Dodgers sign former Tigers top prospect after he spent nine years with Detroit

Catcher Eliezer Alfonzo sort of floated on the periphery of top Tigers prospects through his nine-year tenure with the organization, but he never broke through on any of the biggest stages — MLB Pipeline or Baseball America. As a longtime mainstay of Detroit's farm system, fans especially tuned into prospects might've known who he was, but it was pretty clear after nine years that he wasn't going to have much of a future in the majors.

Alfonzo was signed as an international free agent out of Venezuela in in 2016 and made his professional debut the following year in the Dominican Summer League before making his stateside debut in 2018 with the then-GCL Tigers (now the FCL Tigers).

He made it Single-A in 2019, but it took him six more seasons to get to Triple-A. Looking at his progress through the minors, it's not hard to understand why; he hit pretty well in Single-A, but everything went downhill from there. He was only promoted to Triple-A for the first time this year.

He elected free agency on Nov. 6 and signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers on Monday to officially leave the Tigers organization after almost a decade.

Tigers minor league catcher Eliezer Alfonzo signs new MiLB deal with Dodgers

Alfonzo might have some more luck with the Dodgers, who have little in the way of break-glass-in-case-of-emergency catching depth in their farm system, but the Tigers are pretty settled in that regard. Dillon Dingler will be next year's Opening Day catcher, and Jake Rogers could be on the roster as a backup, but Tomás Nido's minor league deal with incentives if he reaches the majors should open up competition in spring training. No. 3 prospect Josue Briceño, a catcher and first baseman, is also only a few years away from the majors.

It wouldn't be surprising if Alfonzo saw the writing on the wall and recognized that he didn't have a clear path forward with the Tigers.

Cracking that superstar Dodgers roster will also be an uphill battle, and they have All-Star Will Smith as their primary and either veteran Ben Rortvedt or former No. 1 prospect Dalton Rushing as their backup.

Still, it's impossible to wish Alfonzo anything but luck as he keeps trying to get to the majors, even if it won't be with Detroit.