Tigers strike trade with Brewers to try and capitalize on Milwaukee's devil magic

Every team does their fair share of waiver wire claiming and small-time trading (more impolitely, dumpster diving), but Tigers fans could swear that our front office does it more than most.

Maybe because the Tigers feel exceptionally bad at it. Scott Harris' 2025 trade deadline was all small-time trading, and look how that worked out for him. Even though it's been said that there's no such thing as a bad minor league deal, the consequences of that deadline (and most of Harris' decisions) now make fans skeptical any time someone with an unrecognizable name joins the organization.

The latest is 32-year-old pitcher Jacob Waguespack, who the Tigers acquired on Wednesday in a cash trade with the Brewers.

He hasn't appeared in the majors since 2024 with the Rays, when he posted a 5.40 ERA in 10 innings. He's bounced around between a few organizations since then — the Phillies, then the Brewers — but never cracked the majors with them.

The Rays and Brewers have two of the best pitching labs in baseball. If they couldn't fix Waguespack, do the Tigers really think they'll be the ones to crack the code?

Tigers trade with Brewers for righty pitcher Jacob Waguespack

Given that Waguespack wasn't on Milwaukee's 40-man roster when he was traded, the Tigers didn't have to make a 40-man move when they received him.

Evan Woodbery of MLive noted that it's a curious move for the Tigers to make given Waguespack's recent performance at Triple-A. "A trade like this [...] often suggests an upward-mobility clause that has been exercised or is looming," he wrote. "But given the fact that the Tigers likely have four pitchers returning to the roster in the next week, this would seem an unusual time to add a fifth."

And he has been excellent in Triple-A this year — a 1.66 ERA in 21 2/3 innings with the Nashville Sounds. But that 5.11 ERA in 105 2/3 major league innings isn't exactly a ringing endorsement.

And the Tigers do expect the cavalry to arrive soon: Tarik Skubal, Justin Verlander, Casey Mize, and Kenley Jansen are all on their ways back, which will trigger roster crunch after roster crunch. Do the Tigers really need to overcomplicate things but adding Waguespack into the mix?

You never know with Harris. We very well could be looking at the next reliever fans will pile on — or maybe the Tigers' hubris could actually pay off.

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