The Rays have claimed left-hander Tyler Alexander off waivers from the Tigers, according to announcements from both clubs. The Tigers had designated the lefty for assignment earlier this week.
Alexander, 29, will join a new organization for the first time in his career. He was selected by the Tigers in the second round of the 2015 draft and has been with that club in some fashion for close to a decade now. He pitched for the big league club in a swing capacity over the past five years, making 120 appearances since the start of 2019, including 43 starts. He logged 341 1/3 innings in that time with a 4.38 earned run average, 18.9% strikeout rate and 5.1% walk rate.
In 2023, he was moved to the bullpen on essentially a full-time basis, making just one start that lasted three innings. He threw 44 innings over 25 appearances in total with a 4.50 ERA, though perhaps deserved better. His 24.3% strikeout rate and 2.8% walk rate were both better than average, the latter number especially so. His 65.3% strand rate was a bit on the unlucky side, leading to ERA estimators looking at him through a relatively rosier lens, such as a 4.10 FIP and 3.48 SIERA.
In early July, Alexander landed on the injured list due to a left lat/shoulder strain and wasn’t able to return. There’s no injured list during the offseason, so the Tigers opted to cut him loose instead of adding him back onto the roster. It was effectively an early non-tender, with Alexander set to go through that process for a second time. He made $1.875MM in 2023 and MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects a salary of $2MM in 2024.
It appears the Rays are willing to add Alexander at something near that price point, otherwise there would be little point in claiming him just before next week’s non-tender deadline. Assuming they plan to keep utilizing him out of the bullpen, he will join Colin Poche and Garrett Cleavinger as the club’s southpaw relief options. Alexander is still optionable and has another potential year of arb control remaining, perhaps allowing him to serve as a long-term depth piece for the Rays.
Next Cy Young winner in the American League
That was the first thought I had
Welp now he’s going to become a 40+ SV closer with a 1.50 ERA
1.32 ERA with a 40% strikeout rate incoming
Ummm….
Why’d they DFA him?
And how’d he get all the way to
TB in the waiver order without another team claiming him? Looking at you Oakland/Kansas City/Shy Sox!
The Sox were too Shy to claim him.
Lefty opener for us till we establish our 5 man rotation, he’ll be df’a by June.
Not so sure. They lost Fleming so they’ll need some LH bullpen arms. Very deceptive lefty. few years ago Kd 9 straight Cincinnati batters in relief.
First Tiger in the HOF since Trammell. Well, at least Alexander’s hat got in because he tied the record. Still don’t know how he did it.
Agree with always, if they’re going to sign him for 2 mil and occupy a spot on their crowded 40 man, they have a long term plan for him. Aside from needing more lefty arms, they desperately need starting pitching depth. He could be stretched out and become the next Littell.
Maybe they can trade him back to Detroit for a prospect and a pic and shortly after he could throw out his arm or something lol
This move will come back to bite the Tigers on their backsides.
Alexander snowed dominant stuff when he was given the opportunity to start.
Harris and the Tigers kept tossing him in the bullpen and passing over Alexander
when they desperately needed reliable starters.
Tampa sees Alexander’s potential and will get the most out of him
just like they saw the value in Isaac Paredes now their starting 3B
when the Tigers couldn’t/wouldn’t let Paredes play fulltime and develop @ the major league team.
The Tigers Front Office still cannot see the forest when they are standing right in the trees.
Meet the New Boss, same as the Old Boss.
I stopped reading at dominant stuff. The guy tops out at 90mph
Velocity is not everything,
Hall of Famer Greg Maddox’s fastest offering was 90, 91, 92.
A few years into his career his velocity was down to high 80’s low 90’s.
Maddox won 355 games and is in Hall of Fame.
Not saying Alexander is a Hall guy.
But, he had nasty breaking balls, changed speeds a lot and was very effective as a starter and a reliever.
Trouble with New Pres Of Baseball Ops guys is that they like to clean out guys acquired by their predecessors no matter how good they are.
Spencer Turnbull is not getting the chance to get back to being a top of the rotation starter.
Would not be surprised if he was the next one who walks the Tigers plank.
Turnbull, when healthy, had the best pure stuff on the team, better than the widely heralded golden boy draft picks,
Alexander has never had ‘dominant stuff’. He’s a solid lefty with good control. He’s league average first 2 times thru the order and then gets hit hard for power the 3rd time thru which is why he is suited for the bullpen or an opener role (although his 1st inning numbers are rather ugly). Candelario put up a .872 OPS in 2020 and a .795 OPS in 2021 along with good fielding numbers. It made sense at the time to play Candi and keep Paredes in the minors. Avila was on the last year of his contract and the Tigers looked ready to take the next step, so trading Paredes for Meadows looked like a win/win. Nobody expected Meadows to play less than 50 games over 2 years.Everyone assumed Paredes would be a good hitter, it just appeared it was going to take longer. Atlanta didn’t expect Shane Green would start throwing batting practice when they traded for him. This stuff happens.
And the Tigers gave Tampa Bay a second round comp pick for the Meadows trade. Just brutal.
It made zero sense to bury Paredes and not let him get the ABs to establish himself at the MLB level.
At the time, I hated that deal and posted that it was a huge mistake.
Paredes had won a batting title in the Winter League.
The Rays have the best talent scouts and are very talented at finding “diamond players in the rough”
At the time, I commented that if the Rays want one of your guys badly, then either hang up or hold onto that guy and play him.
The Rays rarely lose on trades,
The Rays had already asked about Paredes 2-3 times in other trade discussions with the Tigers.
Avila and his Staff did not take the hint and protect Paredes.
Also, Avila and Tigers were terrible about trading select assets(players) at “peak value”
I had called for them to trade Candelario after his best season and try Paredes @ 3B.
There is a video of Paredes mashing for the Rays and hitting home runs right and left…open mike in Rays dugout where Rays players were calling out the Tigers as STUPID FOR TRADING THIS GUY AND LAUGHING
Avila traded Justin Wilson along with 3 months of Alex Avila for Paredes AND Candelario. That is trading at peak value. Wilson posted a sub 3.00 ERA with Detroit and ended up over 5.00 with Chicago that season.
Green was the only legit OF prospect at that time. 19th round pick Carpenter wasn’t on the radar and Parker wasn’t hitting, same as the other top OF prospects before him. Austin Meadows looked like a good long term fit until he couldn’t stay on the field.
Alexander was filler for the Tigers not Cy Young. Avila sent him to the bullpen and Harris kept him there which was wise. The Tigers have better options to start games and cheaper options for the bullpen. I wish the guy well.
Why you gotta cap about TA?
Cheap, versatile, crafty lefty. Not great at anything, but solid. All that for maybe $2 mill. in arbitration sounds like a good deal.
Whenever the Rays claim one of your pitchers you should be getting on the phone with them trying to get them back.
I said at the time, if the Rays want one of your guys that badly then you should hold onto him because they usually know something you don’t know about the guy.
The Rays are consistently in the pennant race in the brutal AL East
with one of the lowest payrolls in baseball.
They know what they are doing and know and scout players better than most teams.
SUMMARY FOR TAMPA 3B ISAAC PAREDES THAT TIGERS “GAVE AWAY:” TO TAMPA FOR AN INJURED, DECLINING PLAYER
2023
WAR 4.2/ 6.2 AB 492/ 995 H 123/228
HR 31/ 53 BA .250 .229 R 71 /133 RBI 98/154 SB1/1
OBP
.352/ .326 SLG .488/.438 OPS .840/764 OPS 131
Tampa Front Office should be sending the Tigers Christmas Cards and gifts
for another one sided transaction that TAMPA WINS HANDS DOWN!
But remember that when the trade was made, the reaction was opposite. A former Allstar for an unknown.
No! He was not “unknown”
Paredes won a batting title in the Winter league.
Scouts and other teams, obviously, rated him much higher than the Tigers.
It was deals like this that caused Avila and his crew their jobs.
Which is why I never question a Rays move.
Hindsight is always 20-20. Most were excited when they got Meadows and Paredes hadn’t established himself yet (granted he was never given consistent playing time to do so).
Due to his age (young for AAA) and that his numbers had declined, there was no need to rush Paredes. He was a top prospect for the Tigers, at a position that looked filled. The Tigers needed a LH bat with power. No one gave up on Paredes. No one was unwilling to give him ab’s. It was a trade that looked good for both sides when it was made. # of days Meadows spent on the IL due to issues before the trade: 0. Sometimes, stuff happens.
Tigers didn’t need Meadows bat. Greene went out with injury for a few months late in spring training. Plenty of others could have filled the spot until he was healthy again. If it was a contending team and needed to make the move to go deep in the playoffs then a little bit understandable. But the Tigers were far from a contending team in 2022. I hated the move when it happened.
It was Howard Johnson 2.0.
A complete failure of the Tigers GM, Front Office and Scouting.
Tampa fans stated at the time that Meadows was overpriced and already in decline. Tampa was wanting to dump Meadows.
And, Tampa really wanted Paredes and had asked for him other times according to Avila,
If Tampa asks for one of your guys multiple times, then maybe you keep him and get him some ABs
Tampa is rarely wrong on players.
It was not hindsight.
I and many others were saying these things at the time the deal was being done.
It was a bad deal at the time and it is a worse deal now.
No hindsight required.
It was more of a general comment, not specifically about you. For some of us it was hindsight. I can admit to being one of those.
Best wishes to Tyler, he’s finally getting a chance to play for an organization that will accentuate his fine points and improve his weaknesses. I wouldn’t be surprised to see his career take flight next season, this is a huge opportunity for him, getting into a winning atmosphere with great coaches won’t do anything but help.
incoming dominance alert.
I don’t like this move by the Tigers. He’s been a solid contributor for the team for a few years. He wasn’t that great coming out of the pen but when the team needed a starter mid season and beyond he was the one who stepped up and excelled. $2 million is very reasonable. I’m not sold on Joey Wentz filling his role.
Joey Wentz, Beau Brieske, Alex Faedo, Sawyer Gipson-Long. Then you’ve got the law firm of Madden, Flores, Jobe, and Hurter at Erie (and Toledo over the course of 2024). Lots of arms to fill Alexander’s role.
Can never have too many arms, especially capable swing options like Alexander.
I would have kept Alexander and let Wentz go. Wentz was a train wreck !!
And only Wentz is a lefty. Mistake letting Alexander go. Just got pitcher of the month. Was excellent when he got hurt. One of the only consistent arms tigers had. If they didn’t throw wentz at all this yr the tigers would’ve likely won the central. Wentz had 12 losses.
Tarik Skubal was pitcher of the month not Tyler Alexander.
This is Scott Harris “giving up” on quality players acquired by Avila.
Next up, he will give away Spencer Turnbull who was hurt, had surgery etc.
Turnbull, when healthy, scouts have said he has the best stuff of any of the young Tigers starters
including Mise, Manning and Skubal.
But, Scott Harris did not draft him so he will probably just give Turnbull away also
or just non tender him.
First, Turnbulls stuff is nowhere near as good as Skubal’s, or any if the other pitchers in the staff except Wentz, so obviously they were wrong on that front.
Second, he should dump Turnbull just for the way he acted last year when he pitched terribly and made a fuss when he was being sent down. That sets a bad example for the rest of the team. I expect Harris will feel out other teams and if there is nothing there before the season let him pitch and dump him later IF he builds up some value. Turnbull needs to go. It’s not Harris’ fault that Turnbull pitched and acted poorly and is not a team player.
I’d like to see Alexander get a shot at a rotation spot. Might be able to do something in Tampa or he can be an interesting option for a KBO/NPB team to turn into their next Miles Mikolas or Merrill Kelly
So the only option after Tampa is overseas? Guess you gotta have goals!
Lefty that can start and relieve? It’s like they swapped out Jalen Beeks for Jalen Beeks.
In all seriousness though, nice under the radar move that will probably pay off big for the Rays
Really a great guy who spends a lot of time signing and talking to fans. Hope he has success in TB.
Still can’t believe Tigers let this guy go. What were they thinking. He’s a lefty too. This guy is exactly what everyone is wanting. An opener , middle reliever , starter etc and he was cheap at 2$mm. He’s ready at a moments notice…he doesn’t need 2week heads up either. He avg like 1bb/9….incredible.
Just got MLB pitcher of the month too. Dumb move by tigers front office. Sometimes these analytic type teams can’t get out of their own way but then again an analytic team picked him up. Some guys just perform when it’s time like Nola.
2.81 kwERA is promising and his WAA was slightly below average at -0.2 so I see some potential. Tampa will probably find something to work with but he will probably need some season ending surgery in the coming years as most TBR pitchers do.
Tyler Alexander has been not good, not terrible, with the Tigers.
Isaac Paredes was downright terrible with the Tigers.
The Rays turned Paredes into a middle of the order masher and soon to be All-Star. By way of this comparison, Alexander’s family can plan their trip to Cooperstown 5 years post-retirement for his enshrinement into those Hallowed Halls.
Book it darn it.
The Rays did absolutely nothing to change Paredes,
They just gave him plenty of ABs so the young player could establish himself @ the MLB level. Paredes became the symbol of everything that was wrong with the Avila Regime.
youtube.com/watch?v=n6iOshcLQns
I like Tyler Alexander and he has had his moments. A soft tossing LHP has some value, but not a ton of value. His performance in 2023 was declining and he dealt with injuries, plus Holton’s emergence made Alexander expendable. So the marry go round turns and he ends up in TB. I am sure TB will get something positive out him for awhile, then when he falters again, cast him off only to have another team pick him up. This will probably go on for a while before Tyler eventually ends up out of baseball. Soft tossing LH pitchers are a dime a dozen but always seem to get ample opportunities. Face it, Alexander is no Cy Young, closer to Henny Youngman than Cy Young. No great loss for the Tigers, no great pick up for the Rays.
Holton , Olson, long, all those guys are in for a huge regression this next yr. Tigers FO will be surprised on that too , take it to bank.
Greg Maddox was a soft tosser with great breaking balls who won 355 games.
Tiger’s staff has long favored hard throwing fastball pitchers and not been open to some of these successful soft tossers.
Maddox is the exception not the rule
Maddux was my favorite pitcher of all time, but despite not being John Smoltz he still struck lots of hitters out with his control. Manning is not a big strikeout pitcher and Mize doesn’t stand out for SO’s either. Skubal and Olson sure do, but they dont just rely on the fastball. Most of the current Tigers pitchers make effective use of pitchers other than fastballs. I don’t think all the Tigers pitchers fit that mold of hard throwing one trick fastball pitchers.
He was pretty reliable and it’s definitely a loss for the Tigers. But, the Tigers are well stocked with arms and the downside of that is some “fringe” players will always get plucked from the waiver wire or during the Rule 5 draft.
I can’t believe they gave him away for free!!!
And you’ll notice that most teams didn’t want him, even for free.
Well, the reason why is that every club is shuffling around players to accommodate those that were on the IL while also protecting the prospects from being selected in the Rule 5 draft. It’s not getting a reliable LH arm for your bullpen for nothing. While no player went to Detroit in this move, TB will have to cut someone or leave someone exposed to Rule 5.
Tyler Alexander is a decent ML pitcher. Decent. If he’s healthy he can help any ML team. I expect him to stick around for a few more years and make a few more million dollars. I liked him as a Tiger and wish him well.
The Rays will get maximum value out of Alexander,
Would not be surprised to see Alexander in Rays rotation winning a lot of games.
We all know rays are gonna need as many guys that can start a game as possible. All their guys who throw hard get hurt. Don’t hate the idea of adding a guy who doesn’t