Detroit Tigers designate four players for assignment

The Detroit Tigers have designated four different players for assignment. The following players will not return to Detroit and become free agents.

The offseason is here and the World Series is almost over, meaning the Hot Stove is about to start cooking. In preparation for this, the Detroit Tigers have made several roster moves. Included in these roster moves, four players were designated for assignment and chose free agency. Here are the four players.

John Hicks

John Hicks is the most notable name on this list. While he didn’t have a great season, he did have a couple of big moments with Detroit in 2019, including this walk-off grand slam against the Orioles. Hicks is not young at 30-years-old, however, and doesn’t seem to be trending in the right direction. He is only a .235 career hitter and has a -0.5 career WAR. While he will likely find work elsewhere, the Tigers will be better off with a younger player with more potential.

Victor Alcantara

Victor Alcantara has been up and down between triple-A and the majors for the last couple of years. He has had his fair share of decent relief appearances as well as disappointing ones. He is still young at 26-years-old, but the Tigers have a lot of good pitching prospects that will be able to fill his shoes. Alcantara leaves with a career 4.28 ERA and a 4-3 record.

Daniel Stumpf

Daniel Stumpf is another guy who has been up and down between the minors and majors throughout his career. He is a little older than Alcantara at 28, with slightly worse career stats. Stumpf appeared in 48 games in 2019 and had a 4.34 ERA. He is another player that shouldn’t be a big loss for the Tigers.

Blaine Hardy

Blaine Hardy made 39 appearances in 2019 and didn’t look quite as good as his career stats would indicate. The 32-year-old has had a solid career, posting a 3.73 ERA and a 4.3 WAR, but he only had a 4.47 ERA and a 0.5 WAR last year. With the amount of young pitching talent on Detroit’s roster, it isn’t shocking that Detroit decided to designate him for assignment. It also stands to reason that he chose free agency.

With the recent roster changes, the Detroit Tigers can properly shield more players from the Rule-5 Draft, as well as make space for potential free agents on the 40-man-roster. Detroit has a long road ahead of them in the rebuilding process, so expect a lot more changes like this moving forward.