Well, the Detroit Tigers didn’t necessarily need to trade Casey Mize, and so they held out until moments before today’s 6:00 p.m. ET trade deadline. Right at the buzzer, a deal was announced, sending Mize to San Diego in exchange for the Padres #2 ranked prospect, 21-year-old left-hander Kash Mayfield and 27-year-old left-handed starting pitcher Jackson Wolf. That was all the Tigers did on deadline day.
Overall, the Tigers posture was just odd in that they didn’t make a single move to improve their
bullpen. Trying to balance between the need to cash in on Tarik Skubal’s trade value, but without giving up on the season, failing to address their most obvious glaring need is pretty odd on the surface. They did acquire RHP River Ryan, who could be moved to the bullpen, as could RHP Jackson Jobe, due to return soon from his Tommy John surgery rehab work. However, after trading Skubal and Mize, and with Jack Flaherty on the injured list, the needs in the rotation now say that they need Ryan and Jobe in their normal starting roles.
That part of this is baffling, but the return for Casey Mize is really quite good. Mayfield isn’t a top 100 prospect, but he draws a 45+ grade from FanGraphs, for example, putting him just outside of top 100 status. The southpaw was the Padres first round pick just two years ago, selected 25th overall out of Elk City HS in Oklahoma. He’s currently pitching in High-A ball for the Fort Wayne TinCaps in the Midwest League, where he holds a 3.54 ERA with a 4.21 FIP. So the Tigers have seen him quite a bit in the same league as their own High-A affiliate, the West Michigan Whitecaps.
Mayfield has a prototypical starter’s build at six-foot-four and weighing in at 200 pounds. He has a smooth balanced delivery and a lively arm from a standard three-quarters arm slot. He typically sits in the low-90’s, though he’s touched 97 here and there, but he also has good extension down the mound, developing a good angle for a riding fourseamer up in the zone. Mayfield’s best pitch is his changeup, with flashes plus, but he has a solid fourseam fastball-slider combination as well. His control is alright for his level, and his delivery argues for good command with more experience, but his walk rate is currently a bit on the high side at 10.3 percent. However, he is punching out plenty of hitters with a 29 percent strikeout rate.
This is pretty nice pitcher to get in return for two months of Casey Mize, particularly as Mize has struggled with injuries while seeing his velocity crumble in recent weeks. I’m frankly a bit surprised anyone was willing to pony up this much, so waiting until the final bell here may have paid off for Scott Harris and Jeff Greenberg.
The 27-year-old Wolf has been in the Padres system since they drafted him in the fourth round back in 2021. He briefly got a cup of coffee in the big leagues back in 2024, but has been stuck back in Triple-A ever since. With modest strikeout rates and elevated walk rates, he gives off classic sixth starter vibes, but just hasn’t been able to put it together enough to even get back to the majors. He mixes a lot of pitch types, starting with a fourseam-sinker combination that averages about 90 mph. He’s work in cutters and sliders with the occasional bigger breaking ball, but doesn’t have much feel for a changeup. This is really just a depth arm for the Toledo Mud Hens, but under their current circumstances, they may need Wolf to take a spot start or two. Don’t expect much.
The Tigers certainly got good value for Mize, and so trading him made sense. We’re excited to have Mayfield in the system as the overall pitching on the farm looks quite a bit better with he and Brady Smith added in trades. The alternative to trading Mize was to keep him and hope that he’d decline the qualifying offer this offseason, netting the Tigers a compensation pick after the first round. Mayfield is basically the level of prospect you find at that point in the draft, and so they got the value they needed out of the Padres.
Their overall posture of the Tigers front office remains pretty bizarre though, or mysterious, to be a little more generous. No one expected a major acquisition, but the fact that they didn’t even attempt to upgrade the bullpen which has been their undoing all season is baffling. They decided not to just sell off all expiring assets, and still seem to believe they can make a run at a wild card spot, but not addressing the bullpen is a choice in that context.
Things never really came together as hoped for Casey Mize. As a former first overall pick back in 2018, much was expected. Since returning from Tommy John surgery, he put together solid work in 2024-2025, and appeared to be on the verge of a breakout this season before repeat bouts with groin strains stalled him out somewhat. We wish him the best with the San Diego Padres.
