Tigers sign former Yankees trade deadline disaster to minor-league contract

As Detroit Tigers fans impatiently await the club to spring into action on some of the remaining big names that can fill holes, Scott Harris seems more focused on tinkering around the margins.

The bullpen has been the only area of concern that the Tigers have truly addressed. It is a unit that looks better on paper than what was run out there last year, thanks to the re-signing of Kyle Finnegan and the stabilizing presence that top free-agent acquisition Kenley Jansen brings to the table.

That hasn't stopped Harris from scouring for other potential improvements, but his latest dart throw, signing former New York Yankees' trade deadline bust Scott Effross to a minor league contract, shouldn't inspire much confidence.

Tigers sign former Yankees trade deadline disappointment Scott Effross to minor league deal

The sidewinding Effross was once a tantalizing reliever. A late-bloomer, he got his first taste of big league action with the Chicago Cubs in 2021 at 27 years old, logging 14 2/3 innings and posting 11.05 K/9 and just 0.61 BB/9 en route to a 3.68 ERA.

The following year, Effross won a full-time job in the Cubs bullpen and pitched so well that Chicago was able to swap him at the 2022 trade deadline in exchange for Hayden Wesneski, the Yankees' No. 7 overall prospect at the time. Wesneski would later go on to be part of the package the Cubs would use to land Kyle Tucker from the Houston Astros last offseason.

Effross appeared in 13 games down the 2022 stretch for New York, performing even better than he did in Chicago. At the end of the year, he had managed a 2.54 ERA in 56 2/3 innings of work. The Yankees thought they had gotten a steal, thanks to the incredible amount of team control they possessed with Effross.

Things didn't go as planned, though. Effross would undergo Tommy John surgery and miss the entire 2023 campaign. A back injury while recovering from his elbow surgery limited him in 2024, and he'd throw just 3 1/3 major league innings to the tune of a 5.40 ERA.

2025 marked another season in which he battled through injury, and his 11 big league appearances were a disaster, as he posted an 8.44 ERA. Things didn't go any better for Effross down in Triple-A, where he tossed 29 2/3 innings and recorded a 6.37 ERA.

The strikeout stuff that once made Effross attractive has evaporated. If there's anything Detroit's bullpen is still lacking, it's an arm capable of generating the swing-and-miss on the regular, and that no longer appears to be part of Effross's game.

At 32, the ceiling is nowhere near what it was for the right-hander. He'll get a shot to compete for a bullpen role in spring training, but he likely doesn't stand out among the sea of similar relievers the Tigers have on the roster bubble.

The biggest benefit he presents is his available options, giving the Tigers the chance to shuffle in a fresh arm temporarily if needed. That's likely the best-case scenario for Effross at this point, so don't get your hopes up believing that Harris found a diamond in the rough. More than likely, he's just fodder for Toledo.