Tigers fans upset after 2 most exciting prospects weren't invited to spring training

Tigers pitchers and catchers report to spring training in Lakeland on Wednesday, and the rest of the team won't be far behind them on Feb. 17 before games begin the following Saturday. Baseball is so close you can practically taste it.

The Tigers released their full spring training roster on Monday. They'll carry 58 players, including 18 non-roster invitees, who range from top prospects (Thayron Liranzo, Hao-Yu Lee) to the usual Quad-A guys (Akil Baddoo, Bligh Madris) to minor league signings (Tomás Nido, Matt Gage).

However, two notable names were left off of the official roster. Detroit's Nos. 2 and 3 prospects Max Clark and Kevin McGonigle, didn't make the cut. This doesn't mean that neither will be present in Lakeland, and it's likely that both will appear in MLB's Spring Breakout exhibition game on March 16.

It does mean, however, that there's absolutely no reason to expect that the Tigers will be expediting them through the minors, nor should they. Both Clark and McGonigle were promoted to High-A last year, but we shouldn't expect to see them on an official spring roster until they've at least dipped their toes into Double-A.

Top Tigers prospects Max Clark, Kevin McGonigle left off of Detroit's spring training roster

Last year, both Jackson Jobe and Jace Jung made the spring training roster as NRIs, but both had made it into Double-A the season prior, and AJ Hinch made it very clear that neither should expect to break camp and make it onto the major league roster. They were just there to learn from the big league guys and show the staff what they could do.

This is probably what Clark and McGonigle (along with Josue Briceño, in Single-A and left off of the spring roster) should expect when they do get an official invite to camp. Of course, the Tigers ended up calling up both Jung and Jobe during the 2024 season, with Jung coming before they could've ever anticipated their postseason run and when the team had nothing to lose. We shouldn't necessarily hope the same thing happens for Clark and McGonigle; the Tigers were in dire straits and games seemed inconsequential when they decided to give Jung a taste of the majors.

Clark and McGonigle will both get their moments to shine, but it makes sense that the Tigers don't want to rush their development or make any false promises about an accelerated course.