Tigers reportedly already calling up key trade deadline acquisition

According to a report from Kiley McDaniel of ESPN.com, the Detroit Tigers selected the contract of shortstop Trey Sweeney from Triple-A Toledo Thursday.

The Tigers acquired Sweeney from the Los Angeles Dodgers ahead of the trade deadline as part of the return for pitcher Jack Flaherty. Since reporting to Triple-A Toledo, the 24-year-old infielder has slashed .381/.447/.667 with two homers and nine RBIs across 47 plate appearances. He also has four stolen bases in 11 games.

Sweeney is the 20th-ranked prospect in the Tigers' system, according to MLB Pipeline. He has played almost exclusively at shortstop throughout his minor-league career and could now take playing time away from Javier Baez, who – despite hitting a two-run homer in Thursday's game to power the Tigers to a win and a three-game sweep of the Seattle Mariners – has struggled at the plate for most of the season.

Sweeney is not currently on the 40-man roster, so the Tigers will need to make a corresponding move to add him, in addition to opening a spot for him on the 60-man roster. Since he would need to be added to the 40-man roster this offseason regardless, it will be a good opportunity for him to get his feet wet in the big leagues and for the Tigers to see how he fares against major-league pitching.

Tigers call up Sweeney ahead of weekend home series against Yankees

Things will come full circle for Sweeney, who will be called up ahead of the Tigers' weekend home series against the New York Yankees. The Yankees drafted Sweeney with the 20th overall pick in the first round of the 2021 MLB Draft before trading him to the Dodgers in 2023.

Sweeney will join a Tigers team that has enjoyed a surprisingly strong start to the second half, despite having a decimated starting rotation and missing their two top hitters in Riley Greene and Kerry Carpenter, though the latter was activated off the Injured List on Tuesday. They are 7.5 games back of a Wild Card spot, but their focus is on 2025, giving Sweeney a low-pressure environment to adjust to the big leagues.

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