The Detroit Tigers made a trade on the first day of spring camp. After designating RHP Mason Englert in exchange for signing Jack Flaherty last week, they traded Englert to the Rays today for minor league lefty Drew Sommers.
There are no real downsides to such a move. We might have preferred to keep Englert over some other options on the 40-man roster, but despite having a quality slider and changeup, the right-hander hasn’t been able to solve his fastball vulnerability in his seasons in the Tigers’ organization. Now he’ll get a chance at a fresh start with Tampa Bay.
In Drew Sommers the Tigers are getting a 24-year-old lefty who hasn’t graduated from the A-ball levels yet. The Rays drafted him out of Central Arizona College with their 11th round pick in 2022 after they won the JUCO national title. There isn’t much information about him available beyond his six-foot-three, 250 pound specs, but it looks like a pretty average fastball and a good but still inconsistent slider. He’s posted good strikeout and home runs against numbers, and his walk rates have been solid.
College lefties generally do pretty well against young A-ball hitters who haven’t seen many good lefties before. That advantage dissipates in the upper minors, so we’ll have to see how Sommers does as he likely heads to Double-A Erie this season. If the strikeouts translate the Tigers might have a little something to work with here.
As for Englert, the Tigers took him in the Rule 5 draft from the Texas Rangers back in 2022. He was injured in 2023 but otherwise the Tigers kept him on the roster all year to claim his rights. He has the secondary pitches to succeed, but his low 90’s fastball has been punished at the major league level.
Interesting to see the Tigers in a position where the Rays are picking up their leavings. Alex Faedo and now Englert have been DFA’d and then flipped to the Rays for minor, low level prospects. Probably the Tigers won’t end up missing Mason Englert, but he’s still only 25, so there’s a chance he can put something together in Tampa.