Tigers sign right-hander Jordan Balazovich According to Aram Leighton of Just Baseball Media, this is a minor league deal. Balazovic returned to North American baseball after a brief stint with the Doosan Bears of the KBO League, and signed with the Bears last July after Balazovic was released by the Twins.
A fifth-round pick out of Minnesota in 2016, Balazovic earned some attention behind the top 100 prospect list as he climbed the Twins’ farm system. However, most of his success has come on the lower rungs of the ladder, as Balazovic has a 6.35 ERA in 151 2/3 career innings of Triple-A ball. Despite those struggles, the Twins gave him a look at the major league level in 2023, with Balazovic posting a 4.44 ERA, 15.7% strikeout rate and 11.1% walk rate.
The Twins elected to designate Balazovic last February and then released him, though he was quickly re-signed to another minor league contract. More struggles in Triple A led to Balazovic being released again so he could pursue opportunities in South Korea. The rate was as high as 27.6% and he started 11 of his 12 games.
Balazovich’s walk rate with the Bears is still 11.2%, which is slightly higher than the 9.01% walk rate he had in his minor league career. Balazovich’s control deteriorated as he faced higher levels of competition in the minor leagues, while his strikeout and ground ball rates were generally fairly consistent, albeit within a small sample size after bouncing to different minor league levels. There are some differences.
Balazovic is only 26 years old, so it would be logical for the Tigers to test out a former notable prospect to see if another change of scenery would help the right-hander unlock any potential. Detroit also signed players such as Matt Gage, Brendan Whiteand Ryan Miller Trades for smaller players have come in recent days as the Tigers are arranging for some depth to be evaluated in spring training. Of course, this type of signing is common practice for any team and won’t stop Detroit from trying a big-name bullpen option like the reported target Kirby Yates.
