Detroit Tigers Opening Day Roster Nearly Set

The Detroit Tigers have cut their active roster down to 29 names as the Opening Day roster gains clarity.

The Detroit Tigers made another round of spring training cuts on Wednesday morning to get their roster down to 29 players. They’ll need to get to 25 ahead of their April 3 Opening Day matchup with the Chicago White Sox.

Chris McCosky of the Detroit News reported today’s transactions on Twitter.

McCosky then gave a quick summation of the final roster decisions.

Placing J.D. Martinez on the disabled list will pare the list down to 28 which means three cuts remain. The Tigers will likely take 13 position players on the opening day roster, so one of the remaining cuts will be a hitter. There’s a chance they could keep 14 hitters on the roster for a few days since they don’t need a fifth starting pitcher until April 9. If that’s the case, they won’t need to jettison any more hitters (and it’s probably not the case since Matt Boyd was not optioned today).

McCosky seems to think Steven Moya is the odd-man out, but I think either JaCoby Jones or Mikie Mahtook will be sent to AAA. Both would serve most obviously as the right-handed hitting portion of a center field platoon, and taking both seems superfluous.

The platoon in center field is less clear with Martinez’s injury. Tyler Collins could shift to the corner, but, even still, the Tigers shouldn’t need two right-handed hitting center fielders given Andrew Romine‘s ability to play the position as well.

Jones has out-produced Mahtook this spring, but the Tigers could take the long-term approach with him and send him to AAA for further development. That being said, Martinez’s injury gives the Tigers a natural short-term window in which to give Jones regular reps. They could plan to send him down upon J.D.’s return without making Jones feel like he failed if he begins the year in a slump.

For now, I’ll bet on Jones and Moya making the roster and Mahtook beginning  the season in AAA.

The other two cuts will come in the bullpen. As we discussed earlier today, the Tigers are trying to find a taker for Mike Pelfrey in a trade. That would seem to indicate that he’s the odd-man out. Shane Greene does have an option year remaining if they think Pelfrey is worth keeping along with Anibal Sanchez in the bullpen.

Rule 5 selection Daniel Stumpf also appears to be out. Justin Wilson and Kyle Ryan have spots locked up so carrying Stumpf would mean taking three lefties in the bullpen (which seems unlikely). If he doesn’t make the team, the Tigers would have to offer Stumpf back to the Kansas City Royals per Rule 5 rules.

Here’s my prediction for the Opening Day Roster at this point:

Catchers (2): Alex Avila and James McCann

Infielders (7): Miguel Cabrera, Ian Kinsler, Jose Iglesias, Nick Castellanos, Victor Martinez, Dixon Machado, Andrew Romine

Outfielders (4): Justin Upton, Tyler Collins, JaCoby Jones, Steven Moya

Starting Pitchers (5): Justin Verlander, Michael Fulmer, Jordan Zimmermann, Daniel Norris, Matt Boyd

Relief Pitchers (7): Francisco Rodriguez, Justin Wilson, Bruce Rondon, Alex Wilson, Kyle Ryan, Shane Greene, Anibal Sanchez

Next: Tigers are Trying to Trade Mike Pelfrey

The Tigers could more interesting decisions on their hand once Martinez is ready to return from the disabled list. Best case scenario might be if Steven Moya hits well in a limited sample and they find a willing trade partner for his bat.