Tigers lose serious amounts of Triple-A depth in mass minor league free agency exodus

The Tigers' first move of the offseason was a tiny transaction, signing former Orioles pitcher Nick Raquet to a two-year minor league deal. They followed it up with something a little more notable, a trade with the Red Sox for former Pirates top prospect Tsung-Che Cheng, and then they brought back Jacob Waguespack on a one-year, $1.3 million major league deal.

These are the kinds of moves Tigers fans should be expecting throughout this offseason. Small, incremental moves that have the potential for impact at the major league level but don't offer many promises (though Waguespack was outstanding out the bullpen after a rocky start).

So Tigers fans should be tucking in for a long offseason of minor league transactions, especially because they just lost a staggering number of players to minor league free agency. Baseball America released a full list, and 22 players opted to leave the organization — 13 of them were Triple-A players.

There are some familiar names on the list — pitchers Carl Edwards Jr., Jack Little, and Tyler Mattison, shortstop Trei Cruz, outfielder James Outman.

The Tigers can and should try to re-sign some of them to minor league deals or find a host of alternatives quickly. Otherwise, the Mud Hens' roster is going to look pretty barren next year.

Tigers lose 13 Triple-A players to minor league free agency, including former top prospect Trei Cruz

Of course, the Tigers will also be able to use the newly freed-up roster space in Toledo to promote some players from Double-A, where top prospects Zyhir Hope and Lucas Elissalt spent time in 2026. Infielders Peyton Graham and Izaac Pacheco and pitchers Jaden Hamm and Kenny Serwa also made some noise in Erie this year.

But the bulk of the rebuilding of the Triple-A roster will probably come via minor league free agency. The Tigers also let go of pitchers Bailey Horn, Sawyer Gipson-Long, and Yilber Díaz along with outfielder Corey Julks to make room for players on the 60-day IL; all could be candidates for new MiLB deals.

Scott Harris said after the season that he regretted not building more depth into the organization to cover off for months like May, when the Tigers lost player after player. Part of building depth is these small minor league additions. Although we can never put too much hope into guys like Julks, Outman, or Gage Workman, who all spent time in the majors to cover off for those injuries, they're a necessary part of the equation in a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency scenario.

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