The names that tend to dominate Tigers prospect talk are easy to spot. Zyhir Hope is making noise in the Arizona Fall League after coming over in the Tarik Skubal trade.
River Ryan already logged a pair of September starts at Comerica Park. Bryce Rainer is still climbing through the lower levels, Cam Flukey will get a chance to show what he can do in camp, Kash Mayfield is drawing attention after the Casey Mize trade, and John Peck is getting extra reps in Arizona after his late-August debut.
Those players will be on plenty of winter lists. But the guys who end up helping a big-league club in a given season are not always the ones getting the loudest buzz.
Sometimes it’s the late-round pick, the guy who missed time, the one who slipped off the radar and then forced his way back with a big year. Detroit has a few of those right now, and they’re worth watching as the 2027 picture comes into focus.
Brett Callahan might be the clearest example. A 13th-round pick out of St.
Joseph's University in Philadelphia, he was slowed by injuries and hadn’t played above High-A before this season. He also began the year outside Detroit’s top 30 prospects.
None of that stopped him from putting together a strong season between Erie and Toledo, where he hit .269/.365/.443 with 13 home runs and 19 doubles, then rising into the organization’s top 20. He even announced himself in the majors in a way nobody in the Tigers’ uniform had done in 114 years, tripling on the first pitch he saw on Aug.
- A left-handed outfield bat with that kind of production is going to get a real look in Lakeland.
Andrew Sears fits the under-the-radar mold in a different way. His path ran from Division III Rhode Island College to UConn, and Detroit grabbed him in the 10th round in 2023.
He returned from a left elbow injury this year and ripped through four levels, posting a 2.16 ERA with 67 strikeouts in 58 1/3 innings and holding opponents to a .192 average before making his debut in Kansas City in August. The big-league line wasn’t clean, and one of his tougher outings came with two errors behind him, but the profile is hard to ignore.
A funky left-hander with a mid-90's heater and a heavy ground-ball profile can turn into exactly the kind of arm that matters out of a bullpen.
Max Anderson looks a little more established than the others here, and maybe even a little overqualified. The former second-round pick from Nebraska hit .302/.386/.477 with 15 home runs in Toledo, finished second in the International League batting race and was named Baseball America's Tigers Minor League Player of the Year.
He was especially strong against lefties, but what makes him more than just a platoon option is the fact that he also produced against right-handers in a much larger sample. The defense at second and third is still the thing to watch, but the bat has clearly earned him a chance.
At the very least, he looks like dependable depth.
Thayron Liranzo has already gone through a lot of the prospect roller coaster. Detroit got him from the Dodgers in the Jack Flaherty deal, and he was once viewed as one of the system’s top names.
A rough 2025 knocked some of that shine away, and the strikeouts are still part of the package, with more than 28% of his plate appearances ending that way at Erie this season. Even so, the power came back loud.
He hit 19 home runs in 79 games, then delivered a game-tying three-run homer in the Eastern League playoffs to help Erie reach the championship series. He’s already on the 40-man roster, he switches hits, and a catcher who can also play first base and provide that kind of pop has value, whether it’s in Detroit or in another deal.
Izaac Pacheco belongs in the same conversation. The former over-slot second-rounder spent more than 300 games in West Michigan and lost a chunk of 2024 to hand surgery.
He answered with Midwest League MVP honors in 2025, then followed that with 21 home runs and an .821 OPS at Double-A this season. The swing-and-miss is still there, but a 23-year-old left-handed hitter who can handle third, first and DH is the kind of depth that matters once the injury grind starts in June.
None of these five is likely to show up on a national top 100 list anytime soon. That’s not really the point.
Teams don’t just survive on the stars everyone knows. They survive on the players who are ready when the call comes, and Detroit has more of those guys than most people realize.
A few of them could be in meaningful games at Fifth Third Park sooner than expected.
In Other News...
Tigers Fans Have One Big Reason To Watch Cleveland This Winter
With Clevelands season ending in the ALCS, one name immediately surfaced as a possible winter domino: Steven Kwan. MLB insider Robert Murray floated the idea that the Guardians could explore moving the left fielder, a development that would naturally catch the Tigers attention after seeing how much Kwan helped tilt the postseason picture in Clevelands favor against them.
For Detroit, the intrigue is obvious. Kwan has been a problem in October and a steady presence for the Guardians, even if his career numbers against the Tigers are lower than his overall track record suggests. Nothing has been confirmed, and Kwan recently sounded upbeat about Clevelands direction, but his name alone gives Tigers fans a reason to keep one eye on the Guardians offseason. [Read more 🡒]
Former Tigers Catching Prospect Is Fueling A Painful Rays Debate
The Tigers have already watched one former prospect swing a big bat for Tampa Bay in October, and another has quietly become part of the Rays postseason mix. Ryan Vilade supplied a go-ahead home run in the ALDS, while Liam Hicks has chipped in on both sides of the ball as Tampa Bay keeps moving through the bracket. For Detroit, it is the sort of familiar reminder that player development does not always end with the organization that first identified the talent.
Hicks path has been especially notable for Tigers fans to revisit. Detroit acquired him in a trade, then lost him in the Rule 5 draft before he eventually landed with the Rays and worked his way into a meaningful role in their playoff run. Even without a headline-grabbing bat every night, his steady presence has made him one of the more interesting ex-Tigers in this October story, and it leaves a little more room for debate over what might have been. [Read more 🡒]
Tigers Face A Rotation Problem Free Agency Could Finally Solve
The Tigers are heading into the offseason with a rotation that suddenly looks a lot thinner than it did a year ago. Tarik Skubal and Casey Mize are gone, and with so much of the staffs 2026 value out the door, Detroit is left trying to piece together a group that can hold up over a full season.
Framber Valdez is expected to sit near the front of the rotation even after a disappointing previous season, but the more intriguing question is who follows him. Troy Melton and Keider Montero have flashed at times, though not consistently enough to settle the issue, which is why the front office may have to look outside the organization. A free-agent arm like Dustin May could fit that need if the Tigers decide to make a real push for help on the market. [Read more 🡒]