Detroit Tigers Clips Thursday, December 17, 2015

Detroit Free Press Avila: Tigers unlikely to add any more big contracts (Fenech) McCann talks Dominican trip, Tigers' off-season moves (Fenech)

The Detroit News MLB analyst praises Tigers' offseason moves (Staff)

MLive.com , Justin Wilson look forward to playing key roles in revamped bullpen (Iott)

MLB.com Trip to D.R. gives Tigers chance to give back (Beck)

Gazette Times Matt Boyd realizes one dream, excited about the future (Gress)

Daily Transactions

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Avila: Tigers unlikely to add any more big contracts December 17, 2015 By Anthony Fenech/ Detroit Free Press

At this point, the Tigers have made all of their big off-season moves. At this point, general manager Al Avila said Wednesday afternoon, signing right-handed starter Jordan Zimmermann is the biggest of those moves. And at this point, Avila reiterated, it’s unlikely the team will add another big contract. “We’ve got a lot of big contracts already within our own team, and we feel good about the team moving forward,” Avila told Free Press columnist Drew Sharp and Matt Dery in a lengthy interview on WMGC-FM (105.1). “So, I’d say at this point, we’re pretty satisfied with the makeup of the team and the outlook so far.” Avila was answering specifically to the inquisition of their future interest in outfielders Yoenis Cespedes and Alex Gordon, should their markets stay stalled and owner Mike Ilitch get the itch to put the team over the top with another long-term, lucrative signing. “I can’t speak for the owner,” Avila said. “But I know where we’re at right now, and our payroll, I can tell you, is probably one of the top five in all of , which is a pretty good payroll with some of the top names in the game. So, I don’t know how much more you can expect from that, but that, I think, is a lot.” As it stands, the leftfield situation will consist of either or Cameron Maybin and Tyler Collins. Cespedes, 30, played 102 games with the Tigers before they shuttled him away at the trade deadline. He hit .291 with 35 home runs and 105 RBIs between the Tigers and Mets this past season. He had a desire to return to the Latin-laden clubhouse in Detroit as recently as last summer, according to Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal, and his free agency so far hasn’t created the kind of buzz indicative of his five-tool abilities, leaving in question the chance the Tigers would consider a reunion later this off-season. But, Avila said, another big contract would make the team’s payroll situation “pretty ugly.” He said it’s unlikely the team will trot out the highest payroll in baseball next season. “That’s nothing I’m recommending,” he said. “Believe me.”

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McCann talks Dominican trip, Tigers' off-season moves December 17, 2015 By Anthony Fenech/ Detroit Free Press

James McCann wasn’t tuned in to the Detroit Tigers’ off-season moves. He was in the Dominican Republic during last week’s winter meetings with teammates Anthony Gose and Kyle Lobstein, visiting the team’s Dominican academy and spending time with children from a nearby orphanage. So the news of the Tigers’ moves reached him late. “It was almost like every morning, it was a recap of what happened the night before,” McCann said recently on MLB Network. “Because that was the first thing all of us were doing when we got back to the room, was checking what moves were made and, obviously, a lot of things went down during that time. “So it was fun to sit there and say, ‘Oh, we signed (Mike) Pelfrey today.’ ‘We got Mark Lowe and Justin Wilson.’ It was a lot of fun to try and track what was going on with the Tigers as well as the rest of the baseball.’” The trio of Tigers spent five days in the Dominican Republic, touring the team’s facilities, meeting with the academy’s leadership and donating baseball equipment to the Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos orphanage to support their youth baseball program. “It was a lot of fun,” McCann said. “That’s their big time passion down there. That’s what a lot of people only care about down there is baseball.” McCann played winter ball in the Dominican Republic in 2013. After assuming the everyday catching role early this past season, McCann will enter this upcoming season as the Tigers’ starting , and has touched base with free agent additions Jordan Zimmermann and Mike Pelfrey so far this winter, he said, and plans on reaching out to Lowe, Wilson and Francisco Rodriguez in the near future. “That will be a fun thing to get to know the new guys and I’ve kind of started the process already,” he said. McCann also heard from catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, whom the team signed to compete for a backup role with in . He got the text message from Saltalamacchia along with a slew of others one day while tapping into internet access during the trip to the Dominican Republic. “He was one of those guys that texted me and told me how excited he was to work with me,” McCann said. “And he’s a guy that’s been around, he’s been to the World Series so that’s just another guy that I’m excited I get to learn from. “The text message he sent was he was excited to work with me and I think his exact words were to grind through a season with me.”

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MLB analyst praises Tigers' offseason moves December 17, 2015 By The Detroit News Staff/ The Detroit News

The Red Sox, Cubs and Diamondbacks made the splashy moves this offseason, but Richard Justice of MLB.com writes the Tigers have had the best under-the-rader offseason. “Oh sure, Jordan Zimmermann was the kind of impact signing that gets everyone’s attention,” Justice wrote. “Less noticed has been a series of small moves by general manager Al Avila that may have transformed Detroit’s bullpen from a weakness into a strength.” Those moves include trades for closer Francisco Rodriguez and left-hander Justin Wilson, and the signing of Mark Lowe to bolster the back end of the bullpen. All of a sudden,” Justice wrote, “Tigers manager will have more late-inning options than he has had the past two seasons.” The Tigers’ offseason could get better. On “Hot Stove,” an MLB Network show, host Harold Reynolds and Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com were asked where they thought the top free-agent hitters were headed. When they got to outfielder Yoenis Cespedes, both said the Tigers.

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Mark Lowe, Justin Wilson look forward to playing key roles in revamped Detroit Tigers bullpen December 17, 2015 By Chris Iott/ MLive.com

The biggest issue for the Detroit Tigers in a disappointing 2015 season was the starting rotation. But the biggest issue for the past several years has been the bullpen. Newly acquired relief Mark Lowe and Justin Wilson are looking forward to trying to turn that trend around for the Tigers. The Tigers signed Lowe, a right-hander, for $11 million for two seasons as a free agent and traded for Wilson, a left-hander. Both are expected to hold down key roles in a revamped Tigers bullpen that also includes new closer Francisco Rodriguez. Both said during a conference call with media members Tuesday that it doesn't matter what role manager Brad Ausmus puts them in. "It doesn't really matter for me," Wilson said. "I've kind of been a jack-of-all-trades the last few years, so really it's whenever that phone rings." Lowe shared similar sentiments. "The seventh and eighth innings are both really big innings in any baseball game," Lowe said. "A lot of games are won and lost in those innings. It is nice to play some matchups here and there in the seventh and eighth inning and I'm sure that's what Brad intends to do a little bit. "For me, I like coming in, getting one or two outs, getting a couple of righties out and have Justin take care of some lefties. We both save bullets that way. We'll both be put in situations where nine-and-a-half out of 10 times we're going to succeed." That would be a major improvement for the Tigers, whose bullpen has ranked in the top 10 in ERA or WHIP just once in the past five years, which included four consecutive division titles. Tigers' bullpen ERA 2015: 4.38 (14th in AL) 2014: 4.29 (13th) 2013: 4.01 (12th) 2012: 3.79 (10th) 2011: 3.93 (11th) Tigers' bullpen WHIP 2015: 1.44 (15th in AL) 2014: 1.48 (14th) 2013: 1.34 (11th) 2012: 1.31 (12th) 2011: 1.39 (13th) Both Lowe and Wilson could see time as the for the Tigers. The decision could come down to matchups, but it is worth noting that Wilson is a far cry from being a lefty-on-lefty specialist. Lowe worked through some mechanical issues and found more velocity on his and threw an excellent slider during the 2015 season. He went 1-3 with a 1.96 ERA, a 1.055 WHIP and 61 in 55 innings. Lowe had much more success against right-handed hitters (.196 BA, .523 OPS) than against left-handed hitters (.276, .724 OPS) in 2015. Wilson has less distance between his splits and actually has fared a slight bit better against right-handed hitters. During his four years in the majors, Wilson has held right-handed hitters to a .209 average and a .605 OPS. Left-handed hitters have batted .235 with a .618 OPS against him. Wilson went 5-0 with a 3.10 ERA and a 1.131 WHIP in 61 last season, which was his first with the Yankees. He said he likes what he sees in both the new Tigers bullpen as well as in the current Tigers lineup.

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"I like the pieces we have," Wilson said. "I know they're going to hit. I know they're going to score a ton of runs, so if we do our job on the other hand, I think we should be all right."

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Trip to D.R. gives Tigers chance to give back December 17, 2015 By Jason Beck/ MLB.com

James McCann played winter ball in the Dominican Republic a couple of years ago. He hadn't seen the country like he saw it last week. As he and Tigers teammates Anthony Gose, Kyle Lobstein, Jefry Marte and Jose Valdez visited an orphanage about a mile away from the Tigers' academy in San Pedro de Macoris, one older kid introduced himself. He, too, was a catcher for the school's baseball team, and hopes to try out for a professional team one day. He was one of more than 200 kids living in the orphanage, one of several by Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos, a Christian mission to help orphaned and abandoned children across Latin America and the Caribbean. As McCann toured the campus-like facility, seeing houses where the kids live, and heard about the chore list, schooling and athletic activities each day, he got an appreciation for what their lives are like. He wasn't far from the resort area of Punta Cana, where he and his teammates stayed, and was within driving distance of the capital city of Santo Domingo, where McCann played winter ball for Escogido in 2013, but it felt like a different world. "It was fun to see how excited they got," James McCann said. "It was definitely eye-opening," McCann said in a phone conversation earlier this week. "I actually developed a really good relationship with this young boy in such a short time. We gave him some catching gear, and I gave him my jersey, signed it and personalized it for him. We developed a good little relationship, and I hope to see him again one day." The trip was a venture on the part of the Detroit Tigers Foundation, an affiliate of Ilitch Charities, to give back to areas where the club has a footprint internationally. The Tigers do plenty in Detroit, but they began to reach out to the area around their Dominican academy last year. J.D. Martinez, Nick Castellanos and Bryan Holaday visited last offseason, and kids from the orphanage met the players at the academy, with Martinez giving one child his own shoes. This year, they took the players to the orphanage to give them a look at all they're doing. "We wanted to find the right way to give back to the community and care for people there," said Jordan Field, director of the Detroit Tigers Foundation. "We learned they didn't really have great baseball equipment." Some kids lost their parents. Others attend classes while a parent works all day to provide for the family. Education is a big part of their days, but so are sports, with a baseball field and basketball court on the grounds. "It was an unbelievable setup," McCann said. "I was kind of expecting just a big building that housed a bunch of kids, but it was actually on 40 acres of land. There were different houses on the property that kids lived in." The Tigers saw an opportunity to help. "I'm always looking to give back, whether it's working with one kid back home or going on a trip like this," McCann said. "I feel like I've been blessed and that God has provided me such a platform that I'm looking to give back to those less fortunate. So when this trip presented itself, it was kind of a no-brainer to me to go. If I can have an impact, I feel like it's been a success." The players were joined by former Tigers infielder Ramon Santiago, who was born and raised in the Dominican. Together, they toured the team's Dominican academy, where young players spend their days working out and taking classes, hoping to earn a chance to make it big. Then they went to the orphanage. Together, they brought more than 300 pieces of baseball equipment, from catching gear to cleats, T-shirts, shoes, bats and balls. "You see some of the stuff that you give them -- especially in the big leagues, you're getting new cleats and new gear on a daily basis -- and you see the smiles on the faces when they get cleats," McCann said. "Even though they've been game-worn, it's almost like Christmas to them. You could just see them say, 'I've got so-and-so's gear now.' It was fun to see how excited they got." The players and their wives got in a brief vacation, too, enjoying the beaches of Punta Cana and going deep-sea fishing. But it's the smiles on the kids' faces, McCann said, that will stick with him. "That's what was special about going to the academy and the village is you get into the other aspects of the country," McCann said. "If you're going on vacation, you don't really get that. It was a good trip." 7

Matt Boyd realizes one dream, excited about the future December 17, 2015 By Steve Gress/ Gazette Times

Matt Boyd was running behind schedule on this particular Thursday in late June. It was getaway day and Boyd, a starting for the Triple-A , was checking out of his extended stay room with his wife, Ashley. There was a slight problem with the bill — the Boyds were being double-charged. After getting things sorted out, Boyd and his wife hurried to the field where it turned out the coaching staff was anxiously awaiting his arrival. When he finally reached the clubhouse, Boyd got the word that he wasn’t going to be pitching that day. Instead, his start had been pushed to Saturday in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Boyd admits his mind did wander a bit over the decision, but he went about charting pitches and tried not to think too much about it. After the game, Boyd was summoned to the manager’s office again. Now he was either going to pitch Saturday in Scranton or Saturday in Toronto, he was told. Wait? What? Yep, there was a really good chance that less than 48 hours later, Boyd would see one of his childhood dreams realized. So while his teammates hit the road, Boyd and his wife waited — as patiently as they could — for the call on Friday to let him know where he would pitch the following day. Finally, late that afternoon, he heard — Boyd was going to make his major league debut for the against the at the Rogers Center. After he and Ashley made all the necessary calls — parents, Oregon State coaches, among others — they began the drive north from Buffalo to Toronto. And after filing the paper work for a work permit and getting across the border, reality began to set in and Boyd lost it emotionally. “This is actually going to happen,” he recalled thinking last Wednesday in a phone interview. “This is the accumulation of what I’ve always wanted to do is to pitch at this level.” Setting a goal Boyd wasn’t invited to spring training, but that didn’t deter the former Oregon State standout from believing he could be in the majors at some point in his third season in . He had made the jump from high A ball to Double-A the year before, what Boyd said is “the biggest transition in the game except Triple-A to the big leagues,” and was focused and confident. “I knew what to do from the year before and I had success but I struggled in some aspects in 2014, so going into 2015 I knew what I had to work on,” Boyd said. “I got a lot stronger, my body felt a lot better. I knew ability wasn’t the reason why I struggled in 2014, so I came out and built off what I was weak at and just had the confidence to do.” It also helped that at the end of spring training, the Blue Jays played an exhibition series against the in Montreal and he was invited to take part. “More than anything it just gave me a feel for kind of what big league baseball was like, what it was like playing in front of fans like that and what it was like pitching to some hitters like that to a degree,” Boyd said. “…. It told me that this is still baseball.” Boyd had plenty of success early in 2015, first at Double-A New Hampshire where he went 6-1 with a 1.10 ERA and then at Buffalo before getting the call to the majors. Mixed results When Boyd made his Major League debut on June 25, he became the fastest Oregon State player to make the jump. It was a distinction he held for about a month — until Michael Conforto joined the on July 24 to stake claim to that honor.

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Boyd started fast, striking out Texas' Shin-Soo Choo, the first batter he faced. When he got Adrian Beltre to ground out to end the first, he walked off the field with a giant smile on his face. “Wow, I just got three outs in the big leagues,” he recalled thinking. Boyd and the Blue Jays lost a 4-0 decision to the Rangers that afternoon. The lefty didn’t pitch that bad as he went 6 2/3 innings, allowing nine hits and giving up three solo home runs. “One of the balls by (Mitch) Moreland would have been out of a national park. He crushed it,” Boyd said. “The other two I didn’t execute the pitch just like I wanted and they got a good enough swing on it where it just carries in that park and they barely got out. That’s what happens at the next level, right? You don’t execute and you get beat. That was tough and it was a learning experience but it was fun.” Despite the loss, Boyd took a lot of confidence from his performance. Of course, if he had done that at Buffalo two days earlier, he would have been frustrated. “If I had an outing like that in the minors I would have been furious at myself,” Boyd said. “That’s the mentality I want to have in the big leagues, too. I want to strive to as close to perfection as you can get. “More than anything I didn’t feel overmatched and that was a big thing. It wasn’t like I was up there and I just had the best game I’ve ever had and I barely got through it. It was, ‘hey I can do this, I belong here.’ That was a cool feeling.” But baseball can be a cruel game. In his next start five days later, Boyd suffered through possibly the lowest point of his baseball career against the . Boyd allowed the first six batters to reach with hits and then walked the seventh batter he faced. That was the end of his night. He gave up seven earned runs without recording an out. “That was my worst outing of my career,” Boyd said. “I have never not recorded an out in an outing. It was just crazy how that happened. I just kind of learned how to deal with failure. … I didn’t execute a few pitches and ones I did they got bats on. Unfortunately it all happened at the same time and it was a perfect storm.” Boyd, who was sent back to Buffalo right after the game, vowed to learn and grow from that performance but it took a while to recover. He admits doubt began to creep in. And while he was able to overcome that, it took a lot of prayer and being honest about what he needed to do to improve. “It made me so much stronger because I’m not going to go through anything worse on a baseball field,” Boyd said. “Hey, the Lord has me here for a reason, there’s something to learn for this. “It made me a better ball player.” Senior year key Boyd turned down a shot at a pro career after his junior year at Oregon State, opting to play one more season with the Beavers in hopes of helping lead them to the . And while that is exactly what happened, the extra season and getting an opportunity to start instead of coming out of the bullpen may be the reason Boyd had a chance to play in the majors so quickly. Not only did Boyd take on the No. 1 starter role, he added another pitch and also took ownership of his game. “I was like, hey, if I’m going to win or lose, it’s going to be on my terms,” he said. His goal each game was to give his team a chance to win. “I wanted to be the guy that got the ball and guys knew when I had the ball, we were going to win,” Boyd said. “That was a big step in my confidence and how I viewed myself as a pitcher. I continued to build off that in pro ball after Omaha and to the present day. That year was truly a launching pad for the rest of my career.” The trade Boyd admits it may have been naïve to think he would play his entire career with the Blue Jays organization, but that was his plan. At least until the Blue Jays dealt him and a few other players to the Detroit Tigers for pitcher David Price. Boyd began his Tigers career in Triple-A with the , making one start and pitching just two innings before being pulled early — he was headed back to The Show.

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He made his Tigers debut on Aug. 5 against the eventual World Series champion . In a stark comparison to his last MLB outing, Boyd went seven innings, allowing one run on seven hits and left to a standing ovation as the Tigers edged the Royals 2-1 to give Boyd his first career win. “I was getting dressed in front of my locker and (Justin) Verlander and a throng of others gave me a beer shower for my first win,” he said. “I couldn’t even name off half the team at that point." Moving forward Boyd made 10 starts with the Tigers and finished the year just 1-6 with a 7.53 ERA. Of his 12 starts, nine were against playoff teams, including four against the Royals. He also faced the Rangers three times and his old team, the Blue Jays, once. “I truly feel like I’m where I’m supposed to be and it’s truly a blessing I’m with this organization and I couldn’t be happier about it,” Boyd said. Now, he wants to earn a rotation spot with the Tigers out of spring training. “That sort of thing is out of my control, it’s someone else making that decision,” Boyd said. “All I can control is to go out there and train my tail off this offseason, get as strong as I can, get my (velocity) up and make all five of my pitches the best they can be and show up to spring training and play like I know how to play baseball. If I do that, things will take care of itself.” Regardless of what happens, Boyd knows he can bounce back and keep working to improve. “I had my face pushed in the dirt a few times, multiple times, and none of it killed me,” he said. “I know what I can do to have success at this level and I plan to do it. Always going to be a work in progress but I know what I need to do and I’m excited to do it.”

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LAST UPDATED: THU, DECEMBER 17, 2015, 03:05 EST

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2015

TEAM PLAYER TRANSACTION

Atlanta Braves Tyler Flowers Signed as Free Agent, ( 2016-2017; Opt 2018)(two-year contract)

Chicago White Sox Traded From from Reds, Cincinnati (three-team, seven-player deal)

Cincinnati Reds Scott Schebler Traded From from Dodgers, Los Angeles (three-team, seven-player deal)

Cincinnati Reds Jose Peraza Traded From from Dodgers, Los Angeles (three-team, seven-player deal)

Colorado Rockies Mark Reynolds Signed as Free Agent, ( 2016)(one-year contract)

Los Angeles Angels Daniel Nava Signed as Free Agent, ( 2016)(one-year contract)

Los Angeles Dodgers Frankie Montas Traded From from White Sox, Chi. White Sox (three-team, seven-player deal)

Oakland Athletics Nate Freiman Released

San Francisco Giants Johnny Cueto Signed as Free Agent, ( 2016-2021; Opt 2022)(six-year contract)

Seattle Mariners Tyler Olson Designated for Assignment

Seattle Mariners A.J. Schugel Acquired Off Waivers From from Diamondbacks, Arizona

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2015

TEAM PLAYER TRANSACTION

Boston Red Sox Ryan LaMarre Signed to a Minor League Contract

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Boston Red Sox Anthony Varvaro Signed to a Minor League Contract

Boston Red Sox Ali Solis Signed to a Minor League Contract

Boston Red Sox Chris Dominguez Signed to a Minor League Contract

Chicago Cubs Jason Heyward Signed as Free Agent, ( 2016-2023)(eight-year contract)

Milwaukee Brewers Will Middlebrooks Signed to a Minor League Contract

Minnesota Twins Darin Mastroianni Signed to a Minor League Contract

Minnesota Twins Wilfredo Tovar Signed to a Minor League Contract

Minnesota Twins Brandon Kintzler Signed to a Minor League Contract

New York Mets Jerry Blevins Signed as Free Agent, ( 2016)(one-year contract)

Texas Rangers Bobby Wilson Signed to a Minor League Contract

Texas Rangers Tony Barnette Signed as Free Agent, ( 2016-2017; Opt 2018)(two-year contract)

Toronto Blue Jays Jeff Francis Retired

MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2015

TEAM PLAYER TRANSACTION

Atlanta Braves Jhoulys Chacin Signed to a Minor League Contract

Baltimore Orioles Darren O'Day Signed as Free Agent, ( 2016-2019)(four-year contract)

Baltimore Orioles Rey Navarro Designated for Assignment

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Baltimore Orioles Alfredo Marte Signed to a Minor League Contract

Chicago Cubs Trevor Cahill Signed as Free Agent, ( 2016)(one-year contract)

Chicago White Sox Hector Sanchez Signed to a Minor League Contract

Kansas City Royals John Lannan Signed to a Minor League Contract

Kansas City Royals Dillon Gee Signed to a Minor League Contract

Milwaukee Brewers Alex Presley Signed to a Minor League Contract

Milwaukee Brewers Jake Elmore Signed to a Minor League Contract

Minnesota Twins Buddy Boshers Signed to a Minor League Contract

New York Mets Marc Krauss Signed to a Minor League Contract

New York Mets Asdrubal Cabrera Signed as Free Agent, ( 2016-2017; Opt 2018)(two-year contract)

Oakland Athletics Ryan Madson Signed as Free Agent, ( 2016-2018)(three-year contract)

Philadelphia Phillies J.P. Arencibia Signed to a Minor League Contract

Philadelphia Phillies Gregory Infante Signed to a Minor League Contract

Pittsburgh Pirates Antoan Richardson Signed to a Minor League Contract

Seattle Mariners Steve Cishek Signed as Free Agent, ( 2016-2017)(two-year contract)

Seattle Mariners Designated for Assignment

Tampa Bay Rays Signed to Play in Japan, (Yakult Swallows)

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Tampa Bay Rays Signed to a Minor League Contract

Texas Rangers Andy Wilkins Acquired Off Waivers From from Mariners, Seattle

Washington Nationals Nick Masset Signed to a Minor League Contract

Washington Nationals Yusmeiro Petit Signed as Free Agent, ( 2016; Opt 2017)(one-year contract)

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