The Tigers announced Thursday that they’ve signed outfielder Trayce Thompson to a minor league contract. He’ll head to their Triple-A affiliate in Toledo. Thompson was designated for assignment by the Padres earlier this month and elected free agency rather than accepting an outright assignment to Triple-A El Paso.
Thompson, 31, went 1-for-14 with the Padres earlier this year prior to his DFA. He’s seen big league time in parts of six seasons, batting a combined .205/.280/.397 in 640 trips to the plate. The younger brother of NBA star Klay Thompson, Trayce is a former second-round pick (White Sox, ’09) with an obvious blend of power and speed, which was on full display when he hit .295/.363/.533 in 135 plate appearances.
Thompson has ripped 26 home runs and swiped 11 bags in about a season’s worth of MLB plate appearances and has also walked at a solid 9.5% clip. However, since that terrific rookie showing back in 2015, he’s posted a grisly .180/.258/.360 batting line with a bloated 31.1% strikeout rate. He’s capable of playing all three outfield spots and has enticing raw tools, but Thompson has never put things together over a lengthy sample in the big leagues.
The Tigers could use some extra outfield depth at the moment with Austin Meadows, Victor Reyes and top prospect Riley Greene all injured. The Detroit outfield currently consists of Robbie Grossman, Derek Hill, Daz Cameron and multi-position utility options Harold Castro and Willi Castro. Backup catcher Eric Haase also has some limited experience in left field.
That list of injuries makes it sensible both that the Tigers would seek out some additional depth and that Thompson would find the opportunity to his liking. There’s a clearer path to a big league return in Detroit than he might’ve had on a deeper and healthier roster in San Diego.
This solves all the Tigers’ problems.
at Toledo!
Every team will one day have Trayce Thompson.
Maybe not all 30, but 15 maybe? Then change his name from Trayce to Quince Thompson
Well played, amigo. I didn’t equate Trayce to trece until you equated 15 with Quince!
He’s no Edwin Jackson.
Rumor has it Edwin is waiting for expansion to add another two teams to his resume.
Klay Thompson says hello
So Fullmer is a reliever now? Crazy. I thought he was gonna be a perennial all-star as a starter at one point. Oh well.
Nerve transplantation surgery, knee surgery, TJ surgery all derailed those plans. He has reinvented himself as a reliever with a 90-91 mph SLIDER of all things.
Yeah where you been?
Yawn…..
Exactly. Nothing more than minor league roster filler. I’d be surprised if he ever saw the inside of Comerica Park unless he drives the hour from Toledo and buys himself a ticket to the game.
Sure it is minor league filler, but it is at least minor league filler with a notable name. Granted if he wasn’t Klay’s brother he wouldn’t be nearly as notable.
Steve, this site is called Trade Rumours right? Why no article on the trade rumour all over Twitter about the possibility of Soto being traded to the Jays??
Probably because Steve knows that’s a pipe dream.
Still a trade rumour, which is the name of this site!
Much like the pipe dream of the Jays trading for Tulo, Donaldson and Price? signing Ryu, Springer, Semien, Gausman and trading for and then extending Berrios and trading for Chapman?
or Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle, Josh Johnson, R.A. Dickey, and Emilio Bonifacio just to go 74-88? Remember what Joey Bats once tweeted: “It’s a good day to be a Blue Jay!”
becauss there is no credible source behind it?
How many trade rumours have credible sources, look up the definition of a rumour!
Look up the spelling of “rumor.”
Truth, the spelling of “rumour” is correct for a Canadian as that is how it is spelt in Canada! Not everything in America is the only correct way!
Look up the spelling of “spelled.”
I will give you that one Truth, but since you can only call me out on my spelling, i could care less what you have to say!
I believe you meant to write, “I could NOT care less about what you have to say.”
Can you end a sentence with anything other than an exclamation point!
This comment needs a question mark.
Loling
And what would the article include? On Twitter today, fans are speculating about Juan Soto being traded to the Jays? And then link to @dannyainge4eva for additional ramblings?
Well Lord i would think as a rumour it may include stuff like who may be involved in such a scenario, what the Padres have to offer that is better than a Jays offer (Padres and Jays are rumoured to be looking into said trade) You know rumour type conjecture!
The rumors would consist of mostly major leaguers from the Jays that the Nationals really won’t be interested in during a rebuild. Some Jays fan will try to throw in an extra player from the Nationals that has 5 or more years of service time, or is one of their top prospects, and another Jays fan will say its an over pay, while Nationals fans will want way more. There you go! Can we now talk about the subject of this post?
You already read it on Twitter. What else would you get here?
lol