The Tigers used their last open 40-man roster spot on a name most fans have never heard of. Andre Granillo, a 26-year-old righty who'd been designated for assignment by the Nationals, is now property of Detroit and headed to Triple-A Toledo, according to MLB Trade Rumors.
Tigers Claim Andre Granillo t.co/4iGn45nSgu
It's not a splashy pickup, and it's not supposed to be. Granillo had a rough go of it in Washington, working 8 appearances and 9 1/3 innings with 3 strikeouts against 8 walks before getting cut loose. Those numbers are why he cleared waivers instead of drawing multiple claims.
The path here is a whirlwind for a guy who was a 14th-round pick out of UC Riverside in 2021. Granillo debuted with St. Louis in June 2025 and actually flashed real upside early, throwing 2 2/3 scoreless innings in his MLB debut and picking up a win and a save in a doubleheader against the White Sox that same month. The Cardinals later flipped him to Washington for right-hander George Soriano, and now he's on his third organization in about a year.
For Detroit, this is pure organizational depth-building, not a bullpen reinforcement for the big club. Granillo's calling card is a slider off a 94-mph fastball, the kind of stuff teams like to stash in Triple-A and see if a new pitching lab can unlock. The Tigers have made a habit of squeezing value out of reclamation arms, and with the trade deadline bearing down, adding cheap, controllable pitching depth costs them nothing but a roster spot.
Don't expect Granillo in Detroit anytime soon. This is the kind of move that either quietly pays off a year from now or gets buried and forgotten by August. Either way, it's one more sign the Tigers are treating every open 40-man slot as an asset instead of dead weight as they build out pitching depth for a stretch run.