The Detroit Tigers are ready to deal ahead of the MLB trade deadline. Sitting with an eight-game lead over the Cleveland Guardians in the American League Central, the Tigers are looking to make trades that can enhance their roster and help them make their first appearance in the American League Championship Series since 2013 and their first World Series appearance since 2012.
With the Tigers ready to pounce, they considered making a deal with a divisional rival, and that’s what came to fruition on Monday afternoon. But while Detroit acquired some pitching depth, it’s not the deal that fans wanted with the hours ticking away before Thursday’s deadline.
Tigers Settle For Chris Paddack, Randy Dobnak in Trade With Twins
According to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, the Tigers have acquired pitchers Chris Paddack and Randy Dobnak from the Minnesota Twins in exchange for minor league catcher Enrique Jimenez. The former Twins will add a pair of arms to enhance Detroit’s pitching depth for the stretch run, but may be disappointing based on their performance and what the Tigers could have had.
C Enrique Jimenez, the player going back to the Twins, was the No. 12 prospect in the Tigers’ organization, according to The Athletic’s Keith Law. https://t.co/MLHOheDuk6 First on return: @ByRobertMurray
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 28, 2025
Paddack is the headliner in the trade, but it may be for the wrong reasons. A former top 100 prospect that came to Minnesota in a trade that sent Brent Rooker to the San Diego Padres, Paddack underwent Tommy John surgery shortly after his arrival in April 2022. The Twins tried to get ahead of the curve by signing Paddack to a three-year contract extension while he was rehabbing, but they didn’t get much out of that investment as Paddack wore down after posting a 5-3 record and a 4.99 ERA after 88.1 innings in 2024.
The good news is that Paddack has logged his largest workload (111 innings) since his breakout season in 2019, where he went 9-7 with a 3.33 ERA with 153 strikeouts and 31 walks in 140.2 innings. But it hasn’t translated to success on the mound, going 3-9 with a 4.95 ERA.
Dobnak also is a marginal return for the Tigers. The right-hander burst onto the scene with a 2-1 record and a 1.59 ERA in nine games in the second half of the 2019 season, but he never built off it, going 7-11 with a 5.69 ERA in 30 major league appearances and missing the entire 2022 season with a finger injury. The 30-year-old owns a 1-7 record and 7.12 ERA at Triple-A St. Paul this season and may have been a throw-in to facilitate the deal.
While it’s good to see the Tigers do something, it would have been worth celebrating if they had come down with an impact arm. Jhoan Duran and Griffin Jax were two relievers that reportedly piqued the Tigers’ interest the last couple of weeks, but a reported asking price of multiple top-100 caliber prospects may have scared the Tigers (and several other teams) away.
If that was the case, they paid a marginal price for what they received. Jimenez is hitting .250/.339/.440 with six homers and 32 RBI in his second year of rookie ball and was tabbed as the 12th best prospect in the organization according to The Athletic’s Keith Law. With Thayron Liranzo, Josue Briceño, and others in the plate, the 19-year-old’s path to the majors seems blocked, assuming he can continue his climb through the minors.
With four days until the deadline, the Tigers’ work is not done. And outside of poaching a slugger from the opposite dugout in this week’s series with the Arizona Diamondbacks, fans won’t be happy until they make a move with a larger impact.