Four Detroit Tigers Who Could Lose 40-Man Roster Spots Soon

Every baseball season brings inevitable roster churn, and there are a few Detroit Tigers who may find themselves out of a roster spot very soon.

It’s an unfortunate reality in a highly competitive business, but if the Detroit Tigers actually want to get better, they need to part ways with players who aren’t up to snuff.

We’ve already seen quite a few departures this off season. Since last December, the Detroit Tigers have designated for assignment Anthony Castro, Eric Haase, Troy Stokes Jr., Sergio Alcántara, Travis Demeritte, and John Schreiber.

With the exception of Haase, all those players were claimed by other teams. Some take that as a sign the Detroit Tigers roster is growing stronger at the margins, but realistically this is still a 90-loss team.

Julio Teheran and Renato Núñez are expected to make the team. Both were signed to minor-league deals, so they will have to be added to the 40-man roster in the near future. The Tigers can clear space for them by placing Alex Faedo and Joey Wentz on the 60-day IL.

But Wentz should be healthy enough to contribute in a few months, and if Detroit wants to add any other non-roster invitees like Derek Holland, Ian Krol, Erasmo Ramírez, or Greg Garcia, the team will have to make some cuts. Here are four players who could lose their roster spot.

Detroit Tigers 40-man Roster Cut No. 2 – Beau Burrows

The Detroit Tigers’ other first-round pick in 2015 (22nd overall), Beau Burrows has arguably been even more disappointing than Christin Stewart. Burrows never had ideal size or projectibility, but he was one of the hardest throwers in the draft class, with a fastball that sat in the mid-90s and could touch as high as 98 MPH. His full-season debut as a starting pitcher was fine, but a low strikeout rate (6.2/9IP) caused some concern. He seemingly allayed those worries in 2017 with an excellent turn in the Florida State League, posting a 1.23 ERA and more than a strikeout per inning over 11 starts. But it’s all been kind of downhill since then. He never seemed to fully rein in his command, and he hasn’t found a reliable secondary offering. He owns a career Double-A ERA of 4.22 over 42 starts, and struggled to a 5.51 ERA in 15 Triple-A outings. There was always some speculation Burrows’ size and delivery might be better suited for the bullpen, and he did show a pretty nasty high-spin fastball in his 2017 Futures Game outing. But in his MLB debut as a  reliever last year his fastball averaged just 93 MPH, and it topped out at 91.6 this spring. He’s still just 24, and there’s a chance his velocity could climb again, but if you’re a reliever with a below-average fastball, below-average control, and no reliable secondary offerings, you probably aren’t long for the roster.

Detroit Tigers 40-man Roster Cut No. 3 – Harold Castro

Harold Castro is fun. He hung around the fringes of Detroit Tigers prospects lists a handful of years ago, but he was never a highly touted player. He looked like a classic minor-league lifer until late 2018, when the Tigers suddenly called him up to Detroit to help with their infield depth. It shocked even Castro, who had already gone home to Venezuela after the minor-league season. He made an impression in his short stint, and he became something of a Ron Gardenhire (and beat-writer) favorite over the next two seasons. Harold Castro has shown impressive positional versatility, with big-league starts at seven different positions, and he has outstanding bat-to-ball skills. Those are two nice arrows in any player’s quiver, but A.J. Hinch isn’t Ron Gardenhire. He wants players who walk, which Harold Castro has never done (career 3.6% walk rate), and players who hit the ball hard, which isn’t a particular strength either. Versatility is great, but at some point teams need more than that, and the Tigers may already have an in-house replacement for Castro.

Detroit Tigers 40-man Roster Cut No. 4 – Joe Jiménez

Joe Jiménez is another great story. He went undrafted out of the Puerto Rican Baseball Academy in 2013, but the Detroit Tigers scouted him and were able to strike a deal before a few other teams. It wasn’t long before stories of a young fireballer with near triple-digit heat emerged, and soon enough he was mowing through the minor leagues. Jiménez was untouchable in the minors, with a career 1.56 ERA and 247 strikeouts in 167.1 innings. Fans thought Detroit had it’s next future closer, but things just haven’t worked out that way. Jiménez was greeted very rudely by MLB hitters, posting a 12.32 ERA over 19 big-league innings in 2017. It looked like he figured things out in 2018, and he pitched so well in the first half of the season (2.77 ERA, 10.15 K/9) he earned an All-Star bid. But the first-half of 2018 now looks like the exception, and in his last 106 innings he owns a 5.52 ERA  and has given up 23 home runs. Things look bad this spring, too, where his fastball is sitting in the low-90s, and he has given up 5 hits and 3 runs in just 3.1 innings. The Tigers may still hope they can help Jiménez regain that early-2018 form, but homer-prone relievers don’t stick on rosters very long.