The Detroit Tigers, led by new president of baseball operations Scott Harris, have claimed two players off waivers in the past week.
Utility infielder Jermaine Palacios, formerly with the Minnesota Twins, joined the 40-man roster Tuesday. On Friday, the Tigers added catcher Michael Papierski, a ninth-round pick by the Houston Astros in 2017, from the Cincinnati Reds.
Papierski, 26, made his MLB debut in May.
Catcher Ali Sánchez, whom the Tigers claimed off waivers from the St. Louis Cardinals in June, has been designated for assignment. He played 44 games for Triple-A Toledo but did not reach the big leagues with the Tigers.
The 25-year-old hit .262 with six home runs and a .354 on-base percentage in 74 games with Triple-A Memphis (Cardinals) and Toledo. He hit .268 with a .369 OBP for the Mud Hens.
Meanwhile, Papierski spent 39 MLB games with the San Francisco Giants (five games) and Reds (34 games). On May 14, the Giants — with Harris as the general manager — traded utility player Mauricio Dubón to the Astros in exchange for Papierski.
Papierski hit .143 with 10 walks and 26 strikeouts in the majors this season, failing to record a single “barrel” on 67 batted balls, while Dubón joined the Astros on their American League Division Series roster.
Papierski also played 57 games in Triple-A this season: 26 for Sugar Land (Astros), 17 for Louisville (Reds) and 14 for Sacramento (Giants). In those games, he hit .232 with 26 walks and 39 strikeouts, logging a .329 OBP.
Before his professional career, Papierski spent three seasons at LSU and was named to the SEC All-Defensive Team as a junior in 2017. Spanning his minors career, he had made 290 starts at catcher and 40 starts at first base.