Tigers' bosses explain tough roster decisions on Smith, Hanifee, Perez
A.J. Hinch, Scott Harris discuss why the Tigers didn't keep Dylan Smith, Brenan Hanifee, Wenceel Perez on major-league roster.
San Diego – Telling 21-year-old Kevin McGonigle that he’s made the big-league club , that’s a heartwarming experience for a manager and a team president. There were quite a few other meetings that AJ Hinch and Scott Harris conducted on Tuesday to set the Tigers’ Opening Day roster that were more heartbreaking than heartwarming. One of those involved right-hander Dylan Smith.
The club’s third-round pick in 2021, Smith was optioned to Triple-A Toledo early in camp and Tuesday was informed that he’d lost his spot on the 40-man roster, designated for assignment to clear a spot for McGonigle. “This is a harder 40-man roster to make and a harder 40-man roster to stay on,” Harris said. “Dylan has the talent to be an effective reliever in this game.
For us, given the young players we added to the 40-man to protect them from the Rule 5 draft and given the spring performances of a lot of these guys on the 40-man had, we had a tough choice. ” That choice was further complicated when the Tigers were able to sign veteran right-hander Connor Seabold to a two-way contract on Tuesday. “With Connor, we feel like he’s going to help us in the big leagues and he’s going to help us build a deeper pitching staff for us to endure all the challenges that are ahead of us,” Harris said.
The signing of Seabold and the emergence of lefty Enmanuel De Jesus also forced a tough conversation with right-hander Brenan Hanifee, who was one of the final cuts on Tuesday. “He struggled with the adjustments he was making this spring,” Hinch said. “And I told him to keep at it.