Wilkel

Hernandez

No real surprises here among the latest cuts for Detroit. Leonard is probably the closest to contributing at the highest level after batting .263/.326/.455 with 10 homers and seven steals across 282 plate appearances last year at Triple-A Toledo. Flores, no relation to the Giants first baseman, was limited to just 20 appearances last year in the minors due to injury, but was a highly-touted pitching prospect just two years ago.

The 25-year-old hurler spent the 2024 season in the rotation at Double-A Erie where he registered a 4.34 ERA, 1.45 WHIP and a 108/55 K/BB ratio over 120 1/3 innings in 28 appearances (27 starts). He’ll continue to function as extra rotation depth for the Tigers heading into the 2025 campaign.

Montgomery offers more safety being the outfielder who reached Double-A in 2017, but Hernandez has a chance to be the best player in the deal, at least on the Detroit side. At 6-foot-3, 160-pounds, he offers plenty of projection, and he already gets his fastball up to 92 mph. He also won’t turn 19 years old until April, so there’s lots of time for him to develop his secondary pitches. That’s good, because they need a lot of development. There are a ton of possible outcomes for this type of pitcher.