Detroit Tigers Clips Tuesday, November 1, 2016 Detroit Free Press Tigers prospects Christin Stewart, Adam Ravenelle named Fall-Stars (Fenech) The Detroit News Tigers Stewart, Ravenelle picked for Fall Stars game (Paul) MLive.com A look at Tigers eligible to become minor league free agents next week (Woodbery) MLB.com Decisions looming on Maybin, K-Rod for Tigers (Beck) Tigers' Ravenelle, Stewart named to Fall Stars Game (Mayo) Daily Transactions 1
Tigers prospects Christin Stewart, Adam Ravenelle named Fall-Stars November 1, 2016 By Anthony Fenech/ Detroit Free Press Two Detroit Tigers prospects were selected to the Arizona Fall League s Fall Stars Game. Outfielder Christin Stewart and right-handed reliever Adam Ravenelle will represent the organization at the league s annual showcase game. Not selected this season was centerfielder JaCoby Jones. Stewart has struggled this fall, hitting.198 (7-for-37) with one home run and three RBIs in 10 games. The second-round draft pick out of Tennessee in 2015 had a strong debut for his first full professional season, with 30 home runs and 87 RBIs at Class A Lakeland and Double-A Erie. Ravenelle should garner consideration for a big league call-up sometime next season. Armed with a high-90 m.p.h. fastball, the righty out of Vanderbilt has allowed one hit in six innings this fall. He has recorded four saves for the Salt River Rafters, striking out three and walking three. Jones is playing well, going 13-for-39 in 11 games, with one home run and seven RBIs. Jones, who logged limited time with the Tigers last season, could compete for the starting centerfielder job if the team decides against picking up Cameron Maybin s $9-million contract option and elects to fill the spot internally. The Fall Stars Game is 8 p.m. Saturday on the MLB Network. 2
Tigers Stewart, Ravenelle picked for Fall Stars game November 1, 2016 By Tony Paul/ The Detroit News Two of the Tigers' three participants in the Arizona Fall League have been selected to play in Saturday's "Fall Stars game (8 p.m., MLB Network). Outfielder Christin Stewart and pitcher Adam Ravenelle were named to the rosters, announced Monday. Outfielder / third baseman JaCoby Jones did not make the cut. Stewart, a first-round pick by the Tigers out of Tennessee in 2015, was given a roster spot despite some struggles out in Arizona. He hit just.189 with one home run, three RBIs and a.501 OPS in 10 games. He had a monster season in the minor leagues for Detroit this year, though, with 30 home runs and 87 RBIs in a season split between Single-A Lakeland and Double-A Erie. Ravenelle, a fourth-round pick by the Tigers in 2014 out of Vanderbilt, has pitched in six AFL games, allowing one hit in six innings, while picking up four saves. A right-hander, Ravenelle struggled this season after his promotion to Erie. Jones, acquired in the July 2015 trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates for closer Joakim Soria, was left off the "Fall Stars" roster despite batting.333 with a homer, seven RBIs and an.887 OPS in 11 games. Jones could be primed to be the Tigers' starting center fielder in 2017, if the club opts against picking up Cameron Maybin's $9-million option ($1-million buyout). 3
A look at Tigers eligible to become minor league free agents next week November 1, 2016 By Evan Woodbery/ MLive.com DETROIT -- Fourteen of the Detroit Tigers' 22 minor-leaguers eligible to become free agents are pitchers, including several veterans at Triple-A Toledo. Perhaps that's why Tigers general manager Al Avila singled out upper-level minor league pitching depth as one of the team's points of emphasis during the offseason. The 22 players listed here may choose to file for free agency five days after the World Series ends. If last season is any indication, several will eventually end up back with the Tigers. Some may have already re-signed. The list here is an unofficial projection based on minor-league service time and could differ slightly from the official list of minor league free agents made public next week. The list will be updated as players re-sign. Players may elect free agency if their original minor league contract has been renewed six times and they've spent parts of seven seasons in the minor leagues. Tigers free agents Major league C Jarrod Saltalamacchia SS Erick Aybar 3B Casey McGehee Outrighted players* TOLEDO OF Alex Presley (filed 10/3) P Logan Kensing (filed 10/3) Six-year minor league free agents TOLEDO P Drake Britton P Preston Guilmet P Cesar Ramos P Chad Bell P Jeff Ferrell C Miguel Gonzalez 3B Pedro Ciriaco 2B Argenis Diaz IF Chad Huffman IF Jordany Valdespin ERIE P Ruben Alaniz P Thad Weber P David Martinez P Tommy Shirley 1B Corey Jones SS Gustavo Nunez LAKELAND P Johan Belisario P Endrys Briceno P Edgar De La Rosa P Santiago Garrido P Yordy Cabrera DH Tyler Bortnick Erie pitcher Cory Riordan re-signed with Tigers earlier this month. He would have been a free agent. 4
Around the league, that means players in the 2010 draft class who have not yet been promoted to the 40-man roster are on the verge of becoming free agents. That draft class wasn't very fruitful for the Tigers after they took third baseman Nick Castellanos with their first pick (No. 44 overall). The only player still in the minor league system is first baseman Corey Jones of Double- A Erie. Right-handed pitcher Myles Jaye, who was acquired by the Tigers in March when they traded Bryan Holaday to the Texas Rangers, was drafted in 2010 but did not play that season and so would presumably not be eligible for minor-league free agency until next year. Players who have been outrighted to the minor leagues more than once may also become free agents immediately after the season. Reserve outfielder Alex Presley and pitcher Logan Kensing already exercised their rights to do so earlier this month. The Tigers can prevent a player from becoming a minor-league free agent by adding them to the 40-man roster. Alternatively, they can offer the player another minor-league contract. Of the 22 eligible six-year free agents, there are several that the Tigers might invite back for another year, but only a few that they are likely to be concerned about losing. Here are a few of note: Right-handed reliever Preston Guilmet, 29, has had brief stints with four different MLB teams. In 68 innings for Toledo in 2016, he struck out 82 and walked just 12. Yordy Cabrera, 26, was a second-round draft pick of the Oakland Athletics in 2010. The Tigers signed him as a free agent in March and have been working on converting him to a reliever after his career as a hitter stalled. All 22 players -- whether they re-sign with the Tigers or another minor-league system -- will be eligible for the Rule 5 Draft next month unless they are protected on a 40-man roster. We'll cover the Rule 5 Draft, and list all the eligible Tigers, later this month. 5
Decisions looming on Maybin, K-Rod for Tigers November 1, 2016 By Jason Beck/ MLB.com DETROIT -- At some point this week, the Hot Stove season will officially begin. When it does, the Tigers will have two big decisions to make almost immediately. What the Tigers decide on contract options for center fielder Cameron Maybin and closer Francisco Rodriguez could say a lot about the direction they're headed. The Tigers hold club options of $9 million (or a $1 million buyout) on Maybin and $6 million (or $2 million buyout) on Rodriguez, both of them inherited from contracts they signed with their previous clubs. That flexibility was a small part of the appeal in acquiring them, allowing the Tigers to evaluate them this past season before deciding whether to go another year. Both had their ups and downs -- injuries for Maybin, inconsistency dogging Rodriguez at times -- but both played a role in taking Detroit's playoff hopes to the final day of the regular season. As the Tigers look to form a younger, leaner roster for the coming years, the question isn't so much whether the two are worth keeping, but whether the Tigers can embark on that movement and still afford to keep them. It's taking time to figure out. "We'll probably wait all the way to the final day," general manager Al Avila said at his end-of-season remarks a couple of weeks ago. The Tigers have until three days after the World Series ends to decide. They have potential replacements in their organization for both, but they aren't sure either outfield prospect JaCoby Jones or future closer Joe Jimenez will be ready for the big leagues right away. Though a broken wrist and sprained thumb combined to hold Maybin under 100 games for the third time in four years, his 1.9 WAR tripled the total he put up over 141 games with the Braves in 2015. He batted.315 (110-for- 349) with 14 doubles, five triples, four home runs, 43 RBIs, 65 runs scored and an.801 OPS. His 15 stolen bases led the team. Jones, the Tigers' ninth-ranked prospect according to MLB Pipeline, earned a September callup after batting.257 with a.733 OPS between Double-A Erie and Triple-A Toledo. Aside from two productive games filling in at third base upon his callup, the 24-year-old played sparingly down the stretch, batting 6-for-28 with three doubles, two RBIs and 12 strikeouts. He entered Monday batting 13-for-39 (.333) in the Arizona Fall League with three doubles, a home run and seven RBIs. "Obviously if we decide not to pick up [Maybin's] option, we need a center fielder," Avila said two weeks back. "JaCoby Jones is a viable option. I think there are people in the organization that feel that he could use more time in Toledo. I'm of the opinion that he could use more time in Toledo. "But if he has a strong Arizona Fall League, comes in Spring Training and really has a good spring, I can't rule out that he might not be the guy. Particularly if you can match him up with another guy that hits from the left side and can give him some days off on some tough right-handed pitchers." Rodriguez finished second in the American League with 44 saves in 49 opportunities. The 34-year-old allowed 45 hits over 58 1/3 innings, striking out 52 batters and walking 21. He blew two saves in September, including a five-run ninth inning against the Royals on Sept. 24, but he gave up only one run over his other 15 outings from Aug. 13 on. Jimenez has been seen as the closer of the future ever since his dominant 2015 season with Class A West Michigan. Detroit's fifth-ranked prospect continued that march with 30 saves over three different levels this year, though he did not get a September call to Detroit. "I know there was a big push for him to come up here," Avila said, "but trust me that it would not have been in his best interests or our best interests. There were some things he needed to work on, in particular his slider and just his command overall. "There are certain things that you can do in the Minor Leagues that you can't do at the big league level. When we bring [someone] up, we want to make sure that he's coming up to have success. We don't want to go through the same mistake we did with Bruce [Rondon] in the past where it just didn't work out right away. We want to 6
be a little bit more cautious with Jimenez. In saying that, I'm hopeful that he can contribute to our success at some point in 2017." 7
Tigers' Ravenelle, Stewart named to Fall Stars Game November 1, 2016 By Jonathan Mayo/ MLB.com SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- For the past 25 years, the Arizona Fall League has been a place to see some of the best up-and-coming talent around baseball. For the past decade -- edition No. 11 arrives on Saturday -- that talent has been funneled onto one field in the Fall Stars Game. The AFL's version of the Futures Game will take place at Surprise Stadium at 5 p.m. local time (8 p.m. ET) and will be broadcast on MLB Network and streamed live MLB.com and once again will feature many of the game's top prospects. A total of 16 members of MLBPipeline.com's Top 100 prospects list are on the rosters released by the league on Monday, with an additional 21 players from team Top 30s to once again make the Fall Stars Game a veritable who's who for prospects. Noticeably absent from the game is No. 1 prospect Yoan Moncada, whose Fall League season officially came to an end on Friday when the Red Sox decided to shut him down due to his thumb injury. That makes the Yankees' Gleyber Torres, at No. 17 overall, the top-ranked player participating in the game. The 19-year-old has also been one of the top performing prospects in the AFL this season, carrying the fourth-best OPS (1.077) in the league into Monday's competition. Cubs phenom Eloy Jimenez (No. 23) and the Indians' Bradley Zimmer (No. 25) round out the top 25 prospects, all on the East squad. The A's Franklin Barreto (42), Brewers outfielder Brett Phillips (62) and Anthony Alford (86) of the Blue Jays are the other Top 100 players on the East roster. While the West doesn't have as high-ranked prospects, it does have more, nine Top 100 players in total. The roster also has the four Top 100 pitchers slated to participate in the game. The Rays' Brent Honeywell (No. 39) will start the game for the West (Giants prospect Chris Stratton gets the ball for the East), and he's joined by the Astros' pair of Top 100 arms in the Fall League, No. 29 Francis Martes and No. 70 David Paulino. Michael Kopech (No. 67) of the Red Sox is the fourth of that very talented quartet. Offensively, the West roster has the Dodgers trio of Cody Bellinger (No. 31), Alex Verdugo (No. 45) and Willie Calhoun (87), Twins shortstop Nick Gordon (47), Mariners outfielder Tyler O'Neill (59) and Harrison Bader (82) of the Cardinals. Four of these players know what this kind of setting is like, having played in the Futures Game just this past July in San Diego. Jimenez and O'Neill played for the World Team, while Calhoun and Cardinals catcher Carson Kelly suited up for the United States squad. Fans have the opportunity to add more talent to these rosters in the Final Two Fan Vote. The Cubs' Ian Happ (No. 21 overall), Mets No. 3 prospect Gavin Cecchini and Yankees No. 7 Miguel Andujar are the candidates for the East roster, while the West has Red Sox's No. 12 prospect Mauricio Dubon, White Sox No. 14 Courtney Hawkins and the Reds' Brandon Dixon on the ballot. If last year's rosters are any indication, this year's Fall Stars Game will once again be an excellent predictor of players who will impact the big leagues next season. Last year's contest included the Yankees' Gary Sanchez and the A's Sean Manaea, among others. 8
LAST UPDATED: TUE, NOVEMBER 1, 2016, 02:22 EDT MONDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2016 TEAM PLAYER TRANSACTION Milwaukee Brewers Jake Elmore Refused Minor League Assignment - Free Agent FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2016 TEAM PLAYER TRANSACTION Chicago White Sox Rymer Liriano Acquired Off Waivers From from Brewers, Milwaukee Cincinnati Reds Caleb Cotham Outrighted to Minors Cincinnati Reds Hernan Iribarren Outrighted to Minors Cincinnati Reds Yorman Rodríguez Outrighted to Minors Los Angeles Angels Brett Oberholtzer Designated for Assignment Los Angeles Angels Abel De los Santos Acquired Off Waivers From from Reds, Cincinnati Milwaukee Brewers Jake Elmore Outrighted to Minors Milwaukee Brewers Rymer Liriano Removed From 60-Day DL, (Facial fractures) Milwaukee Brewers Garin Cecchini Outrighted to Minors Milwaukee Brewers Sean Nolin Outrighted to Minors Milwaukee Brewers Andy Wilkins Outrighted to Minors 9
Milwaukee Brewers Sean Nolin Removed From 60-Day DL, (Left elbow surgery - out for season) Texas Rangers Lucas Harrell Refused Minor League Assignment - Free Agent THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2016 TEAM PLAYER TRANSACTION Cincinnati Reds John Lamb Designated for Assignment Texas Rangers Shawn Tolleson Refused Minor League Assignment - Free Agent 10