The Tigers have designated right-hander Alex Faedo for assignment, per Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press. His spot on the 40-man roster will go to newly signed reliever Tommy Kahnle, whose one-year deal has been made official.
Faedo, 29, was the 18th overall pick back in 2017. The former Florida Gators standout has pitched in each of the past three seasons with Detroit but has yet to solidify himself in either the rotation or the bullpen. He’s coming off a decent showing spent mostly in relief, wherein he pitched 57 1/3 innings with a 3.61 ERA but shakier rate stats. Faedo punched out a roughly average 22.4% of opponents but issued walks at a rough 11.4% clip. He was also tagged for 1.41 homers per nine frames and benefited both from a .265 average on balls in play and especially a sky-high 83.1% strand rate, neither of which is likely to be repeated over a larger sample.
That said, there were some positives. The 94 mph Faedo averaged on his four-seamer was a career-best, and his 14.4% swinging-strike rate was excellent. He’s also upped his grounder rate in each of his big league seasons, though it still sits about three percentage points shy of league-average. Faedo did a fine job avoiding hard contact in 2024, and his slider generated excellent results; in the 82 plate appearances he finished off with that pitch, opponents posted an awful .171/.280/.314 batting line, and Statcast credited the offering with a paltry .269 expected wOBA (a nice followup to 2023’s .255 xwOBA).
Faedo is out of minor league options heading into the 2025 season. That put him at a disadvantage relative to other arms on the fringes of a Tigers roster that has turned over from rebuilder to win-now club, thanks in no small part to a magical playoff run spurred by their torrid hot streak down the stretch in 2024.
Faedo was no longer in the rotation mix, and the addition of Kahnle alongside Beau Brieske, Jason Foley, Will Vest and Tyler Holton in the late-inning mix leaves three other spots. One will likely be filled by Kenta Maeda, who’s still signed for $10MM this season. That leaves only two spots to divide up between Brant Hurter, Sean Guenther, Brenan Hanifee, Alex Lange, Mason Englert, Keider Montero and others.
If Faedo goes unclaimed on waivers, he can be sent outright to Triple-A and still compete for one of those final two spots. But as a former first-round pick with a sharp slider and encouraging swing-and-miss abilities, it wouldn’t at all be a surprise to see him land with another team. The Tigers have five days to trade him. At that point he’d need to be placed on waivers (a 48-hour process in their own right) to ensure an outcome within the one-week window for his DFA resolution.
A’s need to pick faedo up immediately
What? Dude was nails once moved to the bullpen. He’ll get claimed and will be missed.
Right? I would have never expected him to be the one moved to clear space.
You do realize he’s been on the injured list five years in a row correct?
You do know he’s young homegrown controllable talent that costs far less than $7.75 million right?
Not that young. He is 29. Plus, he is not as good. Lastly, Kahnle brings a different look to their bullpen chaos with his devastating changeup.
Not to mention Kahnle’s IL history
Surprised it’s Faedo and not Maeda…ugh.
Seriously! I like Faedo. (I don’t like Maeda.) I’m afraid the Tigers have made a HUGE mistake.
Worst move by Harris so far, IMO.
Agree Maeda should have been cut loose.
Somebody will definitely claim him.
Dang. I had high hopes for him. Hopefully Kahnle is worth it.
I’d love to add Faedo to our system.
I think many fan bases will say the same.
Also, sign of how much Detroit has improved the last two years when a guy like Faedo is the one jettisoned.
It hasn’t improved, it is just moving deck chairs on the Titanic. Faedo is gone with years of control left to bring in an oft-injured Kahnle on a 1 year deal, much like Alex Cobb was. Most likely one if not both will be gone by the trade deadline when this team is hovering around .500 like they were last year. That is, if he stays healthy.
The Titanic didn’t make the playoffs last year but the youthful Tigers did and this year’s team has improved simply by getting a year older and adding to the fringes.
Mariners need him more than the Angels do, man. Angels already signed like eleventeen relievers.
I consider Seattle to be in Wild Card contention mode, not throwing crap against the wall and hoping to be good in 2-3 years mode like the Angels.
It’s going to be a tough 3-team slog to the end between Sea, Texas, and Hou. I’m thinking pretty similar to 2023, where the AL West was decided on the last day of the season lol. But don’t despair, I have a lot of confidence that the Angels will have a much better year and may surprise some people. If they can make it to the trade deadline somewhat close to contention, I’m sure Arte will try to add some pieces. Cheers!
His high strand rate (83.1%) and relatively low BABIP (.265) suggest he overperformed his true talent level. Additionally, his elevated walk rate (11.4%) and home run rate (1.41 HR/9) indicate control issues and susceptibility to hard contact, which undermines his reliability as a long-term option. This could explain why the Tigers were quick to designate him for assignment despite his seemingly solid surface-level stats.
Old York did you go on vacation? Doesn’t seem like you’ve been around much lately. (That’s understandable, it’s been slow as heck.)
@Ignorant Son-of-a-b
No, it’s just been quite slow. Not much to talk about. I see the M’s have already given up on the season before it started. Oh well…
Oh Old York, that’s not true. Just you wait, some rumblings will happen before Spring Training begins. The Alex Bregman situation needs to play itself out and then we will see the market loosen up and a trade or two by Jerry.
Foley, Long, Hurter, and Lange are on the bubble too
You apparently know little about the Tigers at all if you think that Foley, Gipson-Long, and Hurter are “on the bubble. But Lange is coming off surgery and we’ll see if he can get the 2023 mojo back or is more like the 2024 demoted version.
Foley? Hurter? have you ever actually watched the Tigers?
Ummh no. Just no.
Bet he ends up in Baltimore.
Doesn’t really fit. No options and the rotation and pen are full.
Doubt he makes it past the white Sox anyway
Kind of surprised by Faedo being the one to go but given his age and lack of options, probably should not have been. He also has had his injury issues. My guess is that the Tigers will work out a trade but if not, someone will take a chance on him.
Another U of F first round pitcher that turned out to be bad. Hopefully, the Braves trade Waldrep before he becomes a pumpkin.
Hip problems (including surgery in 2023 and re-inflammation last year), TJ in 2020, shoulder problems in August that led to him going on the 60-day IL pretty much right away. Borderline effective when healthy. Loved him in college and was excited when the Tigers drafted him, but he’s never amounted to much. Good luck, young man!
Guy has a good arm. Some team is going to get a gift. It the lack of options that makes him the odd man out.
Wow.
If this is what it took to get Kahle, I am not a fan of this. He will get claimed immediately.
I can remember, not long ago, big things were predicted for Faedo….shows ya that you can’t believe that sensational rookie hype when you hear it till they actually prove it on the field.
The Tigers got about as much as you’re gonna get out of AF. If Fetter can’t get him over the hump I highly doubt he’s gonna get there. Between him and Lange I’d prolly hold on to Lange but not by much. He’s very Todd Jones-ish in that when he’s called upon in a high leverage situation, it’s white knuckle time! I am excited to see what Fetter and staff can do with Kahnle though. That should at the very least be interesting to see
They jettisoned Faedo for Kahnle. Oh boyyy
Faedo is worth a prospect from somebody. Sorry to see him go, but really, he’s nothing special. He can carve out a middling career on 2nd tier squads.
Alex Faedo is a holdover from the Al Avila era. Those guys are conveniently ousted first.
He was drafted almost 8 years ago and this is all he has contributed. I like the guy. He brought some attitude to the mound and punched some guys out under pressure. But he’s not particularly unique. It’s a really tough business. I wish him well. I suspect he will ne on someone’s ML roster this year from time to time. But he will not likely be top tier.
Other than Maeda who deserved to go before him? The Tigers have a strong bullpen and lots of competition. It’s a numbers game and his number was up.
EDIT…Dkhits mentioned Englert below. He has not been great either.
Interesting choice. Did they forget that Mason Englert was still on the 40-man?
That is s good point. He has not been great.
Just proves an old baseball adage
that the GMs and decisionmakers are more likely to trade, DFA and release players that they did not scout and draft and keep mistakes they made to “save face”.
Maeda is, obviously, the player who should have been DFAed
and NOT Alex Faedo a much younger, much cheaper/cost controlled player
(who is a former 1st round draft pick from a prior Tigers Front Office administration GM Al Avila).
Another team and pitching coach will unlock Alex Faedo’s talent and potential and the Tigers are going to wish they did not DFA Faedo.
Hard to admit to your boss, Chris Ilitch, that you wasted another 10M on Maeda who was 3-7 with a 6.09 ERA in 2024 for the Tigers
and a drag on the Tigers pitching staff last year.
Money and ego are clouding the judgment of Scott Harris on this move.
Maeda’s ststs improved when he moved to the bullpen…not that i think they should have kept him. Faedo has not been great either though with all those walks. Hes been there a while and this is the best Chris Fetter, the Coach of the Year, could get from him. Dkhits mentioned Mason Englert as well as someone who should go.
Faedo is garbage. Gets hurt every year, you can’t depend on him. His fast ball is 94 mph tops, with little to no movement, He never pitched in high leverage situations nor in the playoffs, because AJ couldn’t trust him and his stuff isn’t that good. Basically, like many players, he was a college pitcher who had great college stats, drafted in first round that didn’t pan out.