Detroit Tigers president of baseball Scott Harris recaps 2025 season
Detroit Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris opened his news conference with a long statement Oct. 13, 2025, at Comerica Park.
Kevin McGonigle is coming soon.
The Detroit Tigers plan to promote McGonigle — a 21-year-old shortstop who hasn’t played above Double-A Erie — for his MLB debut in the 2026 season. The exact timetable is unknown, but a midsummer promotion makes the most sense.
“I expect the players that posted dominant years in Double-A to factor into our big-league team next year,” president of baseball operations Scott Harris said Monday, Oct. 13, at his end-of-season news conference. “I expect their progress to continue, and I expect them to be in Detroit at some point next year.”
McGonigle is the Tigers’ No. 1 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline. More notably, he ranks No. 2 overall on MLB Pipeline’s top-100 list.
For context, former No. 2 prospects include star players Bryce Harper (2012), Xander Bogaerts (2014), Kris Bryant (2015), Byron Buxton (2016), Ronald Acuña Jr. (2018), Fernando Tatis Jr. (2019), Adley Rutschman (2021-22), Corbin Carroll (2023) and Jackson Chourio (2024).
All signs point to McGonigle transforming the Tigers.
First, he has to arrive in Detroit.
“I’m not going to announce that he’s going to be in big-league camp because I should probably tell him before I announce it, but a lot of these guys are going to be in major-league camp,” Harris said, teasing McGonigle’s invitation to MLB spring training in February 2026. “More importantly, they’re going to get a lot of experience being around big-league coaches and 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 to jump onto this team and make this team better immediately.”
In 2025, McGonigle hit .305 with 19 home runs, 59 walks and 46 strikeouts across 88 games, including 36 games for High-A West Michigan and 46 games for Double-A Erie. The Tigers promoted McGonigle from High-A to Double-A in early July, alongside two fellow top-100 prospects: center fielder Max Clark and catcher/first baseman Josue Briceño.
McGonigle outperformed Clark and Briceño with the SeaWolves.
It wasn’t even close.
“Does that affect what we do this winter? Absolutely. How could it not?” Harris said, when asked if McGonigle’s impending arrival changes the plan for free agency and trades. “These guys are really exciting young players that can help us on both sides of the ball, and we got to make sure that we are preserving opportunity for them.”
Talent is coming, but wins can’t wait.
What happens if McGonigle isn’t ready to help the Tigers until after the All-Star break or trade deadline?
“We need to compete, “Harris said. “The expectations have changed around here. We have to thread that needle whereby we are putting ourselves in a really good position to get off to a good start but also add to that team throughout the summer internally with some of these players that are coming.”
With Erie, McGonigle hit .254 with 12 home runs, 33 walks and 26 strikeouts in 46 games, posting a .919 OPS. For comparison, Riley Greene — a two-time All-Star outfielder — hit .298 with 16 home runs and a .905 OPS in 84 games at the Double-A level.
McGonigle has experience at second base and shortstop, but he spent his entire SeaWolves stint at shortstop, logging 342 innings in 39 starts. He is now learning to play third base with the Scottsdale Scorpions in the Arizona Fall League, an offseason league that runs from Oct. 6–Nov. 12.
The door will be open for McGonigle to join the Tigers at any of those three positions in the 2026 season.
“We’ve got to continue to create runway for these players because it’s too important to our future,” Harris said. “We are in a position right now where the present is really bright and the future is really bright, and we’ve got to preserve that no matter what we do this winter.”
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For McGonigle, the upcoming journey to his MLB debut begins in spring training, and while Harris hasn’t sent the invitation yet, manager A.J. Hinch is counting down the days.
Harris better act fast.
“I’ll just wait for him to go to the GM meetings,” Hinch said, referencing the general manager meetings from Nov. 10-13 in Las Vegas. “I’ll fly to Phoenix, and I’ll tell Kevin myself.”
Both Hinch and Harris started laughing.
“Do you guys remember when he announced that they were coming to big-league camp a year ago?” Harris said.
One year ago, Hinch hinted at McGonigle, Clark and catcher Thayron Liranzo as spring training invitees at the 2024 end-of-season news conference.
“How did that work out?” Hinch said.
Then, only Liranzo ended up participating in big-league camp.
This time, McGonigle will be there for real.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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