The Tigers trimmed another arm from their minor league mix this week, released a fresh independent-league signing, and got a promising update on Jackson Jobe’s recovery all in the same stretch.
Cole Waites is out after the club released him on Tuesday. Detroit had brought in the former Giants prospect during the offseason shuffle, and he was one of the more recognizable names among the Tigers’ batch of minor league pitching additions. Waites once ranked as high as No. 21 in San Francisco’s system in 2023, but he never got much of a foothold in the majors, logging only eight big league innings before electing free agency at the end of 2025 and landing with Detroit.
His time with the Tigers never really got rolling. Waites spent time on the Development List and also on the IL this season, and he put up a 7.71 ERA at Triple-A in between those stops. That made the move pretty easy to read from Detroit’s side.
He’s not the only offseason arm to disappear from the organization recently. Konnor Pilkington, Dugan Darnell, and Bryan Sammons were all released this month as well.
Detroit also added a new name to the pipeline on Monday. Right-hander Maddox Long signed a minor league deal, according to the Washington Wild Things of the Frontier League. Long took a winding route to the Tigers: he went undrafted after four years at Harding University, spent summers in the Northwoods League, and then turned in a strong senior season at Harding with 108 1/3 innings and a 2.66 ERA.
He’s been sharp since joining the Wild Things at the start of their 2026 season, too. In six starts and eight appearances, Long posted a 1.81 ERA over 44 2/3 innings. He’ll now head to the FCL Tigers as the latest independent-ball arm to get a look from Detroit.
And there was a more encouraging note on Jackson Jobe. According to Chris McCosky of the Detroit News, Jobe threw live batting practice in Lakeland on Saturday for the first time since Tommy John surgery. The Tigers haven’t shared much publicly about the rehab process, but he did throw a bullpen in front of team brass in early June.
Jobe had Tommy John last June, and every update has pointed in the right direction. He’s been working through the recovery privately, but the latest step suggests the slow climb toward a 2026 return is still on track.
In Other News...
Twins Farm Gets One Needed Boost Amid Another Concerning Update
The Twins farm system got a little healthier in one spot and a little thinner in another, a familiar tradeoff at this time of year. Christian Becerra was back on the mound for High-A Cedar Rapids after a stint on the 7-day injured list, while the broader minor league picture also brought a few encouraging signs across the organization, including another strong day from St. Pauls offense and some useful innings from pitchers trying to steady their seasons.
Kaelen Culpeppers addition to the Futures Game roster added a brighter note to the systems midseason outlook, giving Minnesota another prospect to track on a bigger stage. But the update also came with a setback elsewhere in the pipeline, a reminder that depth in the minors can change quickly even when one player is moving back into the mix and another is earning a spotlight. [Read more 🡒]
Twins May Finally Have A Real Opening For Kendry Rojas
Kendry Rojas has given the Twins enough to dream on since arriving from Toronto, even if the picture is still blurry. The left-hander brings real velocity and a slider that can miss bats, but the command has not always matched the stuff, which is why Minnesota has been shuttling him through a hybrid mix of starting and relieving without settling on a firm lane.
Now the Twins have to decide whether the best path for Rojas is to keep stretching him out or narrow the job and let the arsenal play up in shorter bursts. Louis Varland has become the obvious reference point from the same trade, and that kind of bullpen conversion is at least on the table as Minnesota weighs what Rojas can be long term. [Read more 🡒]
Two Unexpected Twins Could Be In Real Deadline Danger
The Twins have spent much of the season in that uneasy middle ground where neither path is fully closed off. At 42-46, they are still close enough to the playoff race to justify staying patient, but not so far ahead that the front office can ignore the possibility of shifting directions if the next few weeks go sideways.
If Minnesota does end up leaning toward a sell-off, two unexpected names could surface in the conversation: Kody Clemens and Ryan Kreidler. Both have been useful this year and bring the kind of defensive flexibility teams like to target at the deadline, which makes them more than simple depth pieces even with years of control still attached. For a club trying to balance the present against its next wave of talent, that kind of value can become hard to overlook. [Read more 🡒]