Tigers activate Paul Sewald, demote offseason signing and release trade deadline add

Critics of Scott Harris' offseason and trade deadline might have a field day with what the Detroit Tigers just pulled less than an hour ahead of their series finale against the Guardians.

Paul Sewald, who came over from Cleveland at the trade deadline despite being on the 15-day IL with a shoulder injury, was activated off of the 60-day IL, where the Tigers assigned him immediately following the trade. José Urquidy, who signed a one-year, $1 million deal (with a $4 million club option for 2026) in the offseason, also consented to an assignment to Triple-A. Codi Heuer, who came over from the Rangers in exchange for cash, was granted a release.

Tigers make flurry of roster moves to activate Paul Sewald, designate José Urquidy for assignment, release Codi Heuer

Sewald and Urquidy made up a weird and very specific subsection of pitchers that the Tigers signed or traded for despite knowing that they wouldn't be immediately available to pitch. Urquidy had just come back from Tommy John and only pitched 2 1/3 innings when he eventually got back, despite the Tigers frequently using his return as an excuse for a quiet trade deadline and AJ Hinch professing the utmost confidence in his former Astros pitcher.

Heuer was thrown into the bullpen carousel upon his arrival in Detroit and only pitched 3 1/3 innings in August before being released.

The Tigers like to emphasize the lack of ego on their squad, especially when trying to explain their frequent and oftentimes confusing roster shuffles for the bullpen in particular. Urquidy seems to be down with that process if he willingly accepted an assignment to Triple-A, as this move seems like a purely strategic one rather than an indication of a lack of faith from management (though he did give up two runs to the Guardians in the ninth on Wednesday night).

Sewald returns to face his former team, who he left after posting a 4.70 ERA in 15 1/3 innings between two stints on the IL. Much like most of the players the Tigers brought in at the trade deadline, it was hard to see what the front office saw in him based on his recent performance, but he did notch six postseason saves for the Diamondbacks in 2023 (we can interrogate the fact that he gave up four runs to the Rangers in a decisive Game 5 of the World Series at a later date).

Hinch would probably say that this is all part of the plan. Fans haven't exactly been able to decipher exactly what the plan is, and it doesn't seem like it's working when the Tigers' division lead keeps slipping. But Sewald has the chance to join Kyle Finnegan in the 'win' column in a hypothetical audit of the Tigers' trade deadline, and that's something both the Tigers and Harris desperately need.

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