The Tigers announced today that they’ve claimed left-hander Josh Smoker off waivers from the Pirates and optioned him to Triple-A Toledo. In order to clear room for him, the club has designated right-hander Warwick Saupold for assignment.
Smoker, 29, endured seven rough outings with the Pirates this past year spanning 5 2/3 innings. The southpaw coughed up seven earned runs while walking five and notching just a pair of strikeouts. Smoker’s been great at whiffing batters in the past, but he’s always struggled to avoid the home run ball, as evidenced by his 19.5% career HR/FB mark. He’s also never managed a full season with an ERA below 4.70. A supplemental first round pick by the Nationals in 2007, he never reached his lofty pre-draft billing.
Saupold, 28, has had a significant presence in the Tigers’ bullpen across the past season and a half, if for no other reason than for lack of more reliable arms within the organization. The right-hander owns a career ERA of 4.98, which actually looks like good fortune when compared to his 5.25 FIP. Saupold’s never known any organization outside of the Tigers, but he’ll now be entering the waiver wire.
byron buxton mvp
Hmm
LeylandsLung
playoff bound
AJPGotThat2020Vision
Excellent now Warwick Saupold can return to being a 17th century Prussian baron
rxbrgr
Ha!
davidn17
Lmao
Disco Dave
hahahahahaha
Paul Heyman
Why does the one page say Warwick is still with the Tigers, but not the twins even though he was just dfa’d?
Paul Heyman
Oh my bad I misread the title and thought it said the twins.
Robertowannabe
Hate when that happens….. 🙂
marijuasher
I am not sure which name I like better.
stymeedone
Another leafy option to replace Stumpf can only be a good thing.
stancpa44
Should have release Victor.
Disco Dave
Never. Gardy was very clear that Victor gets to play out his last year as he wishes.
GarryHarris
There’s more behind the decision to play Victor Martinez full-time than the public will ever know.
xabial
You sure you’re not looking too deep into this, bud? The great Michael Ilitch isn’t alive anymore. Maybe VMart’s $18M (expiring) means “Must play him.”
Ofc, this your team and you know more about Det than I’ll ever know^
AJPGotThat2020Vision
Source: Infowars