The Tigers are making some surprising roster cuts ahead of the start of the season. Per Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press, the club is sending both right-hander Jason Foley and left-hander Andrew Chafin to Triple-A Toledo. Foley is on the 40-man roster and will be optioned. Chafin is a veteran on a minor league deal with certain guaranteed opt-out dates but Petzold relays that the southpaw is expected to report to Toledo.
Foley, 29, was last optioned to the minors in April of 2022. He was recalled in May of that year and has been up with the club since then, seemingly establishing himself as a bonafide major leaguer. He’s never had huge strikeout numbers but has succeeded with good control and a grounder-heavy approach.
Overall, he has 199 2/3 innings in the bigs with a 3.16 earned run average, 18.1% strikeout rate, 6.2% walk rate and 54.1% ground ball rate. He has emerged as a key leverage arm for the club in recent years. In 2023, he secured 28 holds and seven saves. Last year, he largely took over the closer’s role, racking up 28 saves and eight holds. He qualified for arbitration and is making $3.15MM this year.
In this year’s camp, his 6.14 ERA certainly looks ugly, but it’s a tiny sample of 7 1/3 innings and the numbers under the hood aren’t nearly as bad. He struck out 10 opponents without issuing a walk, with one hit-by-pitch the only free pass of the spring. The five earned runs he allowed came over his first four appearances. The past four were scoreless. A .429 batting average on balls in play and 62.5% strand rate point to much of the damage against him being bad luck.
All in all, it’s a pretty surprising move. It seems as though Brenan Hanifee will get the final bullpen spot over Foley, per Petzold. Hanifee has a strong 2.36 ERA in his career but in just 34 1/3 innings. Similar to Foley, he’s a ground ball guy, with an 18.2% strikeout rate and 54.1% grounder rate thus far.
Ultimately, Opening Day is just one day on the calendar. Bullpen churn is pretty common in today’s game, so Foley could be back up in short order. Still, it’s notable when last year’s closer is sent to the minors without much obvious reason. If Foley spends significant time in the minors this year, it could impact his trajectory. He comes into 2025 with his service clock at three years and 33 days, putting him on track for free agency after 2027. If he spends enough time on optional assignment this season to come up short of the four-year mark, that trip to the open market would be pushed back by a year.
The news on Chafin is also surprising. He’s a pretty reliable veteran with over a decade in the big leagues. He has a 3.42 career ERA and posted a 3.51 ERA last year. Even settling for a minor league deal was a surprise, but at least that deal came with a strong $2.5MM base salary for cracking the majors.
Like Foley, Chafin’s spring numbers look bad at a glance but not so much under a magnifying glass. He posted an ERA of 12.00 by allowing eight earned runs in six innings. He also gave out six walks. However, six of those eight earned runs and five of the six walks were surrendered in his first two innings pitched. He only allowed two runs and one walk in his final four innings, with the final two innings being scoreless and walk-less with five strikeouts.
Given his reputation, it would be fair to write-off his poor spring stats as small-sample weirdness but the Tigers evidently don’t want to make room for him. He’ll report to Toledo and hope for a call-up but he’ll have chances to opt-out on May 1 and June 1.
In another notable move, Petzold reports that utility player Ryan Kreidler will make the Opening Day roster. Kreidler had previously been optioned to the minors but it was reported earlier this week that the club’s injuries might open a spot for him. The Tigers have been hit hard by the injury bug, particularly in center field, with Parker Meadows, Wenceel Pérez and Matt Vierling all slated to start the season on the injured list.
Kreidler has played more infield in his career but the club apparently considers him viable enough in center to bring him up for extra coverage there. It’s unclear who will get the bulk of the playing time in center, but it may be some combination of Kreidler, Riley Greene and Manuel Margot.
