Tigers acquire Astros trio in Verlander deal
The Tigers are bidding farewell to a franchise icon and saying hello to three players for the future.Detroit acquired prospects Franklin Perez, Daz Cameron and Jake Rogers from Houston late Thursday night in exchange for longtime ace Justin Verlander and a player to be named later or cash in a
The Tigers are bidding farewell to a franchise icon and saying hello to three players for the future.
Detroit acquired prospects Franklin Perez, Daz Cameron and Jake Rogers from Houston late Thursday night in exchange for longtime ace Justin Verlander and a player to be named later or cash in a deal completed just before Major League Baseball's waiver trade deadline. All three prospects were ranked in Houston's top 11 with right-handed pitcher Perez at No. 3, outfielder Cameron at No. 9 and catcher Rogers at No. 11.
"All three players are outstanding athletes, and they greatly bolster our Minor League system," Tigers GM Al Avila said in a statement. "Perez was the headliner for us, cementing himself as a dominant force in each of his three years in professional baseball.
"Daz Cameron is someone that we view as one of the highest-ceiling players in the Minors. Cameron is a guy that slipped in the Draft because of signability concerns, but has always shown flashes of his dad's play.
"Rogers plays beyond his years, demonstrating solid pop in his bat while having above-average plate discipline, and our scouts have him rated as a reliable receiver behind the plate with an above-average arm."
Perez is expected be Detroit's new No. 1 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, checking in at No. 46 overall, 22 spots ahead of Detroit's current top prospect, righty Matt Manning.
Perez is in the midst of a breakout season across two levels. The 19-year-old began the year with 12 outings (10 starts) for Class A Advanced Buies Creek, going 4-2 with a 2.98 ERA, 53 strikeouts and 16 walks in 54 1/3 innings. After being named a midseason All-Star in the Carolina League, the righty moved up to Double-A Corpus Christi, where he's been nearly as good, going 2-1 with a 3.09 ERA in seven games (six starts). Perez has fanned 25 batters with 11 walks in 32 innings for the Hooks while limiting opposing hitters to a .220 average across both levels.
The Venezuela native originally signed with the Astros as a 16-year-old in 2014. In 50 Minor League outings (36 starts), he sports a 3.33 ERA and 214 strikeouts in 203 innings pitched.
Cameron was Houston's competitive balance-round selection in the 2015 Draft, going 37th overall out of a Georgia high school. The outfielder batted just .251 with a .661 OPS in 51 games during his debut season with the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League Astros and Greeneville in the Appalachian League and .212 with a .608 OPS in 40 games between Class A Short Season Tri-City and Class A Quad Cities last year.
Back with the River Bandits in 2017, Cameron found his stroke after a sluggish start. The McDonough, Georgia native left June batting just .211/.290/.398 through 67 games. In 53 contests since July 1, the 20-year-old has hit .345/.420/.550 with six homers and 40 RBIs, starting to show the prowess of his big league roots as the son of former All-Star Mike Cameron.
Rogers was the most recent addition to the Houston organization, joining the Astros out of Tulane as a third-round pick in 2016. The backstop started this season with Cameron in Quad Cities, but moved up to the Carolina League after batting .255/.336/.520 in 27 Class A games. With Buies Creek, he's hit .263/.357/.457 with 12 homers and 55 RBIs over 83 games. His defensive numbers have been even better. Rogers threw out half of the 24 attempted basestealers against him in the Midwest League and has stuck close to that rate in Buies Creek, nailing 19 of 43 (44.2 percent). He's made just five errors all year.
In the exchange, Houston acquired Verlander, the 2011 American League Cy Young Award winner and seven-time All-Star, to help its postseason push. The Astros enter Friday with an 80-53 record, the best in the American League, and an 11.5-game lead over the Angels in the AL West.
Tyler Maun is a contributor to MiLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @TylerMaun.
Phillies' Moore, Fausnaught join MiLB podcast
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
Red Sox prospect rips double THROUGH Fenway-esque scoreboard
Red Sox No. 4 prospect Franklin Arias, an infielder for High-A Greenville, REALLY didn’t want to let visiting Asheville score any runs in the top of the eighth inning on Friday night. With runners on first and second base in the bottom of the fourth, Arias showed he apparently held
April's hottest hitting prospects -- one for each organization
The Minor League season is a month old and several of the game's best hitting prospects are off to fast starts. Red Sox outfielder Roman Anthony is tearing up Triple-A (just like he did at the end of last year), Padres shortstop Leo De Vries is leading the High-A Midwest
Check out the best -- and wackiest -- Minor League promos happening in May
Benjamin Hill travels the nation collecting stories about what makes Minor League Baseball unique. This excerpt from the Baseball Traveler newsletter, presented by Circle K, is a mere taste of the smorgasbord of delights he offers every week. Read the full newsletter here, and subscribe to his newsletter here.
Orioles' Honeycutt joins The Show Before the Show
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
MiLB podcast coming LIVE to a Somerset this June
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
New ballparks highlight 2025 MiLB road trip stops
Benjamin Hill travels the nation collecting stories about what makes Minor League Baseball unique. This excerpt from the Baseball Traveler newsletter, presented by Circle K, is a mere taste of the smorgasbord of delights he offers every week. Read the full newsletter here, and subscribe to his newsletter here.
Minor League Baseball partners with TruGreen
FRANKLIN, Tenn. -- TruGreen, the nation's leading lawn care treatment provider, is proud to announce a groundbreaking partnership with Minor League Baseball that includes activations across all 120 clubs, a makeover of the home dugout in each market, sponsorship of select MiLB team grounds crews, and a new initiative called
Podcast explains why the Syracuse Mets are looking for Jim Morrison
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
Dash im-prom-tu promo and Mets' Suero joins the podcast
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
Minor League Baseball partners with Circle K
Minor League Baseball announced a new national partnership with Circle K, which will see the convenience store giant become the “Official Convenience Store of Minor League Baseball.” During the 2025 season, the Circle K brand will be integrated into the MiLB in-stadium experience through in-game video board assets at most
These 15 moments led to season No. 15 of Minor League road trips
Benjamin Hill travels the nation collecting stories about what makes Minor League Baseball unique. This excerpt from his newsletter is a mere taste of the smorgasbord of delights he offers every week. Read the full newsletter here, and subscribe to his newsletter here.
MiLB podcast crew makes Opening Day predictions
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
Everything you need to know for Triple-A Opening Day
First, there was big league Opening Day. Now it's Triple-A's turn to take the spotlight. The Minor League season opens Friday when the Triple-A International League and Pacific Coast League seasons get underway for the first of MiLB’s two Opening Days. And right out of the gates, several of baseball's
Top prospects to watch at Triple-A -- one for each organization
It’s Triple-A’s turn up to bat on Friday. The regular season begins for the Minor Leagues’ highest level one day after the action starts on the Major League side. Fun fact: it’ll be the earliest start to a Minor League season since 1951 (March 27). Double-A, High-A and Single-A will
Here's where every Top 100 prospect is expected to start the season
The 2025 Opening Day prospect roster announcements began last week when the Cubs informed Matt Shaw (MLB No. 19) he was making the trip overseas to compete in the Tokyo Series. Roki Sasaki (No. 1) also received the good news, but his assignment was much less of a surprise. Now
Nationals prospect King joins MiLB podcast
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
Here are the 2025 All-Spring Breakout Teams
Fifteen games, several jersey swaps and countless highlights later, the second edition of Spring Breakout has officially concluded – and it lived up to its billing. Of the 16 contests sprinkled across four days, only one game (Dodgers vs. Cubs) was rained out. Coincidentally, the Cubs were one of two
Rox young sluggers aim to bring pop back to Coors Field
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Coors Field may provide the best run-scoring environment in Major League Baseball, but the Rockies haven’t taken advantage of it in recent years. Even without adjusting for Coors, they have fielded offenses worse than the league average the past three seasons, and they scored the fewest runs
Astros brass sees potential in consistently 'underranked' farm system
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The last time the Astros landed in the top 10 of MLB Pipeline’s farm system rankings was before the 2019 season. Since those rankings expanded to all 30 teams ahead of the 2020 season -- 11 lists in total -- they’ve never ranked higher than
Complete results and highlights from Spring Breakout
The second edition of MLB Spring Breakout is complete, and there was no shortage of highlights from the future stars of Major League Baseball over the four-day showcase. Here's a complete breakdown of the 16-game exhibition:
Southpaw Spring Breakout: White Sox future on display with Schultz, Smith
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- If all goes as planned for the White Sox, left-handers Hagen Smith and Noah Schultz won’t spend much time following each other to the mound in a single game. Schultz, the No. 1 White Sox prospect and No. 16 overall, per MLB Pipeline, and Smith, who is
In first pro game, Rainer offers pop, promise to Tigers fans
NORTH PORT, Fla. -- Bryce Rainer’s pro career consisted of workouts and batting practice until Sunday.
'Me and Brady on the dirt again': House, King reunite at Spring Breakout
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The 2025 Spring Breakout was a flashback for Brady House and Seaver King. Over 10 years ago, the infielders were travel ball teammates in Georgia who shared the dream of making it to the Major Leagues. Now, they are top prospects in the same organization,
Lambert -- 'an adrenaline guy' -- hoping to be next Mets bullpen gem
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Ryan Lambert loves throwing hard. He relishes the idea of getting to two strikes and blowing hitters away. “Get me in a game,” Lambert said, “cool things will happen.”