Tigers' minor league promotion could foreshadow Sept. roster expansion decision

It isn't for lack of trying, but the Tigers have now spent almost an entire season without an everyday third baseman. Ever since Jace Jung was demoted to Triple-A — and he hasn't gotten a chance again, even though Trey Sweeney's been called up multiple times to cover for injuries, even for outfielders — it's been mostly Zach McKinstry and Colt Keith at the hot corner.

Rumors suggest that the Tigers will get right back on the Alex Bregman train if he opts out of his deal with the Red Sox (which he probably won't), but they also have a lot of internal options. The Tigers love their internal options, but fans would probably also prefer to see a promising prospect come up than the Tigers beg Bregman to come to Detroit again.

There's Jung, second/third baseman Hao-Yu Lee (No. 7 prospect), and now No. 10 prospect Max Anderson, who was promoted to Triple-A Toledo on Monday.

For the most part, the Mud Hens have employed Lee at second base and Jung at third this season, but Anderson could be coming for either of their spots. If it's Jung's, the Tigers could have a new third baseman when rosters expand in September.

Tigers promote No. 10 prospect, potential major league third baseman Max Anderson to Triple-A

Anderson has far more experience at second base in Double-A, having been recently moved there in late June, whereas Lee has split his time between second and third more evenly in Triple-A. Jung also has an almost equal split between those positions.

With Anderson's call-up, the Tigers have options for third. Anderson does have better hitting stats on the year than Lee or Jung, but the front office will definitely want to see what he can do in Triple-A before declaring the winner of this particular contest (if there even is one this season). He might not be ready right now, but perhaps he makes some noise over the next three weeks.

Anderson left Double-A with a .301 average and .857 OPS over 90 games, and he jumped from No. 24 in the Tigers' pipeline to No. 10 in MLB's recent midseason rerankings. He's not as strong a defensive player as Lee and is described as a "bat-first infielder," but the Tigers might choose to add a little more oomph to a late-season/playoff lineup and then work on defense in the offseason. Lee's power is down significantly this season (.488 slugging last year, .407 this year) and Jung falls somewhere in the middle.

This Triple-A battle will be an interesting one, especially because if one of these three end up making it to the big league roster and impressing the brass, it could make the other two very worried about getting dealt in the offseason.