Tigers News: First round of spring training cuts, former All-Star signs with Padres

Emma Lingan

Detroit Tigers pitcher Wilmer Flores walks out of clubhouse for practice during spring training at TigerTown in Lakeland, Fla. on Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

After the Detroit Tigers made their first round of spring training cuts Wednesday, four players are on their way to minor league camp.

Right-hander Wilkel Hernandez, right-handed reliever Wilmer Flores, catcher Eliezer Alfonzo and infielder Eddys Leonard comprised the group, leaving the Tigers' Major League spring training roster at 56 players. None of the cuts came as a surprise, as none were expected to break camp with the big league squad.

Alfonzo went 3-for-8 with a double and two RBI in Grapefruit League play this spring, while Hernandez allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits in four innings with three walks and three strikeouts. Leonard went 2-for-15 with a double and an RBI. He’s expected to open the 2025 season with Triple-A Toledo, where he hit .263/.326/.455 with 10 home runs and 26 RBI in 67 games last year.

Flores, a former MLB Pipeline Top 100 prospect, was sidelined for most of last season with a shoulder injury and has been on the Tigers' injury report with shoulder inflammation since the start of spring training. Once healthy, he will likely return to Toledo, where he changed roles from starter to reliever prior to his injury last season.

Former Tigers All-Star Jose Iglesias signs minor league deal with Padres

Veteran infielder and former Tiger Jose Iglesias signed a minor league contract with the San Diego Padres this week as he looks to play in his 13th Major League season. Iglesias spent the majority of those seasons in Detroit from 2013-18, highlighted by an All-Star appearance in 2015.

Since departing Detroit in free agency in 2018, Iglesias has bounced around the league, spending time with the Baltimore Orioles, the Los Angeles Angels, the Boston Red Sox, the Colorado Rockies and, most recently, the New York Mets. Stepping in as the Mets' starting second baseman last September after Jeff McNeill went down with an injury, Iglesias hit .337 with four home runs and 26 RBI, helping to spark a late-season turnaround that propelled New York all the way to the National League Championship Series.

Iglesias' contract with the Padres includes an invitation to Major League spring training. He will make $3 million in 2025 if he makes San Diego's MLB roster.

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Emma Lingan

Emma Lingan is an MLB Staff Writer for FanSided primarily covering the Pittsburgh Pirates. She has been covering baseball for more than a decade dating back to her time as a student at Wake Forest University, and she has won two gold medals as a member of the U.S. National Team delegation (2016 Pan-American Championships & 2017 World Baseball Classic). A native of Washington, D.C. and current resident of Nashville, Tenn., she is also entering her seventh season as a credentialed NHL media member and currently covers the NHL’s Nashville Predators for The Hockey News. When she's not watching hockey, baseball or football, she enjoys podcasting, reading, going to the gym, consuming large amounts of coffee and taking long walks with her dog, Minkah. You can follow her @Emma_lingan on Twitter and Instagram.