for assignment. The Tigers DFA’d VerHagen on an off-day, which is unusual. It’s possible they saw a player who was available that they were interested in, and wanted to act quick. A few pitchers out there whom the Tigers could be considering:

A.J. Cole

We wrote about why Cole could be a good addition just a few days ago, but here’s a brief recap. Cole was a top-100 prospect before he made his big league debut with the Nationals in 2015. He has not found a ton of success in the big leagues since then, with a 5.32 ERA and a 5.34 FIP. However, Cole has shown flashes of excellence in a bullpen role, and has a high-90’s fastball and an above average curveball. If given an opportunity to develop into a full-time reliever, Cole could regain some of that excellence that made him a top-100 prospect to begin with.

Luke Bard

Luke Bard was selected by the Angels in the Rule 5 Draft from the Twins. After getting rocked for six runs on four home runs in just 1 2/3 innings last Tuesday, he was DFA’d. Because of his status as a Rule 5 selection, any team that acquires him would be subject to the Rule 5 rules, which means he would have to stay on the 25-man roster. This makes Bard a risky acquisition, although he does possess a lot of talent.

Prior to his blow-up on Tuesday, in which he was forced to enter the game in the third inning after superstar Shohei Ohtani exited with a blister, Bard had only surrendered one run with a 9/5 K/BB ratio in 8.1 innings. The Tigers could certainly give Bard a chance.

Josh Ravin

Ravin is the only other pitcher currently in DFA limbo, having been designated less than seven days ago. The former fifth round pick has had very limited success in the big leagues (5.12 ERA in 38.2 innings from 2015-2018) and seems like a downgrade from VerHagen. Hopefully he is not a player the Tigers are considering adding to their 40-man roster, as they have plenty of better options.