Dustin

Garneau

“Hanging them up,” Garneau wrote on his personal Twitter account. “Thank you to everyone who had an impact on my career. To my wife for always being by my side through the ups and downs. To my agent for always being there and making me a part of your family as well. And to my friends and family who were by my side.” The 35-year-old catcher played in eight major league seasons for six different teams, ultimately posting a .205/.285/.373 batting line with 92 hits and 15 home runs in 168 career MLB games.

The veteran backstop was limited to 10 at-bats for the Detroit Tigers this year. He elected free agency and looks to land with another team as a No.3 catching option.

Garneau was designated for assignment earlier this week as MLB rosters shrunk from 28 to 26, but the veteran catcher passed through waivers unclaimed and will remain in the Tigers organization.

Garneau falls victim to the league-wide roster crunch as the Tigers’ needed to get down to 26 players ahead of Monday’s deadline. The 34-year-old backstop has appeared in eight games this season with the Tigers. It’s possible they’re able to sneak him through waivers and keep him in the organization as extra catching depth at Triple-A Toledo.

Garneau provided all of the offense for the Tigers on Saturday. With two-out and Daz Cameron standing at second base in the top of the second, the 34-year-old catcher hit a 104.6 mph, 384-foot double to center field off of Kris Bubic, scoring Cameron and typing the game up at 1-1. This was just his second start of the season.

The 34-year-old slashed .210/.250/.581 over 62 at-bats in 2021 for the Tigers. Garneau is not fantasy-relevant as the likely No. 3 option at catcher in Detroit.

Garneau’s home run was a moonshot down the left field line which was measured at a modest 347 feet. He’s been getting a decent amount of run at catcher of late for the Tigers and now has four homers in 12 games. The 34-year-old isn’t fantasy-relevant, though.

Garneau welcomed Mychal Givens to the game with a two-run blast in the sixth inning. He then slugged a solo shot off of Jeff Hoffman in the seventh inning to increase the Tigers lead to 11-4. With the 2-for-5 night he’s now hitting .292/.292/.750 with three homers and four RBI in his first eight games with the Tigers.

The 34-year-old is batting .219/.336/.458 over 96 at-bats this season in the minors with five home runs and 17 RBI. There is no fantasy appeal here.

Garneau was recently cut loose by the Tigers after slashing .176/.283/.431 in 17 games (60 plate appearances) with Triple-A Toledo. He’ll be organizational depth at catcher for Colorado.