Trey Sweeney

Tigers Designate Gio Urshela, Easton Lucas For Assignment

By Darragh McDonald | August 18, 2024 at 2:32pm CDT

TODAY: The Tigers announced today that Urshela has cleared outright waivers and has been placed on release waivers. In the likely event that Urshela clears release waivers, he’ll become a free agent and be eligible to sign with any of the league’s clubs for a pro-rated portion of the big league minimum.

August 16: The Tigers announced today that they have selected the contracts of infielders Jace Jung and Trey Sweeney, moves that were reported yesterday. In corresponding moves, outfielder Akil Baddoo was optioned to Triple-A Toledo and infielder Gio Urshela was designated for assignment. To open another 40-man spot, left-hander Easton Lucas was designated for assignment. Robert Murray of FanSided reported the Urshela move on X prior to the official announcement.

Urshela, 32, reached free agency for the first time after the 2023 season. He had a solid four-year run in the big leagues from 2019 to 2022 but then had an injury-marred 2023 campaign. He got into 62 games with the Angels, hitting just two home runs before a pelvic fracture wiped out the second half of his season.

That was naturally going to impact his individual market but he also had the misfortune of being a part of one of the frostier offseasons in recent memory. Even big-name free agents lingered on the open market well into the new year. Many players below the superstar level ended up settling for very modest deals in the early parts of 2024. Guys like Michael A. Taylor, Enrique Hernández, Adam Duvall, Randal Grichuk and others settled for one-year deals of less than $5MM.

The Tigers were able to nab Urshela for a guarantee of just $1.5MM on a one-year deal. Though his 2023 season wasn’t great, they were likely excited to get a solid veteran at such a low price point. As mentioned, Urshela had a strong four-year run prior to 2023, spending time with the Yankees and Twins. In that stretch, he hit 54 home runs in 435 games and slashed .290/.336/.463 for a wRC+ of 118.

He spent most of that time at third base and generally had the reputation of a strong defender. Bizarrely, Outs Above Average hates him and gave him a grade of -17 in that 2019-22 period, but Defensive Runs Saved gave him a solid grade of +5.

If the Tigers got anything close to that kind of performance for their modest investment, it would have been a steal. Unfortunately, Urshela has not been able to bounce back as hoped. He has been in 92 games for Detroit this year with five home runs and a modest batting line of .243/.286/.333. That translates to a 73 wRC+, indicating he’s been 27% below league average at the plate this year.

Detroit is 7.5 games back of a playoff spot, which isn’t a totally hopeless position, but they are clearly focused on the future at this point. Prior to the deadline, they traded away Jack Flaherty, Carson Kelly, Andrew Chafin and Mark Canha. They are going to use the remainder of the schedule to get Jung and Sweeney exposed to major league pitching, which will nudge Urshela out of their plans.

Since the trade deadline has come and gone, they will have no choice but to place Urshela on waivers in the coming days. He has about $345K of his salary still to be paid out, meaning a claiming team wouldn’t be taking on huge amounts of money by grabbing him. However, given his performance both last year and this year, it’s possible that he passes through unclaimed. He has been hot of late, with a .265/.342/.412 batting line and 108 wRC+ in August, but that’s a sample of just 38 plate appearances amid a rough two-year stretch.

If he passes through unclaimed, he has more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment while keeping that salary in place. If he ends up a free agent, the Tigers would be on the hook for that money. Any other club could sign him for the prorated league minimum, which would be subtracted from what the Tigers pay.

Lucas, 27, was just claimed off waivers from the Athletics in May. Since that claim, he has made three appearances for the Tigers with two earned runs allowed, two strikeouts and two walks. Combined with his time with the A’s, he now has 13 2/3 major league innings pitched with a 9.22 earned run average.

His minor league work this year has been far more interesting. Between the two organizations, he has thrown 49 Triple-A innings with a 3.31 ERA. The 11.2% walk rate is on the high side but he’s countered that with a 25.2% strikeout rate.

Lucas still has a full slate of options and less than a year of service time. For any club intrigued by his Triple-A numbers this year, he could be a long-term depth piece. Like Urshela, he will have to be placed on waivers in the coming days since the trade deadline has passed. Lucas has a previous career outright, which would give him the right to elect free agency if he eventually passes through waivers unclaimed.

Tigers To Promote Trey Sweeney

By Darragh McDonald | August 15, 2024 at 5:15pm CDT

The Tigers are calling up shortstop prospect Trey Sweeney, reports Kiley McDaniel of ESPN on X. He just recently came to the organization from the Dodgers in the deadline trade that sent Jack Flaherty to Los Angeles. Sweeney is not currently on the 40-man roster, so the Tigers will need to make a corresponding move to add him.

Sweeney, 24, was a first-round pick of the Yankees, getting selected 20th overall in 2021. He made a brief professional debut after that draft selection and then got a lengthier run the following year. In 2022, he got into 111 games between High-A and Double-A, hitting 16 home runs in that time. He was struck out in 23.2% of his plate appearances but drew walks at a strong 13% clip. His .240/.349/.413 batting line translated to a 111 wRC+, indicating he was 11% better than league average.

Going into 2023, Baseball America ranked him the #15 prospect in the Yankees’ system. Their report at that time noted that he didn’t have a standout tool but that he was generally solid across the board. On the 20-80 scouting scale, they gave him either a 45 or a 50 in the five categories of hit, power, speed, fielding and arm.

Sweeney would have been challenged to carve out a role as a regular shortstop in the Bronx with Anthony Volpe seemingly set at that spot, which is perhaps why the Yankees were willing to make him available. Back in December, Sweeney was traded to the Dodgers for left-hander Victor González and minor league infielder Jorbit Vivas.

Moving to the Dodgers didn’t go especially well for Sweeney. He got into 96 Triple-A games this year, hitting 13 home runs but also striking out at a 26.8% clip. In the hitter-friendly environs of the Pacific Coast League, his .254/.334/.427 batting line translated to an 87 wRC+.

As mentioned, the Dodgers flipped Sweeney to the Tigers in the Flaherty deal, alongside Thayron Liranzo. Some evaluators considered the return for Flaherty on the lighter side, especially compared with what the Blue Jays received from the Astros for Yusei Kikuchi. Flaherty and Kikuchi were the top two rental starters available at last month’s deadline but Flaherty was considered the greater prize on account of his higher ceiling and stronger 2024 campaign.

After the deadline, reports emerged that the Yankees walked away from a Flaherty trade due to concerns about his medical. In the eyes of some, that explained the disconnect with those trades but Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris didn’t share that framing. “I completely reject the premise,” Harris said when asked about the Tigers getting less for Flaherty than the Jays got for Kikuchi, per Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic on X. “These players we got are really good. We had opportunities to make different deals with different teams. This is the deal we chose for a reason.”

Grading the trades is something that can be endlessly debated for now and won’t truly be settled for years. But since being traded a second time, Sweeney has been red hot. He has played 11 games at Triple-A Toledo since the deal and has hit .381/.447/.667. He won’t maintain a .500 batting average on balls in play forever but he has hit a couple of home runs, stolen four bases and drawn walks at a 10.6% clip.

The Tigers are 7.5 games back of a playoff spot and focused more on the future than 2024, which is why they traded Flaherty as well as Andrew Chafin, Carson Kelly and Mark Canha. Shortstop has been a big hole for them in recent years thanks to the massive struggles of Javier Báez. Going into 2022, the club signed him to a six-year, $140MM deal but he has hit .221/.263/.346 since then for a wRC+ of 69. Among qualified hitters in that stretch, only Nicky Lopez and Myles Straw have a lower wRC+.

With just over six weeks left to go in the season, the Tigers will give Sweeney a chance to face major league pitching and see if he can maybe provide them with a solution at shortstop. If he succeeds, it would make for an interesting offseason. The Báez deal still has three more seasons on it after this one and he won’t have any trade value with his poor performance at the plate.

However, it’s worth pointing out that even the top prospects often struggle in their first exposure to the major leagues, so there’s a decent chance that won’t be an immediate concern. It’s entirely possible that Sweeney gets a bit of acclimation to major league life but may still find himself ticketed for more Triple-A time in the future. Sweeney has also played a bit of third base while Báez has previously bounced around the diamond in his career.

Time will tell how things play out at the shortstop position in Detroit. But for now, it’s an exciting moment for Sweeney, who will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game.

Dodgers Acquire Jack Flaherty

By Tim Dierkes | July 30, 2024 at 6:30pm CDT

The Dodgers and Tigers are in agreement on a trade sending right-hander Jack Flaherty to Los Angeles, reports Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press. The Tigers will receive catcher/first baseman Thayron Liranzo and shortstop Trey Sweeney, according to Robert Murray of FanSided. The Dodgers have now officially announced the trade.

After much speculation, the Dodgers add the best pitcher to be traded at the 2024 deadline. Flaherty, 29 in October, sports a 2.95 ERA in 18 starts this year. Among pitchers with at least 100 innings, his 32 K% ranks fifth in all of baseball. He’s also trimmed his walk rate to a career-best 4.6%.

A first-round pick by the Cardinals out of high school a decade ago, Flaherty earned a fifth-place Rookie of the Year finish in 2018. He followed that up by finishing fourth in the NL Cy Young voting in 2019, capped by a run of 16 starts in which he had a 0.93 ERA.

After stumbling in the shortened COVID season, Flaherty was limited to 78 1/3 innings in 2021 due to oblique and shoulder strains. The shoulder issues persisted into 2022, a season in which Flaherty pitched just 36 innings.

Flaherty avoided the IL last year, but was ineffective for the Cardinals and was shipped to the Orioles in a deadline trade. His struggles in Baltimore were enough that the club moved him to the bullpen before the end of the season.

Seeking to rebuild his value and re-enter free agency, Flaherty inked a one-year, $14MM deal with the Tigers last December. He missed a few starts due to back pain, but otherwise Flaherty has been an ace for the Tigers. At seven games out in the wild card, Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris opted for a pair of prospects from the Dodgers rather than a qualifying offer and draft pick compensation.

With Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the IL for a triceps injury, the Dodgers sought a front of the rotation arm to pair with Tyler Glasnow. They may have it in Flaherty, and the club also saw Clayton Kershaw make his season debut last week. Righty Gavin Stone, who opened the season as the Dodgers’ fifth starter, has been a mainstay all year. Yamamoto may yet return, while Walker Buehler is currently on a rehab assignment for hip inflammation. Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin, and Emmet Sheehan are all out for the season, pushing rookies Justin Wrobleski and River Ryan into the Dodgers’ rotation. Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman shipped veteran starter James Paxton to the Red Sox last week.

The Dodgers, who also added Kevin Kiermaier, Amed Rosario, Tommy Edman, and Michael Kopech in recent trades, sought an impact arm this month and were also linked to Garrett Crochet of the White Sox. Crochet, who was not ultimately traded, would’ve fit better with the Dodgers’ hefty payroll, but his October availability was in question. Flaherty has about $4.67MM left on his contract this year, on which the Dodgers will pay a 110% tax.

The Dodgers had three prospects on Baseball America’s recent top 100 list, and none of them were required to rent Flaherty from the Tigers for the remainder of the season.

Liranzo, 21, has split his time between catcher and first base for the High-A Great Lakes Loons this year. He’s got a 106 wRC+ in 314 plate appearances this year after raking in A-ball last year. Liranzo represented the Dodgers at the Futures Game earlier this month. MLB.com assigned Liranzo a 50 grade, calling him “one of the best young catching prospects in baseball.” Prior to the season, Baseball America also assigned a 50 grade to the switch-hitting Liranzo, saying he “projects to be an average defender overall” with above-average power and a below-average hit tool.

Sweeney, 24, was drafted 20th overall by the Yankees back in 2021 and was sent to the Dodgers last December in a deal for reliever Victor Gonzalez. As Oklahoma City’s shortstop, Sweeney has an 87 wRC+ in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League this year. MLB.com gave him a 45 grade, noting that he has “stayed at shortstop longer than most scouts expected.” BA also put a 45 on Sweeney prior to the season, saying he “has the ceiling of a second-division shortstop.”

Projecting prospects is tricky business, which is why I defer to the experts. But compared to the returns for Trevor Rogers and Yusei Kikuchi, the Tigers’ side of this trade feels underwhelming. At any rate, the first-place Dodgers have significantly bolstered their rotation as they look to return to the World Series for the first time in four years.

The Tigers’ rotation now features little beyond Cy Young frontrunner Tarik Skubal, with Reese Olson on the IL with a shoulder injury. The Tigers seemingly never got close to trading Skubal, though they did move veterans Mark Canha, Andrew Chafin, and Carson Kelly along with Flaherty in the last two days.

Dodgers Trade Victor Gonzalez To Yankees

By Steve Adams | December 11, 2023 at 11:03am CDT

11:03am: The two teams have announced the trade.

9:48am: The Yankees are acquiring left-handed reliever Victor Gonzalez and minor league infield prospect Jorbit Vivas from the Dodgers in exchange for minor league infielder Trey Sweeney, reports Alden Gonzalez of ESPN. Yesterday, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic and Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported that the Yankees were acquiring a pair of 40-man players from the Dodgers in exchange for a prospect not on New York’s 40-man. The trade clears a pair of spots on L.A.’s roster to accommodate the signings of Shohei Ohtani and Joe Kelly.

Gonzalez, 28, has a minor league option remaining but also comes to the Yankees with a solid MLB track record. He’s capable of stepping directly into manager Aaron Boone’s bullpen and will likely be viewed as a favorite to do so. He has far more big league experience than fellow southpaw Matt Krook, making Gonzalez an option to join Nick Ramirez as a second southpaw option for Boone.

Gonzalez missed the 2022 season due to an elbow injury that required an arthroscopic debridement procedure, but he’s logged 89 1/3 innings for the Dodgers from 2020-23, pitching to a 3.22 earned run average with solid strikeout and walk rates (23.2% and 8.4%, respectively) in addition to a massive 58.1% grounder rate. The Yankees tend to gravitate toward relievers with plus ground-ball rates and better-than-average velocity, and Gonzalez checks both boxes, averaging just under 95 mph with a sinker that tops out in the upper 90s.

Gonzalez’s 2023 season wasn’t as sharp as his dominant 2020 MLB debut, but he still posted a 4.01 ERA with strikeout and walk rates that were actually improvements over their 2021 levels. The lefty is also among the game’s best in terms of inducing weak contact, evidenced by a career 84.9 mph average exit velocity and 30.7% hard-hit rate — both drastically lower than this past season’s respective league averages of 89 mph and 39.2%.

The Yankees can control Gonzalez for an additional three seasons. He’s projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn just a $1MM salary in 2024 and will be due subsequent raises building off that foundation in 2025 and 2026 before reaching the open market in the 2026-27 offseason. Gonzalez offers a similar skill set to that of free agent Wandy Peralta, whom the Yankees have reportedly had interest in re-signing, but Gonzalez will come at a fraction of the fiscal cost.

New York also acquires the 22-year-old Vivas, who’s generally considered one of the better prospects in a deep Dodgers farm. MLB.com pegs him tenth in the system, while FanGraphs had him 11th and Baseball America ranked him 20th. All of those rankings are dated by a few months now, but there’s little that Vivas did during his 2023 campaign to radically drop his stock. He posted an excellent .280/.391/.436 slash with 12 homers, 21 steals and more walks than strikeouts in 109 games as a 22-year-old against older competition in Double-A last year.

Vivas jumped to Triple-A late in the season and turned in a lackluster .225/.339/.294 showing at the top minor league level, but that came in a tiny sample of 121 plate appearances and still came with elite walk (12.4%) and strikeout (15.7%) rates. He’s seen time at both second base and third base, though scouting reports on him question whether he’ll have the arm to ultimately handle the hot corner in the Majors. Even if he doesn’t, Vivas is a close-to-MLB-ready second base prospect with a plus hit tool, double-digit home run power and solid baserunning instincts.

In exchange for an affordable Peralta replacement and a quality second base prospect, the Yankees will surrender Sweeney, whom they selected with the No. 20 overall selection in the 2021 draft. Sweeney briefly reached Double-A as a 22-year-old in 2022, but the 2023 season was his first year with notable experience at that level. The 23-year-old handled himself well, batting .252/.367/.411 in a generally pitcher-friendly setting, popping 13 homers and swiping 20 bases with a gaudy 13.8% walk rate and lower-than-average 19.1% strikeout rate.

Sweeney is a well-regarded prospect himself, but perhaps a step below the rung many Yankees fans would expect based on his draft pedigree. FanGraphs ranked him third in the Yankees’ system, but MLB.com had him eighth and Baseball America tabbed him 15th. Sweeney is a bat-first prospect whose long-term future hinges on whether he can stick at shortstop, move to third base on a full-time basis, or settle in as a utility infielder who can bounce around the diamond. He’s a relatively near-MLB addition to the Dodgers’ system, effectively replacing Vivas but doing so without requiring a spot on the 40-man roster until next offseason.

Yankees Agree To Terms With First-Rounder Trey Sweeney

By Steve Adams | July 19, 2021 at 9:42am CDT

The Yankees have agreed to terms with first-round pick Trey Sweeney, per Baseball America’s Carlos Collazo (Twitter link). He’ll take home a $3MM signing bonus that checks in $242,900 south of the slot value for the No. 20 overall selection.

Sweeney, a shortstop out of Eastern Illinois, posted a ridiculous-looking .382/.522/.712 batting line during his junior season, adding 14 home runs, ten doubles and a pair of triples in 226 plate appearances. Pre-draft rankings didn’t necessarily foreshadow a first-round selection, as he ranked 54th among Baseball America’s top 500 draft prospects, 55th at MLB.com, 63rd at FanGraphs and 89th over at The Athletic. Scouting reports on Sweeney peg him as a candidate for a position change at the pro level — though his plate discipline and raw power could still play at a number of other spots on the diamond.

As Collazo has previously reported, the Yankees have gone under slot with their selections in the second, fourth, ninth and tenth rounds of this year’s draft. The total savings so far have netted them about $623K, which could help them sign high school lefty Brock Selvidge — their third round pick (No. 92 overall) who entered the draft believed to be a tough sign thanks to a strong commitment to Louisiana State University.

2021 MLB Draft, Day One Results

By Mark Polishuk | July 11, 2021 at 7:52pm CDT

The 2021 MLB Draft is underway, and we’ll be keeping track of tonight’s picks as they’re announced. The draft will get underway this evening with the first 36 picks — the first round proper, the compensatory round (which consists of just one pick, the Reds’ extra selection granted when Trevor Bauer rejected their qualifying offer last winter and signed with the Dodgers for more than $50MM), and then Competitive Balance Round A.

Rounds 2-10 (plus the included compensation picks and Competitive Balance Round B) will take place on Monday afternoon, and then rounds 11-20 will take place Tuesday afternoon. This year’s draft is to 20 rounds from five rounds in 2020, and the current expectation is that the 2022 draft will return to its old 40-round format, though the draft structure will be one of many topics under discussion when the league and the players’ union negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement this winter.

For more on these stars of the future, check out the prospect rankings and scouting reports compiled by Baseball America, Fangraphs, MLB Pipeline, The Athletic’s Keith Law, and ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel. As well, here is MLB Pipeline’s breakdown of the slot values assigned to each pick in the first 10 rounds, as well as the bonus pool money available to all 30 teams.

The selections…

Pittsburgh Pirates: Henry Davis, C, University Of Louisville
Texas Rangers: Jack Leiter, RHP, Vanderbilt University
Detroit Tigers: Jackson Jobe, RHP, Heritage Hall High School (OK)
Boston Red Sox: Marcelo Mayer, SS, Eastlake High School (CA)
Baltimore Orioles: Colton Cowser, OF, Sam Houston State University
Arizona Diamondbacks: Jordan Lawlar, SS, Jesuit Prep (Dallas, TX)
Kansas City Royals: Frank Mozzicato, LHP, East Catholic High School (CT)
Colorado Rockies: Benny Montgomery, OF, Red Land High School (PA)
Los Angeles Angels: Sam Bachman, RHP, Miami University (Ohio)
New York Mets: Kumar Rocker, RHP, Vanderbilt University
Washington Nationals: Brady House, SS, Winder-Barrow High School (GA)
Seattle Mariners: Harry Ford, C/OF, North Cobb High School (GA)
Philadelphia Phillies: Andrew Painter, RHP, Calvary Christian Academy (FLA)
San Francisco Giants: Will Bednar, RHP, Mississippi State University
Milwaukee Brewers: Sal Frelick, OF, Boston College
Miami Marlins: Kahlil Watson, SS, Wake Forest High School (NC)
Cincinnati Reds: Matt McLain, SS, UCLA
St. Louis Cardinals: Michael McGreevy, RHP, UC Santa Barbara
Toronto Blue Jays: Gunnar Hoglund, RHP, University Of Mississippi
New York Yankees: Trey Sweeney, SS, Eastern Illinois University
Chicago Cubs: Jordan Wicks, LHP, Kansas State University
Chicago White Sox: Colson Montgomery, SS, Southridge High School (IN)
Cleveland Indians: Gavin Williams, RHP, East Carolina University
Atlanta Braves: Ryan Cusick, RHP, Wake Forest University
Oakland Athletics: Max Muncy, SS, Thousand Oaks High School (CA)
Minnesota Twins: Chase Petty, RHP, Mainland Regional High School (NJ)
San Diego Padres: Jackson Merrill, SS, Severna Park High School (MD)
Tampa Bay Rays: Carson Williams, SS/RHP, Torrey Pines High School (CA)
Los Angeles Dodgers: Maddux Bruns, LHP, UMS-Wright Prep (AL)
Cincinnati Reds (compensatory pick): Jay Allen, OF, John Carroll Catholic High School (FL)
Miami Marlins (Competitive Balance Round A): Joe Mack, C, Williamsville East High School (NY)
Detroit Tigers (CBR-A): Ty Madden, RHP, University of Texas
Milwaukee Brewers (CBR-A): Tyler Black, 2B, Wright State University
Tampa Bay Rays (CBR-A): Cooper Kinney, 2B, Baylor High School (TN)
Cincinnati Reds (CBR-A): Matheu Nelson, C, Florida State University
Minnesota Twins (CBR-A): Noah Miller, SS, Ozaukee High School (WI)

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