Premature reporting had Tigers fans buzzing about possible Rule 5 Draft implications

The Tigers had until 6 p.m. ET on Tuesday to add Rule 5-eligible prospects to their 40-man roster to prevent them from being taken in the draft, and five ranked prospects to consider saving: No. 5 Thayron Liranzo, No. 6 Hao-Yu Lee, No. 19 Jake Miller, No. 21 Izaac Pacheco, and No. 30 RJ Petit.

Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press reported about half an hour before the deadline that the Tigers are adding three prospects, but only one of them from the above list. Miller, utilityman Trei Cruz, and catcher/first baseman Eduardo Valencia will all be safe from the Rule 5 Draft.

Liranzo and Lee's exclusions were shocking ... until it was revealed they were being protected after the deadline has passed. Panic-inducing reporting for no reason. Fans were legitimately convinced that Detroit was going to let two top prospects leave for nothing.

Liranzo was a key part of the trade that sent Jack Flaherty to the Dodgers last year, and Lee was reportedly a late-season consideration for the Tigers at third base. It would've spoken volumes that the Tigers were willing to take the risk in the first place.

And there's another wrinkle: the Tigers' 40-man roster is full, which means a roster crunch was coming. It indeed did, as Detroit designated Dugan Darnell, Jason Foley, Sean Guenther, Jack Little, Tyler Mattison and Tanner Rainey for assignment.

Tigers make flurry of roster moves on 40-man roster deadline day

Liranzo initially looked like a great get for the Tigers at last year's trade deadline and tore it up in High-A West Michigan (.315 average, 1.032 OPS), but he stumbled in Double-A Erie this season, hitting just .206 with a .659 OPS in 88 games. It could've just been a down year, but some of the shine clearly wore off for the Tigers' higher-ups if they were willing to chance letting such a highly-ranked prospect go.

Lee put up decent numbers in Triple-A and was understood to be major league-ready this past season. He might be an option for Detroit in 2026 after Gleyber Torres accepted the qualifying offer.

Letting him go might've made a little more sense when considering the Tigers' infield glut. Torres returning should move Colt Keith to third for the majority of 2026. Kevin McGonigle, baseball's No. 2 prospect and an infielder, will also be a consideration next year.

As for the departing Tigers, expect a whole lot of bullpen moves/Triple-A depth decisions to be made this offseason.