Detroit Tigers: Where Are the Tigers' Former Top Prospects of 2011?
The Detroit Tigers are in win-now mode. They’ve seemingly had this state of mind since their World Series appearance in 2011. The Tigers have been to another World Series, three American League Championship Series and have won four division titles since.
Because they’re in win-now mode, the Tigers to trade away prospects for established players, thus mortgaging the future for the present. For the most part, this has worked out. General manager Dave Dombrowski pulled one over on the Marlins and Mariners, respectively, essentially acquiring Miguel Cabrera and Doug Fister for fool’s gold. Therefore, it’s not surprising to see that Dombrowski has dealt a good portion of his former elite prospects.
According to Baseball America, the Detroit Tigers’ top minor league prospects in 2011 were the following:
- Jacob Turner RHP
- Nick Castellanos 3B
- Andy Oliver LHP
- Francisco Martinez 3B
- Daniel Fields OF
- Casey Crosby LHP
- Chance Ruffin RHP
- Drew Smyly LHP
- Avisail Garcia OF
- Jose Ortega RHP
10. Jose Ortega
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Starting the list as the No. 10 prospect from 2011 is relief pitcher Jose Ortega.
Always a reliever, Ortega made it to Triple-A in 2011 and struggled immensely. His ERA on the season was 6.30 in 33 appearances. In addition, he gave up a staggering 11 hits per nine innings.
2012 didn’t bring a whole lot of change; in 45 appearances (including four saves) Ortega lowered his ERA to 5.74. Despite this, he made his big league debut that season and posted a 3.38 ERA in two relief outings.
Ortega was miles better in 2013 as he finally mastered Triple-A, putting up a 1.86 ERA in the high minors. He drastically cut down his hits per nine innings, nearly halving his 2011 number from 11 to 5.2. This success led to a call-up to Motown, where he continued to flash potential with a 3.86 ERA in 11 appearances.
The reliever posted a 3.57 ERA in 2014 in Triple-A and gave up four runs (and four walks) in his only appearance of the season for the Tigers. The righty was designated for assignment in late August.
9. Avisail Garcia
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Tabbed by some as “Little Miggy” due to the outfielder’s physical resemblance to Miguel Cabrera, Avisail Garcia has an extremely promising future.
Despite the promise, he was dealt to the division rival Chicago White Sox in a three-team trade that netted the Tigers another young player with an equally promising future—Jose Iglesias.
Iglesias looks to have a stranglehold on the shortstop position for the next decade in Detroit and will continue to dazzle with his wizard-like defensive skills.
Garcia is still with the White Sox, where he is widely perceived as one of the future cornerstones of the team. The outfielder has posted a .745 OPS in his time in the Windy City but hasn’t been able to stay healthy, playing in a total of 88 games over a season-and-a-half for the Sox. At only 23 years of age, he still has tremendous upside.
8. Drew Smyly
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Drew Smyly surprised many people in 2012 by winning a rotation spot over the likes of other top prospects such Jacob Turner, Andy Oliver and Casey Crosby. This selection has been justified over the past few years, as Smyly has shown himself to be a capable big league starter.
His ERA in Detroit was a tidy 3.53, and the pitcher showed his versatility by transitioning to the bullpen in his second season after putting up solid numbers in his rookie campaign (3.99 ERA in 99.1 innings pitched, including 18 starts).
Smyly was one of the key pieces traded to Tampa for David Price and repaid the Rays’ faith in acquiring him by going 3-1 with a 1.70 ERA in seven starts. He fanned 44 batters over that span and walked a mere 11.
Part of an immensely young and talented rotation in Tampa Bay, Smyly will likely be joined in the rotation by the likes of Matt Moore, Alex Cobb, Chris Archer and Jake Odorizzi in 2015.
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7. Chance Ruffin
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A member of the group traded to Seattle for Doug Fister, Ruffin, like many of his colleagues who were acquired by the Mariners, failed to deliver.
A reliever from the start, the former first-round pick put up strong numbers in the minors for Detroit. In 2011 he went from Double-A to the majors, posting a 2.03 ERA in 48.2 minor league innings. He also had 19 saves that year. He pitched in two games for the Tigers before moving to Seattle in the Doug Fister train robbery trade.
The reliever posted solid numbers in 2011 for the Mariners, striking out 15 hitters in 14 innings and posting a 3.86 ERA.
Then there was 2012. Ruffin posted a 5.99 ERA in 70.2 innings at Triple-A Tacoma and was transitioned into a starter. He achieved some success via that route in the minors but found himself in the big leagues, once again, as a reliever. The former Texas Longhorn posted an 8.38 ERA in nine games in 2013 and retired from baseball this past July.
6. Casey Crosby
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Crosby clearly had serious potential if he was ranked ahead of Drew Smyly and Avisail Garcia—two young, franchise cornerstones for the Rays and White Sox, respectively. Crosby always had the raw stuff; however, he could never put it all together. Injuries didn’t help him stay on the mound to gain experience either.
The left-hander made his major league debut in 2012 and yielded 13 runs and 11 walks in 12.1 innings. That translated to a 9.49 ERA and a trip back to Triple-A Toledo.
In Toledo, Crosby continued to struggle or at least put up numbers that don’t befit a prospect with his potential. He went 2-5 with a 4.84 ERA in 13 starts and walked 40 batters in 57.2 innings. 2014 saw him move to the bullpen, where he proceeded to allow 15 runs in 11 appearances. Crosby walked 13 batters over those 11 appearances. He was cut in early August.
5. Daniel Fields
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Still only 23, Daniel Fields could make an impact with the Tigers next season. He missed time with a broken hand in Triple-A Toledo in 2014 and finished the year with a .219 batting average. His OPS was only .616.
While these aren’t encouraging numbers, it’s important to remember that this was the outfielder’s first taste of Triple-A, which, coupled with the broken hand, makes the stat line excusable.
Fields has the potential to hit for power and contribute speed—two very valuable qualities in a player, especially one that plays in center field. With top prospect Derek Hill years away, Fields has a chance to be the team’s starting center fielder depending on what happens over the course of the offseason.
4. Francisco Martinez
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Another one of the prospects shipped to the Mariners in the Doug Fister fleecing, Francisco Martinez wasn’t quite able to make the grade in the minors for Seattle.
After hitting .310 with an .807 OPS in his first half season for Seattle’s Double-A affiliate Jackson, his offensive numbers tanked. He hit .232 in two minor league stops in 2012, and his OPS during that plummeted to .626.
The Mariners also experimented with Martinez in center field.
2013 saw the third baseman hit .206 in Jackson before ultimately being dealt back to the Tigers.
At 24 he still has room to grow, but he’ll have to start realizing his potential soon if he wants to make an impact. He hit .224 with a .537 OPS and a singular home run in 2014 with Double-A Erie.
3. Andy Oliver
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A former top prospect, Andy Oliver was yet another hard-throwing pitcher to come out of the Tigers minor league system. However, instead of flourishing, he floundered.
The lefty put up solid numbers in his first few years in the minor leagues but struggled some at Triple-A, posting ERAs of 4.71 and 4.88 in 2011 and 2012, respectively. His walk totals were high as well, as the pitcher averaged 4.9 and 6.7 walks per nine innings during those two seasons. In addition, he threw 31 wild pitches during the two-year span.
These statistics don’t befit someone who should still be with the same organization. Translation: He couldn’t put it all together. He’s found success as a reliever with the Pirates Triple-A affiliate. He was dealt to Pittsburgh, in part, after seven major league starts for Detroit, where he posted a 7.11 ERA and walked 21 batters in 31.2 innings pitched.
2. Nick Castellanos
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For a minor league system that prides itself on developing pitchers, especially ones that throw hard (see Joel Zumaya, Justin Verlander) or are starters (see Rick Porcello and Drew Smyly), the team finally produced a hitting prospect with legitimate potential—Nick Castellanos.
Also one of the only prospects on this list that made a serious contribution to the Tigers, Castellanos showed promise during his rookie year.
He clearly can improve his game but showed encouraging signs by driving in 66 runs and swatting 31 doubles, only two fewer than all-worldly teammate Victor Martinez. Castellanos also showed well at Comerica Park, hitting .286 in a spacious park that can be more kind to pitchers than hitters.
If he continues to improve and build on the positives he displayed in 2014, Castellanos will be an important part of the Tigers roster for years to come.
1. Jacob Turner
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Once considered the next great front-line starter to emerge from the Detroit minor league system, Turner was viewed as Detroit’s future. He showed his potential in the minor leagues, posting solid numbers at every stop. Outside of an ERA of 8.28 in six career starts for the Tigers, one would think Turner was close to breaking out or at least breaking into the majors.
The former ninth overall pick was traded to Miami in a package of prospects for Anibal Sanchez and Omar Infante—players who helped the Tigers on the way to a World Series appearance and multiple league championship series appearances and division titles.
Infante has moved on via free agency, but Sanchez has evolved into the front-line pitcher most thought Turner would be for Detroit. The former Marlin dominated in the postseason as a member of the Tigers staff and won the American League ERA title in 2013. He also has a knack for keeping the ball in the yard, as evidenced by his 0.4 home runs allowed per nine innings in 2013, the lowest in the league. Sanchez whittled that number down to 0.3 in 2014.
Turner is now pitching for the Chicago Cubs, after Miami dealt him for two minor leaguers.
All stats courtesy of http://www.baseball-reference.com/ unless otherwise noted.
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