Detroit Tigers: 3 players to ditch before the end of the season

It’s time for the Detroit Tigers to part ways with these players

With the announcement of Kerry Carpenter’s promotion, the Detroit Tigers are starting to look at some in-house guys that could help the team next year. There are other players that could look at as well, such as infielder Ryan Kreidler, who probably isn’t too far behind Carpenter.

With that, comes some players who need to be removed from the 40-man roster. Some of these moves are long overdue, while others would be tough calls. The Tigers are certainly not without a slew of choices, especially among their position players.

It’s hard to remove any pitchers, especially starters, since the team is still dealing with a litany of injuries. So with that being said, there will be no pitchers on this list.

In a lost season like this, the best thing the Detroit Tigers can do is see what they have for the future…again. Here are three players the Tigers should cut from the 40-man roster before the end of the season to make room for some young guys.

C Tucker Barnhart

This should be the easiest DFA of all-time. Barnhart’s slash line of .198/.258/.228 is putrid. His WAR is -0.6 and his ISO is an astoundingly bad .030. There’s no reason he should be getting any more at-bats over Eric Haase, who has found his stride at the plate.

Barnhart was acquired from the Cincinnati Reds in the offseason in exchange for third base prospect Nick Quintana. This is the last year of his contract, so there wouldn’t be much money to eat.

We already know how awful he’s been offensively, but the main reason the Detroit Tigers traded for him was his defense and handling of the pitching staff, both of which haven’t lived up to the billing. His defense has been particularly underwhelming. He’s made a handful of head-scratching mistakes. He’s been worth -4 defensive runs saved this year.

He ranks in the 68th percentile in framing according to Baseball Savant, which is okay. But last year he was in the 79th percentile. He’s regressed in every facet of his game.

There’s simply nothing he can do that Eric Haase can’t do better. He’s not even worth a backup spot at this point. He’s just bad. They can just call up Dustin Garneau or Ali Sanchez to be the backup catcher for the rest of the season, or they could get lucky and Jake Rogers will come off the IL and play a handful of games down the stretch. Either way, kick Barnhart to the curb.