News Tigers Team Notes

Sam Menzin Resigns As Tigers’ Assistant GM

Tigers assistant general manager Sam Menzin resigned his position on Thursday, according to The Athletic’s Cody Stavenhagen. Menzin had been working in this role since August 2021, and he briefly served as the club’s acting front office boss during the roughly six-week period between the firing of former GM Al Avila and Scott Harris’ hiring as the new president of baseball operations.

Though Menzin is only in his mid-30s, he had been one of the Tigers’ longest-tenured front office employees, as he started as a front office intern back in 2012. He worked his way up the ladder in a variety of different roles, with a focus on the player development department. Chris McCosky of the Detroit News notes that one of Menzin’s recent responsibilities included overseeing some upgrades to the Tigers’ Spring Training facility.

The timing of the resignation (just a week into the season) is a little unusual, and no reason was given for Menzin’s departure. Speculatively speaking, it could be that Menzin simply felt it was time for a fresh start, if there was perhaps little room for immediate future advancement within Detroit’s front office. Harris doesn’t appear to be going anywhere, and Jeff Greenberg was hired after the 2023 season in the GM role as Harris’ chief lieutenant in baseball ops. Menzin was one of four assistant GMs in the front office, along with Ryan Garko, Rob Metzler, and Jay Sartori.
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/04/sam-menzin-resigns-as-tigers-assistant-gm.html
 
Octavio Dotel Dies In Roof Collapse Tragedy

Former major leaguer Octavio Dotel has died in a tragic accident, per multiple sources out of the Dominican Republic, including Diario Libre. The roof of the Jet Set club in Santo Domingo collapsed in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Full details of the tragedy are still emerging but Diario Libre says at least 27 people have died while rescue efforts continue. It was initially reported that Dotel was pulled from the rubble alive but the most recent reports indicate he was taken to a hospital, where he arrived without vital signs. He was 51 years old.

Exact details of the tragic situation are difficult to pin down, but it appears hundreds of people were in the venue for a concert when the collapse happened. Dozens of people have been pulled out alive but many have died and the figures are likely to change. Dotel was reportedly trapped for about 11 hours before being rescued and initially survived, but was declared dead after being taken to a hospital.

Dotel was well known to baseball fans because he pitched in the majors for over a decade and bounced around to various teams. He made his major league debut with the Mets in 1999, working in a swing role. He was traded to the Astros ahead of the 2000 season and continued to work both out of the rotation and the bullpen for a while.

He eventually moved into a primary relief role and had more success. Though his earned run average was over 5.00 in both 1999 and 2000, he posted a 2.66 ERA in 2001. He tossed 105 innings over 61 appearances, only four of those being starts.

He continued working as a solid reliever for years after that, bouncing to the Athletics, Yankees, Royals, Braves, White Sox, Pirates, Dodgers, Rockies, Blue Jays, Cardinals and Tigers. He finished his career with a 3.78 ERA in 758 games. He recorded 109 saves and 127 holds. He won the World Series with the Cardinals in 2011. He was a part of a combined no-hitter with the Astros in 2003. He retired in 2014.

We at MLB Trade Rumors send our deepest condolences to Dotel’s family, friends and fans, as well as the hundreds of others who have been impacted by this awful event.

Photo courtesy of Kelley L Cox, Imagn Images
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/04/octavio-dotel-dies-in-roof-collapse-tragedy.html
 
Tigers Select Tomas Nido, Place Jake Rogers On Injured List

The Tigers announced Tuesday that they’ve selected the contract of veteran catcher Tomas Nido from Triple-A Toledo and placed fellow catcher Jake Rogers on the 10-day IL with tightness in his left oblique. Infielder/outfielder Wenceel Perez has been transferred from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL to open a 40-man roster spot. Perez’s 60-day stint includes the time he’s already missed; he’ll be eligible to return in late May.

Rogers, 30 next week, was scratched from the lineup less than an hour ago. He felt the discomfort in his oblique area while taking swings in the batting cage prior to today’s game, per Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic. The Tigers — whether influenced by the frigid temperatures at today’s home opener or not — will take the cautious route. They have not yet provided a timetable for his return or specified whether Rogers will head for an MRI. At this point, they’re using the term “tightness” and not “strain,” which suggests Rogers could escape with a relatively minimal IL stay.

Rogers has appeared in six games thus far and is out to a .222/.364/.333 start. He’s seeking a rebound from a down year in 2024, hopeful of returning to the 2023 form that saw him belt a career-best 21 homers while providing his typical brand of plus-plus defense behind the dish. Evan Woodbery of MLive.com pointed out earlier thiat his IL placement will snap a stretch of 37 straight Tarik Skubal starts caught by Rogers.

Nido doesn’t have the same power upside as Rogers, but he’s a plus defender with plenty of big league experience under his belt — most of it coming with the Mets. The 30-year-old veteran (31 this weekend) is a .210/.245/.309 hitter in 945 big league plate appearances accrued over parts of eight MLB seasons. Nido is just over seven weeks shy of six years of big league service time, and this new stint with Detroit will help him inch closer to the six-year mark. He appeared in 49 games between the Mets and Cubs last year, slashing a combined .192/.219/.315 with four homers.

Though Nido has never hit much outside a tiny seven-game sample in the shortened 2020 season, he’s consistently drawn above-average marks for his framing, his ability to block balls in the dirt and his prowess in controlling the running game. His throwing numbers did dip a bit below-average in 2022-23, but he bounced back with a 22.7% caught-stealing rate in 2024 — a couple ticks higher than the league-average 20.4% mark.
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/04/tigers-jake-rogers-injured-list-tomas-nido-wenceel-perez.html
 
MLBTR Podcast: Vlad’s Massive Deal, Extensions for Merrill and Marte, And Quinn Priester Traded

The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…


Plus, we answer your questions, including…


Check out our past episodes!

  • Garrett Crochet’s Extension, Problems In Atlanta, And Other Early-Season Storylines – listen here
  • What We Learned From The Offseason – listen here
  • The Rays’ Stadium Deal Is Dead, Rangers’ Rotation Issues, And More! – listen here

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Nick Turchiaro, Imagn Images
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025...rill-and-marte-and-quinn-priester-traded.html
 
Tigers Notes: Margot, Vierling, Rogers

The Tigers placed outfielder Manuel Margot on the 10-day injured list due to left knee inflammation and recalled fellow outfielder Brewer Hicklen from Triple-A, per a club announcement.

Margot has gone 6-for-19 (all singles) to begin his Tigers tenure. He joins Parker Meadows, Matt Vierling and Wenceel Perez on the injured list for a Detroit club that has seen too many injuries in its outfield corps. The team didn’t provide an immediate timetable for Margot’s return. Notably, the left knee is not the same knee that Margot injured back in 2022, when he missed about half the year with a strained patellar tendon in his right knee.

The 29-year-old Hicklen was acquired from the Brewers on March 28 in exchange for cash. He’s hitless in a tiny sample of nine big league plate appearances but has appeared in parts of four Triple-A seasons, slashing .244/.352/.476 in 1366 plate appearances at the top minor league level. Hicklen will join Riley Greene, Kerry Carpenter and utilitymen Zach McKinstry, Ryan Kreidler and Andy Ibanez as outfield options for skipper A.J. Hinch.

The Tigers added in a separate announcement this morning that Vierling, who’s been out all season with a strained rotator cuff, is beginning a throwing program today. There’s still no firm timeline for his return, though Hinch noted to reporters that a motivated Vierling was out on the field playing begin throwing in 30-degree weather this morning — both a testament to his eagerness to return and the improved state of his shoulder (link via The Athletic’s Cody Stavenhagen).

In other Tigers injury news, the team scratched catcher Jake Rogers today due to tightness in his left oblique. As MLive’s Evan Woodbery points out, this means that reigning Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal will be caught by a different catcher for the first time since 2023. Backup Dillon Dingler is getting the start today, snapping a streak of 37 consecutive Skubal starts caught by Rogers.

There’s no indication from the Tigers whether Rogers will require an MRI or a trip to the injured list. Veteran Tomas Nido is on hand in Triple-A Toledo as an experienced option to pair with the 26-year-old Dingler if Rogers is forced to miss any time.

Rogers, 30 next week, is out to a .222/.364/.333 start in his first six games of the season. He’s a premium defender behind the dish and has been looking to rebound from a down year at the plate in 2024, when he batted just .197/.255/.352. As recently as 2023, Rogers popped 21 homers in a season while batting .221/.286/.444.
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/04/tigers-manuel-margot-injury-jake-rogers-scratched.html
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top