Tigers-Red Sox Tsung-Che Cheng trade makes Detroit's intentions clear for 2027

Tigers fans know from firsthand experience that the Red Sox have a habit of taking on discarded players and turning them into folk heroes. They can't really even be called reclamation projects, given how quickly they turn into the clutchest hitters in baseball overnight, but we saw it with both Jahmai Jones and, to a lesser extent, Jake Rogers this year.

Former Pirates top prospect Tsung-Che Cheng was one of those magical players for Boston this year, though a little more under-the-radar. He was promoted to the majors in late June, after hitting for the Triple-A WooSox's first-ever cycle and Marcelo Mayer going onto the IL.

His numbers in a little over a full calendar month and 14 games were unassuming — .256 with a .600 OPS and five RBI — but he helped the Red Sox's 15-game win streak live one more day when he made a leaping play in the ninth inning of Game 14 with two runners in scoring position.

The Tigers are probably hoping he still has a little bit of that magic dust on him. On Thursday night, they sent cash to the Red Sox in exchange for Cheng.

Tigers' first official move of the offseason is a trade with Red Sox for lefty infielder Tsung-Che Cheng

Cheng was on the Red Sox's 40-man at season's end, so he was transferred to the Tigers' 40-man (which now stands at 36 players) accordingly. That's still a healthy amount of wiggle room for Rule 5 draft protectees or pre-lockout acquisitions.

However, Cheng doesn't have minor league options remaining, which suggests that the Tigers will only use him in a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency scenario, a one-and-done in the vein of James Outman in 2026. The Tigers have an abundance guys like Cheng — lefty middle infielders — so it's unlikely that he appears in the majors unless an injury befalls a guy like Colt Keith or Hao-Yu Lee.

It's fair to wonder if Cheng, despite already being well-traveled and relatively untested at the major league level, will be the Tigers' first call over a guy like Jace Jung, who fills out roughly the same profile and who Detroit has never seemed fully sold on.

It's a harmless depth move. If we see Cheng at all during the 2027 season, it likely won't be for long, but hopefully his recent history of solid defensive play and decent contact will be able to help the Tigers for however short a time next year.

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