5 overlooked Tigers minor leaguers who should contribute to the 2027 team

Every offseason, the conversation around the minor league system gets pulled toward the same handful of names, and in Detroit, that's for good reason. Zyhir Hope is already turning heads in the Arizona Fall League after coming over in the Tarik Skubal trade, and River Ryan got his feet wet with a pair of September starts at Comerica Park. Bryce Rainer is still working his way through the lower levels, Cam Flukey will have a shot to impress in camp, Kash Mayfield will have eyes on him after the Casey Mize trade, and John Peck is getting extra at-bats in Arizona after debuting in late August.

Those are the guys (and a few others in the top 10) you'll hear about all winter. But having spent years in professional baseball myself, I can tell you that the players who end up helping a big-league club in a given season usually aren't always the ones talked about in Baseball America. They're might be guys who were drafted late, got hurt, got passed over or lost a little luster along the way, and then quietly put together the kind of year that forces someone to pay attention. And Detroit has a handful of those players knocking on the door right now.

The Tigers' under-the-radar prospects who can help in 2027

Brett Callahan, OF

Callahan is the poster child for this list. He was a 13th-round pick out of St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia, injuries kept him from playing above High-A until this season, and he didn't crack Detroit's top 30 entering the year. Then he hit .269/.365/.443 with 13 home runs and 19 doubles between Erie and Toledo, climbed into the organization's top 20, and tripled on the very first pitch he saw in the big leagues on Aug. 16, something no Tiger had done in 114 years. That's a pretty good way to introduce yourself, and a left-handed outfield bat with that kind of production is going to get every chance to make an impression in Lakeland this spring.

Andrew Sears, LHP

As a pitcher myself, this is the unsung Tiger I have a soft spot for. Sears started his college career at Division III Rhode Island College, transferred to UConn, and went in the 10th round in 2023. He came back from a left elbow injury this year and carved through four levels with a 2.16 ERA, 67 strikeouts in 58 1/3 innings and a .192 opponent batting average before making his debut in Kansas City in August. His big-league numbers weren't pretty, and one of his rougher outings came with two errors behind him, but a funky lefty with a mid-90's heater and a heavy ground-ball profile is exactly the type of arm that ends up eating important innings out of a bullpen.

Max Anderson, 2B/3B

Anderson might be the most overqualified player on this list. The former second-round pick out of Nebraska hit .302/.386/.477 with 15 homers in Toledo, finished runner-up in the International League batting race, and was named Baseball America's Tigers Minor League Player of the Year. He crushed lefties, but his production against right-handers in a much bigger sample is what makes him more than a platoon bat. The glove at second and third is still the question, but at this point, the bat has earned a look. At worst, Anderson should provide a solid depth option.

Thayron Liranzo, C/1B

Not long ago, Liranzo was a key piece of the return Detroit got from the Dodgers for Jack Flaherty and ranked as one of the top prospects in the system. A rough 2025 knocked some of the shine off, and he still struck out in more than 28% of his plate appearances at Erie this year. But the power came back in a big way, with 19 home runs in 79 games, and he hit a game-tying three-run homer in the Eastern League playoffs to help push Erie into the championship series. He's already on the 40-man roster, he's a switch-hitter, and a catcher who can also handle first base with that kind of pop is a valuable piece, whether that's in Detroit or in a trade.

Izaac Pacheco, 3B/1B

We wrote about Pacheco this week, and his story deserves a spot here, too. The former over-slot second-rounder spent more than 300 games in West Michigan and missed a big chunk of 2024 after hand surgery. Then he won Midwest League MVP in 2025 and followed it up with 21 homers and an .821 OPS at Double-A this season. He still swings and misses plenty, but a 23-year-old left-handed bat who can play third, first and DH is the kind of depth that shows up when the injuries start piling up in June.

These five players may not show up on a national top 100 list anytime soon, but that's kind of the point. Championship rosters can be built by stars, but they're sustained by the guys who are ready whenever the phone rings, and good teams build that into their plans. Detroit has more of those players than most people realize, and a few of them could be playing meaningful games at Fifth Third Park sooner than you'd think.

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