DETROIT ― Scott Harris didn’t want to break the news to Kevin McGonigle through the media, but he kind of did.
“I’m not going to announce that he’s going to be in major-league camp,” Harris said Monday, during his hour-long, wide-ranging, season-ending press conference. “Because I should probably tell him before I announce it.”
Yeah, you can probably consider that as official as it gets, without actually being official.
“I’ll fly to Phoenix,” said Tigers manager AJ Hinch, “and I’ll tell Kevin myself.”
McGonigle, Max Clark, Josue Briceno and perhaps some other top prospects are poised to receive invites to big-league camp in Lakeland, Florida, next February, and they won’t be token gestures.
While Harris and Hinch tried to dissect what went right and what went wrong with the Tigers’ season, which ended in Friday night’s epic, 15-inning loss to the Mariners in Game 5 of the American League Division Series in Seattle, the conversation shifted regularly to the organization’s highly-touted farm system.
The Tigers have selected 63 players in the three drafts under Harris, who took over in the fall of 2022, and none of them have yet reached the major leagues.
But that’s likely to change in 2026, and it could change early in 2026, as McGonigle, an infielder, and Clark, an outfielder, appear poised to soon make the leap to the major leagues.
“You’re going to see them first-hand, and more importantly, they’re going to get a lot of experience around the big-league coaches and the big-league players, so that when they ultimately get to the big leagues, they’re more comfortable, and we have an environment ready for them that allows them to jump on with this team and make this team better immediately,” Harris said of the plans for spring training. “We’re entering a new era where some of these players that you guys have heard about and you’ve seen clips on Twitter (X), they’re going to get to the big leagues, and you’re going to see them form.
“What excites me is that we’re going to take a bunch of talented players (in the Tigers’ clubhouse) and we’re going to add to it externally, but we’re going to add to it internally with some of these impact players that have earned their prospect status through the last three years and posted dominant years at really young ages.”
The Tigers have one of the top-ranked farm systems in all of baseball, a rapid ascent under the Harris regime.
McGonigle, who turned 21 in August, is the No. 2 prospect in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline. Clark, who turns 21 in December, is the No. 8 prospect in baseball. They were Harris’ first two draft picks as Tigers president, in 2023, selected out of high school.
Briceno, 21, a catcher/first baseman, is ranked No. 33. Bryce Rainer, 20, a shortstop, is ranked No. 36, but is expected to miss the start of 2026 after having surgery on a shoulder he disclocated on a nasty slide back into first base this year.
McGonigle, Clark and Briceno, all left-handed hitters, started the year at High-A West Michigan, and moved together to Double-A Erie. They thrived at each spot, and were the springboards behind championship seasons for both clubs.
“I expect the players that posted dominant years in Double-A to factor into our big-league team next year. They’ve earned it,” Harris said. “They posted incredible years as 20-year-olds, (which is) very young for that level.
“I expect their progress to continue, and I expect them to be in Detroit at some point next year.”
Harris said the imminent arrivals of the Tigers’ top prospects ― McGonigle is the only one playing in the Arizona Fall League this year, as he continues to get reps at third base, shortstop and second base ― will play a role in how the ballclub handles its hot-stove season.
The Tigers probably want to sign or trade for anybody long-term at any of the position where either of those three project to make their biggest mark in 2026, and beyond.
In a way, the Tigers might’ve been looking ahead last offseason, when they signed free agent Gleyber Torres to a one-year contract to play second base. Torres is a free agent again, and, despite starting the All-Star Game in 2025 and being a poster boy for the team’s dominate-the-strike-zone mantra, the Tigers might be willing to let him walk. Torres, after all, was appealing to Detroit because he sought a short-term contract to try to re-establish his value for a longer-term deal. He seemingly did just that, and the Tigers aren’t looking for a long-term free-agent play at that position.
Max Clark (13) of the Detroit Tigers runs to first base in the third inning during the 2025 All-Star Futures Game at Truist Park on July 12, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia. (JAMIE SQUIRE — Getty Images)
“They’ve already affected what we’ve done up to this point, because how they could they not?” Harris said of the farm system’s highly-acclaimed top prospects. “We have invested so much in a lot of these players, and we want to create opportunity for them to come here and get better.
“We’ve got to continue to create a runway for these players, because our future, it’s too important to our future.”
McGonigle, the No. 37 overall draft pick in 2023, had a 1.110 OPS in West Michigan and a .919 OPS at Erie, as he leapfrogged Clark on most prospect rankings boards. The Tigers resisted the temptation to call him up in September, however. Meanwhile, Clark, the No. 3 overall pick in 2023, had an .857 OPS at West Michigan and a .798 OPS at Erie. Both still remain works of progress on defense.
Briceno, after being named Most Valuable Player of the Arizona Fall League last year, hit a combined 20 home runs this season between West Michigan and Erie. He posted a 1.024 OPS at West Michigan, though it slipped to .716 at Erie.
The West Michigan Whitecaps were 54-26 when those three got promoted to Erie.
“Everyone knows how talented those guys are,” said Tony Cappuccilli, the manager of the Whitecaps. “They have this desire to be great, and that talent matchup with that desire makes them all really good players.
“It’s easy to see how high their ceilings are just based on their ability-level alone. Add in how hard they work and how they play the game. They do it the right way.”
Remarkably, the Whitecaps’ record after McGonigle, Clark and Briceno were promoted was 42-13, if you’re wondering about the depth at the lower levels of the farm system. (West Michigan, Erie and Low-A Lakeland won championships in 2025.)
Other prospects to watch for in 2025 include catcher/first baseman Thayron Liranzo, acquired in the Jack Flaherty trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2024, and Max Anderson and Hao-Yu Lee, who, by season’s ends, were trading repetitions at second base and third base at Triple-A Toledo.
While depth among position players seems far greater in the Tigers’ system, left-hander Andrew Sears and right-hander Jaden Hamm appear to be the pitching prospects closest to making it to Detroit.
“We are in a position where the present is really bright,” said Harris, “and the future is really bright.”
Pitcher Jackson Jobe, drafted No. 3 overall in 2021 out of high school, was the Tigers’ top-ranked prospect entering 2025, according to MLB Pipeline. He made the Tigers’ rotation out of camp, but was shut down early in the season and had Tommy John surgery in June. He isn’t likely to return until late 2026 at the earliest, though he could start throwing a baseball for the first time in mid-December.