AUG. 23: The Tigers announced today that Parnell has cleared waivers and been released.
AUG. 18: The Tigers announced that they have designated right-hander Bobby Parnell for assignment and selected the contract of veteran outfielder Alex Presley from Triple-A Toledo. Parnell’s DFA creates a spot on the 40-man roster for Presley, and he’ll be added to the big league roster at the expense of outfielder Steven Moya, who has been optioned back to Toledo, per the club.
Parnell, 31, has tossed 5 1/3 innings for the Tigers at the big league level this season after inking a minor league deal in Spring Training. He’s allowed four earned runs (6.75 ERA) on seven hits and five walks (one intentional) in that time, with the rest of his work coming at the Triple-A level, where he’d been pitching prior to his DFA. Parnell’s work in the minors has been more respectable but still nowhere near the excellence he showed with the Mets from 2010-13, when he totaled a 2.79 ERA at the big league level and emerged as New York’s closer. In 43 1/3 innings with Toledo this season, he has a 3.98 ERA with 6.2 K/9 against 3.7 BB/9.
The 31-year-old Presley opened the year with the Brewers and logged 129 plate appearances, adding to his already considerable big league experience. The left-handed hitter owns a lifetime .253/.296/.383 slash at the Major League level was hitting .293/.378/.398 with Toledo at the time of his promotion. Presley can handle all three outfield spots, so he’ll give skipper Brad Ausmus another option in center field with Cameron Maybin on the shelf. Moya, meanwhile, will head back to the minors to continue to work on his plate discipline. The 25-year-old demonstrated his above-average power by clubbing five homers in just 95 Major League plate appearances, but he also punched out an alarming 34 times against just five walks in that span.