Detroit Tigers news: Pitching prospects already ranking high

The youngsters can pitch

The Detroit Tigers might just have a future after all. SB Nation sister site Minor League Ball ranked Detroit among the top five farm systems for pitchers in a post Monday, writing

The Tigers have moved on to this radar just based on the last three months. Drafting Alex Faedo and trading for Franklin Perez in the Justin Verlander deal accounts for two of the top three prospects in the entire system.

The Tigers also have Matt Manning, last year’s top pick, and 2015 top pick Beau Burrows as third and fourth Top 100 arms.

Kyle Funkhouser isn’t quite a Top 100 prospect, but he’s still a very good prospect who should be at least a middle of the rotation arm if he stays healthy. The same can be said about Grayson Long, who was just added in the last week in the deal which sent Justin Upton to the Angels.

Lynn Henning has his Top-20 prospect list out, too.

Mud Hens’, SeaWolves’ seasons wrap up

The minor league season is quickly coming to an end for most teams. The Flying Tigers already wrapped up, and the SeaWolves and Mud Hens joined them by closing the books on Monday. Their records were ... well, who knows and who cares, honestly? That stuff doesn’t matter.

We scouted new Tigers prospects Franklin Perez and Daz Cameron on Monday. However, Perez’s debut in the Tigers organization will have to wait He was scratched Monday with a blister.

Cameron and the Whitecaps will open their postseason at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Comstock Park.

Kinsler and Iggy are probably gone

With the rebuild in full effect and both players eligible to be free agents after next season -- the Tigers have a $10m option for Kinsler for next season, and Iglesias will be in his last year of arbitration next year — it seems likely neither player will be seen as must-haves for when the Tigers make their next run at contention. They might not fetch much, but that would be better than nothing.

Read more of my thoughts in the Detroit News.

Meanwhile, Zimmermann is hurting

Jordan Zimmermann isn’t right. That much has been true since, oh, last May. That’s May 2016, not this year. Manager Brad Ausmus said Zimmermann’s neck is to blame. Chris McCosky wrote in the News:

The pain in his neck that vexed him nearly all last season has returned with a vengeance, and it will shut him down for at least one start, and very possibly for the rest of this season.

“The pain has returned and started to radiate down his right trapezoid (muscle),” manager Brad Ausmus said before the game Monday. “He has to go see the doctor he saw this winter.”

Other Tigers quick hits

The Tigers reduce their payroll by $100 million with all the trades. ... Starting pitcher Artie Lewicki learned the big leagues are a lot harder than Triple-A. Victor Alcantara — the guy the Tigers received for Cameron Maybin last winter — is the last expected player to get a September call-up. So Bruce Rondon, Jim Adduci, and July acquisition Dawel Lugo will see their seasons end ... Anibal Sanchez is back in the Tigers’ rotation tonight.

Baseball is awesome

/sobbing emoji