Jace Jung is a direct contradiction to Tigers’ bullish top prospect approach

Under president of baseball operations Scott Harris, the Detroit Tigers have made a habit of hanging onto top prospects, no matter what. As is always the case with prospects, some have worked out well and will be foundational players for years to come, while others have ... definitely not. In the case of Jace Jung, that decision has backfired quite miserably.

The Tigers selected Jung with the No. 12 overall pick in the 2022 MLB draft, just before Harris took over the baseball operations department. The Texas Tech product seemed like he could grow to be a solid infielder for the team — maybe even their third baseman of the future after carouseling players through it for so long — but he has never developed the way they hoped.

He never looked dominant at any minor league level, even though he showed power at a few stops. Whatever promise he displayed has never showed up at the big league level.

Over the course of the last three seasons, Jung has hit a forgettable .193/.319/.230 with no home runs and six runs batted in. He only played in six games for the Tigers in 2026, and it seems pretty safe to declare Jung a bust at this point.

Jung’s struggles expose why Harris’ strategy of hanging on the prospects is not always a wise one. While it’s good to not give up on prospects too early, Jung is a guy the Tigers could have thrown in a deal a couple years ago, and they probably could have gotten a solid player in return.

Tigers cannot be as precious with their prospects going forward

This is why Harris and the Tigers need to be more open to trading their prospects going forward. After a disappointing rollercoaster season in which the team finished 76-86, it’s time to reassess things. If Detroit gets off to a hot start in the first half of 2027 for example, they shouldn’t be as precious with all of their prospects if there’s a deal on the table and a team wants one of their top-five guys.

There’s nothing wrong with keeping certain guys that they’re high on like Zyhir Hope, but they have to be honest with themselves. If they aren’t totally sold on a prospect based on what they’ve seen in the minors then they have to be open to trading them.

Harris has never traded a top-15 prospect in his four full years in charge. While almost everything Tigers fans had to be excited about this year was the result of a homegrown player's production, it's already easy to see how many blockages there'll be for players currently working their way up. It gives Harris a surplus he can work out of in the future, but not if he's never willing to pull the trigger.

Jung is a cautionary tale and after such a disappointing season Harris has to learn from the past. He can’t keep doing the same thing and expect a different result. He needs to learn from the Jung experience and be at least somewhat more willing to part with prospects going forward.

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