Detroit Tigers: Long awaited roster moves come to fruition

The Detroit Tigers announced a flurry of roster moves today that will change some things moving forward. Amid the set roster moves, they managed to take care of four moves that needed to happen sooner than later.

Detroit Tigers General Manager (GM) Al Avila opted to make some changes heading into the second half of the season. While they may not be large or shocking changes, they were some much-needed changes within the organization.

It sucks to be said, but the Willi Castro experiment over at shortstop needed to end. At a minimum, it needed to be paused so that the Tigers could change things up. Optioning him to the Triple-A Toledo squad allowed for that to happen.

He will head to Toledo and look to get a reset in and hit the refresh button before likely being called back up at one point or another. The “corresponding move” here is the recall of Isaac Paredes, which was overdue as well.

While Jeimer Candelario has done very well over at third base, there is no reason Paredes should not be getting looks in at shortstop. He could play on off-days for Candelario and Schoop as well at second or third.

Either way, the Detroit Tigers finally made some long-awaited changes.

Paredes will get his looks around the infield and try to earn a longer stay in Detroit. He’s just 22 years old and already logged 45 big league games and appeared in two seasons. In 2020 after his monumental call-up, he would go on to log 34 games and slash .220/.278/.290 with just five extra-base hits and six RBI.

If he struggles, it should be expected, but it will be good to see him getting his time in and working towards becoming a big leaguer and not being trapped in Toledo. Besides Paredes, another player is finally getting a call-up back to the organization once again.

Derek Hill is finally going to get his chance to patrol the outfield once again. He’s been screwed a few times now. Between injuries and players returning, Hill has been exiled to the minors a few different times now.

But, with the move to designate Nomar Mazara for assignment (DFA), a spot opens up in the Tigers outfield. Mazara was a cheap and late addition to the Tigers organization this past offseason, and he simply did not figure it out.

Hill should be able to fill this spot quite well. In 2021, Hill has logged just eight games in the big leagues. He’s slashing .286/.412/.286 so far over just 14 at-bats. With any luck, he should be able to fix that as he gets worked back into rotation in the Tigers outfield.

Out with the old and in with the new here. Mazara needed to go, and DFA’ing him was the best option; Castro needs a reset. It was good to see Avila finally come to his since on this move. On the flip side, new life has been given to Paredes and Hill, who are going to be fighting to stick around the Motor City as long as possible.