Is this the end of the road for Matt Manning's time with the Detroit Tigers?

In the battle for the Tigers' last two rotation spots, former first-round pick Matt Manning barely even factored into the equation. Jackson Jobe, Casey Mize, Keider Montero, and Kenta Maeda were (and still are) thought of as the major contenders in that race, and even though Manning could've maybe been considered a dark horse, he was hardly being thought of as a bullpen option.

Since he was called up in 2021, Manning's either underperformed or been injured, and the Tigers have sent him up and down repeatedly in the years since. Last year, he started the season strong as Detroit's 27th-man in the second game of a doubleheader against the Mets, taking a no-hitter through 5 2/3 innings, which the bullpen then took into the eighth.

However, Manning was quick to return to his usual form (which is, to say, mediocre-to-bad) and didn't appear in the majors again after May 19. He was on the spring training roster this year, but after three appearances when he gave up eight earned runs in six innings, he was sent to minor league camp on Sunday.

Manning is still firmly under team control for a few more years, but it may finally be time for the Tigers to cut him loose.

Tigers might need to finally move on from Matt Manning after early exit from spring training

The Tigers clearly aren't quick to give up on their former top prospects; if they were, Mize would've been out the door a while ago. Still, only one of Manning's spring training appearances was a start, and it only took three total for them to decide that they'd seen enough. With two of Jobe, Mize, Montero, and Maeda moving to a bullpen that's already incredibly solid, there doesn't seem to be any room left for the Tigers to keep giving Manning chances.

At this point, it looks like the best the Tigers might get in a trade for Manning is cash and/or, maybe, an unranked prospect. There are still moments when he shows flashes of the promise that prompted the Tigers to take him in the first round in 2016, like that appearance against the Mets, but they're too few and far between for the club to continue projecting a definitive role for him.

Manning's early exile from spring training feels like a nail in the coffin. It's clear that the Tigers don't seem much of a future for him at the major league level in Detroit, so it might be time to just pull the plug.