Tigers Sign Kevin Newman To Minor League Dea

The Tigers have signed infielder to a minor league deal, as noted this evening by . Newman has already reported to Triple-A Toledo and is in tonights lineup for the Mud Hens. Newman, 32, was a first-round pick by the Pirates back in 2015 who made his big league debut during the 2018 season. He appeared in just 31 games during that first taste of Harmon Killebrew Jersey the majors and didnt hit much at all, but earned a regular role with the Pirates in his first full big league season the following year and hit quite well acro s 130 games. Then 25 years old, Newman impre sed with an above-average .308/.353/.446 slash line (109 wRC+) in 531 plate appearances as Pittsburghs starting shortstop. Unfortunately, that excellent rookie season proved to be an outlier. Over his next three years with the organization, Newman hit just .240/.283/.323 (64 wRC+) in 270 games. Newmans lackluster work following his rookie campaign led the Pirates to part ways with Newman following the 2022 season. In November of that year, he was shipped to the Reds in a minor trade just before the non-tender deadline. With Cincinnati in 2023 and Arizona in 2024, Newman showed a form similar to the one he showed with the Pirates during the 2022 campaign as he hit a below average .267/.311/.370 (84 wRC+) with strong enough infield defense to be a quality bench bat and role player. His value was further augmented by his ability to put up respectable numbers (including a 114 wRC+ from 2022 to 24) against left-handed pitching. That solid work in a part-time role over the past few years was clearly enough to convince the Angels to sign Newman to a one-year, $2.75MM guarantee this past offseason. He was part of the clubs infield mix alongside a number of newcomers like , , , and . The majority of those players are no longer on Anaheims roster, and Newman himself was designated for a signment on the day of the trade deadline after the Angels acquired in a trade with the Yankees. That DFA came after Newman appeared in just 33 games with the club and hit a paltry .202/.209/.272 (27 wRC+) in the 116 plate appearance he received during his time in California. That weak offense wasnt enough to keep a job on Anaheims big league staff, but Newman has now attracted interest from the Tigers as a minor league depth piece. By joining his new organization prior to the start of September, Newman remains eligible to play in the postseason for the Tigers in the event he gets added to the roster at some point. , , and have split time at shortstop this year for Detroit, but its po sible that Newman could make his way into that group if one of that trio suffers an injury or the Tigers decide theyd prefer to get both Baez and McKinstry more time at other positions. Anthony Desclafani Jersey