The Tigers have signed right-hander Ricky Vanasco to a minor league deal, in line with his transactions tracker at MLB.com. The Full Circle Sports activities Administration consumer has been assigned to Triple-A Toledo for now however will presumably obtain an invitation to main league spring coaching.
Vanasco, 26, completed the 2024 season with the Tigers. They acquired him from the Dodgers in a July money deal and largely stored him within the minors on non-compulsory task, solely giving him two main league appearances. Detroit then non-tendered him final week, sending him to free company with out exposing him to waivers, which allowed them to carry him again through this deal.
The righty now has simply 4 main league appearances underneath his belt, two of these coming with the Dodgers previous to the 2 he made with the Tigers. That’s clearly not a big sufficient pattern to attract any conclusions from, however there are different explanation why the Tigers have an interest.
Vanasco was drafted by the Rangers again in 2017 and put up some good numbers within the decrease ranges of the minors. Baseball America ranked him that membership’s #12 prospect going into 2020. Sadly, he required Tommy John surgical procedure in September of that yr and missed your complete 2021 season. Nonetheless, the Rangers didn’t need him to be left uncovered within the Rule 5 draft, in order that they added him to their 40-man roster in November of 2021.
Recovered from his surgical procedure, he was again on the mound in 2022. He made 23 begins that yr between Excessive-A and Double-A, throwing 92 1/3 innings with a 4.68 earned run common. His 28.9% strikeout charge was sturdy however he additionally gave out walks at a 12.7% clip. In 2023, knee surgical procedure pressured him to overlook a couple of months however he had some encouraging outcomes whereas switching to a aid position. He tossed 32 1/3 innings that yr with a 2.78 ERA, 31.9% strikeout charge and 9.9% stroll charge, getting acquired by the Dodgers halfway by means of that yr.
In 2024, as talked about, he made 4 main league appearances between the Dodgers and Tigers. Most of his time was spent in Triple-A, the place he logged 40 1/3 innings with a 2.45 ERA. His 26.4% strikeout charge was good however the 16.5% stroll charge very a lot on the excessive facet.
The dearth of management may make Vanasco a little bit of a mission for the Tigers, however there’s no actual threat on a minor league deal and there could possibly be long-term advantages if it really works out. Vanasco is out of choices however has lower than a yr of service time and remains to be comparatively younger. Which means he could possibly be cheaply retained for years into the longer term if issues click on for him and he will get a roster spot.
