Detroit Tigers announce Rule 5 Draft protections

The Detroit Tigers have made more changes to their 40-man roster

The Detroit Tigers have annouced which prospects they will add to the 40-man roster to protect them from next month's Rule 5 Draft.

SP Reese Olson, OF Parker Meadows, RHP Brendan White, and INFs Andre Lipcius and Wenceel Perezhave all been added to the 40-man roster.

Olson, Meadows, Perez, and Lipcius were all expected to be added. Olson struck out 168 batters in 119.2 IP in 2022. Meadows broke out in 2022 with a 124 wRC+ in Double-A. Lipcius looked like he was starting to figure things out with the bat in addition to his already great on-base skills. Perez also had a breakout year in 2022.

The only real surprise here was White, a 26th round pick in 2019. He pitched out of the bullpen in Double-A this past year, racking up 73 strikeouts in 67.1 IP, as well as a 2.67 ERA. Batters only hit .180 against him this season.

Corresponding moves are as follows: RHPs Kyle Funkhouser and Miguel Diaz, C Michael Papierski, and OF Brendon Davis were all designated for assignment. LHP Sean Guenther cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A.

The only one here that might be surprising to some is Funkhouser. We predicted it might happen on more than one occasion. He missed all of 2022 with injury and had just one good season on his record. He was simply out of chances, though he could always clear waivers and come back.

There are some mild surprises of players that are still around. The Castros are still here, as well as Kody Clemens. Also, Zack Short is somehow still here. It's actually quite amazing how many roster purges he's survived to this point.

The Detroit Tigers' roster purge is in full swing now. Many players that fans have come to know (and likely loathe) over the past few years are gone now. A new regime has come in and set this roster ablaze. The rest of this offseason will be fascinating to witness.