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

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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

DETROIT, MI – JULY 23: Catcher Tucker Barnhart #15 of the Detroit Tigers during a game against the Minnesota Twins at Comerica Park on July 23, 2022, in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Duane Burleson/Getty Images) /

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.

UTIL Willi Castro

DETROIT, MI – AUGUST 07: Willi Castro #9 of the Detroit Tigers grounds out against the Tampa Bay Rays in fourth at Comerica Park on August 7, 2022, in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Duane Burleson/Getty Images) /

At this point, we know the kind of player Willi Castro is. He strikes out a lot, never walks, whiffs at pretty much everything, doesn’t hit the ball hard, can’t play the infield and can barely play the outfield.

Funny enough, his strikeout rate of 19.3% is actually the lowest of his career. That’s a very solid number. What’s not so funny is his career low 3.6% walk rate. His walk rate for his career to this point was hovering around 5%, so his already poor plate discipline has gotten even worse this season.

His hard hit rate of 28.2% is also a career low. Combine all this with the fact that he’s a well-below average defender no matter where he plays and it’s a wonder why A.J. Hinch continues to put him in the lineup every day.

With the exception of his 2020 season where he had an insanely high .448 BABIP, his slash line has been roughly the same every year. He’s usually got an OPS hovering around .625. That’s not even close to major league caliber. But for whatever reason, Hinch seems to like him.

I’ve always believed there’s a good player somewhere inside Willi Castro. He’s a pretty good athlete and he’s fast on the basepaths. And at just 25 years old, you’d hope that there’s still time for him to figure things out. But if that does happen, it probably won’t be with the Tigers.

It’s time to let Willi Castro go. If they want an outfielder, I’d much rather see Daz Cameron get some more at-bats with the big league club. If they want an infielder, I’d pick Kody Clemens for the same reason. Both of those guys are largely unproven. Willi Castro has proven that he isn’t a major league caliber player. It’s time to end this experiment.

3B Jeimer Candelario

DETROIT, MI – AUGUST 07: Jeimer Candelario #46 of the Detroit Tigers bats against the Tampa Bay Rays at Comerica Park on August 7, 2022, in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Duane Burleson/Getty Images) /

Sigh. This last one is just depressing. I’ve always liked Jeimer. Even when he got sent down in 2019, I hadn’t given up hope on him. And I was rewarded for that with strong 2020 and 2021 campaigns from the 28-year-old.

The 2020 season where he slashed .297/.369/.503 could have been a little deceiving because of the small sample size, but he backed it up in 2021 by slashing .271/.351/.443 with 16 homers and an American League leading 42 doubles. He also posted a 3.8 bWAR. There was even some thought of possibly extending him last offseason. Boy, did the Detroit Tigers dodge a bullet there.

Candelario, like many others on this team, has fallen off a cliff this season. His slash line of .204/.268/.350 is just sad. He has looked lost at the plate for most of the year, save for a small hot streak out of the gate after the All-Star break.

The one thing Candy has always been able to boast about is his eye. Even in his lackluster 2019 season he still had an 11.1% walk rate. But that is completely gone, as he’s only walking at a 6.3% clip this season. What on earth happened here?

That’s not to mention how bad he’s been with the glove this season. Candelario has never been a gold glover over at the hot corner, but he’s never been this bad either. He’s worth -3 outs above average according to Baseball Savant. He has seven errors this season, but he could easily have more if official scorers weren’t trying to pad stats.

I think it’s far more likely the Detroit Tigers wait to make a final decision on Jeimer until after the season, but he has shown little sign of improvement. With one year left until he’s a free agent, it’s best to just cut their losses. They need to create a 40-man spot for Ryan Kreidler anyway, so let him play third base the rest of the season.

Sigh. This just makes me sad.

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

C Tucker Barnhart

UTIL Willi Castro

3B Jeimer Candelario

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