The Tigers’ other top prospects are farther away from the majors with the team ready to go now
January chugs along and that can mean only one thing around these parts: it’s time to rank minor-league prospects. Every team across the majors is selling hope to their fans: some are selling it in a more immediate fashion, in the form of active offseasons full of free-agent signings and trade acquisitions. Others, meanwhile, are selling it in the personage of prospects who could make the difference over the coming years.
CBS Sports is underway examining the top three prospects in each organization. Our definition of “prospect” is simple: does that player have rookie eligibility remaining for the 2025 season? If so, they’re a prospect; if not, that’s probably why your favorite young player is absent from the proceedings.
As always, these lists are formed following conversations with scouts, analysts, player development specialists, and other talent evaluators around the industry. There’s a fair amount of firsthand evaluation, statistical analysis, and historical research mixed in, too. Plus a heaping of personal bias — we all have certain traits and profiles that we prefer over others, there’s no sense pretending otherwise.
Keep in mind that there’s no one right answer with these sorts of things. Besides, these are merely our opinions, meaning they have no actual bearing on the future. We already published our ranking of the top 25 prospects in all of the minors.
With all that out of the way, let’s get to ranking the top three prospects in the Detroit Tigers system.
Top 25 rank: No. 6
The short hook: One of the game’s better pitching prospects has to stay on the mound
Jobe made his first handful of big-league appearances late in the year, including pitching twice during the postseason. Next on the to-do list? Make his first MLB start. That ought to come sometime in 2025 thanks to a four-pitch arsenal that includes a rising mid-90s fastball, a cutter and a sweeper, and a changeup. Jobe battled his command throughout the season, but the bigger question mark here is his durability. He threw a career-high 95 innings in 2024, suggesting that he’ll need his workload managed to avoid being shut down before the regular season concludes. MLB ETA: Already debuted
Top 25 rank: No. 11
The short hook: Well-rounded center fielder
Clark has elicited comparisons to Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong since his amateur days. We must admit that, while we dislike comps in general, there’s something to this one. Clark, like Crow-Armstrong, is a strong defender who can offer ample value on the basepaths, though neither offers a ton of in-game power at this point in their careers (Clark’s 107 mph maximum exit velocity would’ve ranked right alongside Crow-Armstrong near the bottom of the majors). The biggest difference, besides them being their own carbon-based organisms, is that Crow-Armstrong is already established on the Cubs roster and Clark is likely to start 2025 in High- or Double-A. Give it another year and some change and they’ll share something else: the majors. MLB ETA: Late summer 2026
The short hook: Singles-and-walks hitter with a chance to stick at short
McGonigle, the 37th pick in the 2023 draft, is a left-handed hitter with a great feel for contact and the zone alike. To wit, he’s compiled 26 more walks than strikeouts since turning professional as a teenager. The outstanding question on McGonigle’s offensive game is his power. He’s cleared the fences just six times in 95 games to date. He did launch a ball more than 110 mph last May, but season-ending surgery on his hamate — a wrist bone that can impact future strength — lends itself to some concerns. Even if McGonigle’s in-game slugging capacity is limited, his overall on-base skills and chances of sticking at one of the up-the-middle positions makes him worth watching. MLB ETA: Spring 2027
