Andre Lipcius takes shot at Tigers upon joining Dodgers after DFA

A recent article from The Athletic ruminated on the DFA, the painful process by which players are told that they virtually no longer have a job — at least, not in the major leagues — and are caught in total limbo for anywhere between a few days and a week. Then, it's time to wait to find out if they'll go back to the minors, be picked up by another team, or be released altogether — none of which are particularly appealing options (subscription required).

Tigers management have been unafraid to exercise their DFA'ing muscles this offseason. Tyler Nevin, Nick Maton, Devin Sweet, TJ Hopkins, and Andre Lipcius all got the axe in the last week of January and throughout February. Lipcius is the most recent victim, DFA'ed after a poor few showings in spring training. He was traded to the Dodgers for cash, making him one of the more fortunate to come out on the other side of a designation.

He arrived at Dodgers camp in Arizona from the Tigers' facility in Florida the day after being traded, and in an interview at SportsNet LA, he seemed unable to keep himself from throwing a little bit of shade at the Tigers.

Andre Lipcius seemed relieved to be away from the Tigers in interview as a new Dodger

He said he was "ecstatic" when he found out that he was traded to the Dodgers, because they were "known to be the best org in baseball." He seemed a little starstruck by all of the Dodgers' top guys and overwhelmed the caliber of the organization, and alluded to the Dodgers having their eye on him for a few years by the time they traded for him. It could be that he's just understandably relieved to have a shot at another major league roster (though the Dodgers' 26-man will be even harder to get onto than the Tigers'), but he did seem a little sore toward Detroit and unafraid to give the Tigers the side-eye now that he's safely on the other side of the country.

Lipcius made his first spring training appearance with the Dodgers on March 6 and already looked better than he had in four appearances with the Tigers, going 2-3 with an RBI. If the Dodgers can extract the potential there that made Lipcius a top 30 prospect for the Tigers back in 2022, then good for them. Detroit seems to be just fine wihtout him.