The Tigers have designated right-hander Mason Englert for assignment, per Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press. He’s the corresponding move for Detroit’s re-signing of Jack Flaherty on a two-year deal, which the team agreed to earlier in the week and formally announced this morning.
Englert, 25, came to the Tigers as a Rule 5 pick out of the Rangers’ system back in 2022. He stuck on the big league roster all season in 2023 in a seldom-used long relief role. He appeared in only 31 of Detroit’s games that season and was roughed up for a 5.46 ERA. His results didn’t improve in 21 2/3 big league innings last year. The righty yielded a 5.40 ERA with very similar strikeout, walk, ground-ball and home run rates.
Though Englert has been hit hard in his 77 2/3 big league frames, he was excellent in the minors last year. The Tigers moved him to more of a short relief role, and in 41 2/3 Triple-A innings, Englert turned in a very strong 3.08 ERA with a massive 35.3% strikeout rate, an 8.2% walk rate and a 49.5% ground-ball rate. At a time when power arms are particularly en vogue, Englert’s 92.7 mph average on his four-seamer isn’t going to garner massive fanfare, but the results in the minors stand out nevertheless.
Add in that Englert still has two minor league option years remaining, and it seems like there’s a good chance another club’s interest could be piqued on a minor trade — or at the very least on a waiver claim. Englert’s blend of strikeouts, command and grounders in Triple-A last year is a general recipe for success. That he’s the roster casualty for Flaherty’s return speaks to the level in which the Tigers’ overall 40-man roster has deepened. It’s true that he lacks big league success, but his recent Triple-A work is far more interesting than that of most players who find themselves on the wrong end of a DFA.
The Tigers will have five days to work out a trade of Englert. After that, he’ll need to be placed on waivers (a 48-hour process) in order for his DFA to be resolved within the allotted window of one week.
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Los Angeles Dodgers closer Tanner Scott turns 31 years old on Tuesday, but is spending his special day with growing uncertainty. Before the Dodgers very narrowly beat the Minnesota Twins on Monday evening, Scott left the game early due to injury. Scott reportedly felt “something in his forearm,” and according to manager Dave Roberts will “most likely” be serving an IL stint. The skipper spoke more on how his closer was feeling after the game. “Emotionally, not well,” Roberts said. “He just felt something in his forearm as far as like a sting sensation. We’re gonna get an MRI tomorrow and we’ll know more after that. “Obviously, any time a pitcher’s gotta come out of the game, it’s concerning. And so, I think for us, I think we’re just gonna sit back and wait for the results to kind of further assess.” It feels as though it has been one step forward and two steps back in terms of Dodgers pitching injuries this season. When one hurler gets a promising update to return, injuries continue to present themselves with the current staff. Scott has been off to an almost unrecognizable start to his Dodgers tenure, especially after posting a 1.75 ERA last season across 72 innings of work. So far in 2025, Scott has amassed a league-leading seven blown saves to go along with a 4.14 ERA, his worst since 2022. There are definitely pitchers trending towards a return from injury, and as recently as Monday, flamethrower Edgardo Henriquez was recalled to the team. But losing a demonstrated, clear-cut closer after a season where the Dodgers facilitated a 'closer by committee' approach is certainly a huge blow. It is currently unclear what the timeline for Scott will be, with the obvious hope that his return is before the end of the season, but there are still a lot of bright spots in his game. Scott has been posting his highest strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.55) of his career, punching out 50 and walking just 11. Scott is also one of the best in baseball in terms of getting hitters to chase his offerings outside the strike zone, doing so 35.8 percent of the time, which is good for the 97th percentile among active pitchers.
If the Atlanta Falcons are serious about the idea of potentially moving on from tight end Kyle Pitts in a contract year, they just got some bad news that could possibly impact the quality of the offers they'll receive this summer. There's a new veteran tight end on the free agent market and it may serve as a distraction or pivot for any team that was entertaining making a major offer for Pitts. This new direction would come without the need for losing a draft pick in the process. The Seattle Seahawks have waived veteran tight end Noah Fant — another tight end with a first round pedigree who boasts a dynamic athletic profile for teams to consider. Seahawks cut Fant in a cost-cutting measure Fant leaves Seattle after three seasons of play as the Seahawks lean into their younger group of tight ends. He's a sufficient level blocker but offers top-tier speed and athleticism for an NFL tight end, even if it hasn't translated to top-flight production throughout the bulk of his NFL career. Any team that may have been eyeing a tempting offer to send to Atlanta for Pitts can now find many of the same physical traits in Fant. Fant did enter the NFL two years earlier in 2019 versus Pitts' arrival in 2021. But he ran within 0.06 seconds in the 40 yard dash, jumped six inches higher than Pitts in the vertical, ran three-tenths of a second faster in the three-cone drill, and ran more than a tenth of a second faster in the short shuttle. Pitts has a more unique skill set thanks to his ability to play isolated as an 'X-receiver' and offers the higher ceiling as a result. Yet teams would almost assuredly gravitate towards another high-ceiling athlete at the position that wouldn't require a top-100 draft choice being sent away and will almost certainly play on a lower salary than Pitts' $10.8 million fifth-year option figure. This isn't necessarily bad news for the Falcons' 2025 outlook and it may not slam the door shut on any potential offers. But if Fant ends up lingering on the market for a while, it could string things out to the point where the window for a trade closes and the Falcons roll full-steam ahead for Pitts' contract year.
On Saturday night, Kelsey Plum was part of Team Collier's 151-131 win over Team Clark in the WNBA All-Star Game, scoring 16 points, grabbing five rebounds and dishing out three assists. Following the game, the Los Angeles Sparks star was asked about WNBA All-Stars wearing shirts before the game that read, "Pay Us What You Owe Us." Specifically, Plum was asked about how that idea came together. "The T-shirt — just a united front," she said. "That was determined this morning, that we had a meeting for. Not to tattletale, but zero members of Team Clark were very present for that." Plum said it with a chuckle. However, she was sitting next to New York Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu, who rolled her eyes and said, "Didn't really need to be mentioned" before laughing. It was awkward, especially because Caitlin Clark, as well as all of the members of Team Clark, wore the shirts. If Clark didn't wear the shirt, you could understand some backlash. But she did. It should also be noted that Team Collier featured the president of the WNBA Players Association, Nneka Ogwumike, as well as the first vice president, Plum, and two vice presidents, Napheesa Collier and Brenna Stewart. It makes sense if they took on greater leadership roles in a statement like this against the league. Whether Plum likes it or not, the reason the WNBA has any sort of leverage heading into these negotiations with the league is Clark. She would do well to remember that the next time she wants to take an unnecessary shot at Clark, who is responsible for the greatest surge in fan attention the WNBA has ever seen.
Saints safety Tyrann Mathieu announced his retirement on social media (via NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport), ending the Honey Badger’s sterling 12-year career. Saints general manager Mickey Loomis said that the team was informed of Mathieu’s decision in advance, according to Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football, but it still came as somewhat of a surprise. It also leaves the team without their starting safety for every game for the last three years with six weeks to go until the regular season. Loomis indicated that the Saints will explore adding a safety, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, but they may already have Mathieu’s replacement on the roster. It won’t be veteran offseason signing Justin Reid, as he was already expected to start this year. Instead, 2023 fifth-rounder Jordan Howden jumps out as the most likely candidate. Though he has only logged 11 career starts, Howden played just under 50% of the Saints’ defensive snaps over the last two years, primarily as a free safety. That experience should put him in a strong position to start opposite Reid, though veterans J.T. Gray and Terrell Burgess will also be in the mix. Several free agents safeties are also available, including former Saint Marcus Maye. The Saints also drafted Virginia safety Jonas Sanker in the third round, a sign that they believe he can grow into an NFL starter. He will likely have a chance to compete for the starting job, but rookie safeties — even ones drafted on Day 2 — are rarely able to catch up to NFL speed and start right away. Mathieu, meanwhile, will be enjoying retirement after 12 years, 180 appearances, 171 starts, and more than 11,000 snaps in the NFL. Despite an excellent college career at LSU, Mathieu fell to the third round in the 2013 draft due to size concerns. The Cardinals snagged him with the 69th overall pick, and he went on to finish fourth in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting. Mathieu then spent the next decade as one of the best safeties in the league, earning three Pro Bowl nods and three first-team All-Pro selections. He also played a key role on the Chiefs’ 2019 Super Bowl-winning squad and was later named to the Hall of Fame All-2010s Team. He retires just shy of $100M in career earnings, per OverTheCap, though that may change depending on how the Saints financially handle his retirement.
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