The Detroit Tigers have sent former No. 1 overall pick Casey Mize to the San Diego Padres, even with the club sitting 2.5 games out of the final American League Wild Card spot and 5.5 games behind in the AL Central.
Mize, who has put together one of the best seasons of his MLB career, is headed out of Detroit as the organization continues to lean into the future after moving Tarik Skubal to the Los Angeles Dodgers for three prospects, including two ranked in MLB.com’s Top 100.
The deal also includes Gage Workman, with Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reporting that Detroit will receive former first-round pick left-hander Kash Mayfield and left-handed pitcher Jackson Wolf in return.
For the Tigers, Mize’s run in Detroit was a long one with plenty of highs and lows. He dealt with injuries, had his moments of success, and became a starter manager A.J.
Hinch could count on every fifth day. Now the former All-Star gives San Diego a boost in its push toward a postseason berth and, potentially, a World Series run.
Mize first arrived in the majors with Detroit in 2020 against the Chicago White Sox, where he struck out seven over 4.1 innings while allowing three runs and a home run to Edwin Encarnación. That debut hinted at what the Tigers hoped he could become.
His first full season came in 2021, when he posted a 3.71 ERA across 30 starts and 150.1 innings, with 118 strikeouts and 41 walks. Then came the injuries: two starts in 2022, a lost 2023 season, and a return in 2024.
While he may not have gotten the same attention as some of the players on Detroit’s 2024 roster who helped the team claw back from a 0.2% playoff chance to a postseason berth for the first time in a decade, Mize still took the kind of step that changed the trajectory of his next two seasons.
Since 2025, he has logged a 3.44 ERA over 235.2 innings with 224 strikeouts, 55 walks, and an 18-12 record. Whatever label gets attached to him, Mize has become the kind of pitcher any manager would want.
He’s also only a rental for the Padres, since he’s scheduled to reach free agency for the first time after the 2026 season. Detroit and Mize had already agreed to a $6.15 million contract for 2026 to avoid arbitration, but after the year he’s put together, his price tag figures to climb.
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Casey Mize Just Became A Tougher Tigers Deadline Call
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Houston has emerged as one of the clubs watching closely because of its rotation injuries, and that need is hard to miss with the deadline approaching. For the Tigers, the question is whether holding onto Mize for a run at October is worth more than the kind of prospect package a contending club might be willing to put on the table, which is exactly the sort of call front offices hate making when the standings say one thing and the long view says another. [Read more 🡒]