The Tigers promoted three of their top four position players to Double-A on July 6 — Kevin McGonigle, Max Clark, and Josue Briceño — providing a massive boost for the Erie SeaWolves and getting some of baseball’s most-hyped talents that much closer to the majors.
McGonigle and Clark swapped places as the Tigers’ No. 1 and 2 prospects in the midseason rerankings, and Briceño sits at No. 4, just below 2024 first-round draft pick Bryce Rainer. The former two both come from the 2023 draft class, when Clark went third overall and McGonigle was taken in the first round at 37th overall. McGonigle’s signing bonus was significantly smaller, but he may be the Tigers’ next big star.
His power has lagged a bit since he was promoted to Double-A, but he’s only eight games in and is still walking more than he’s striking out. On Tuesday night, he hit a walk-off single against the Yankees’ Somerset Patriots, the second of his career.
If he keeps making the minors look easy, he could be competing for a roster spot in spring training next year. Javy Báez has proven to be a more capable utility player than anyone expected, but McGonigle would definitely be threatening Trey Sweeney’s tenure with team.
Kevin McGonigle delivers the walk-off goods at Double-A!
MLB’s No. 6 prospect (@tigers) is hitting .304 with an .883 OPS in seven games with the @erie_seawolves, including three straight with at least one RBI. pic.twitter.com/FeqBgAVqjc
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) July 23, 2025
Tigers could upgrade from Trey Sweeney at shortstop with No. 1 prospect Kevin McGonigle
Sweeney was struggling so much at the plate by the end of June that the Tigers demoted him to Triple-A, but he only spent four days there before Kerry Carpenter went onto the IL. Sweeney was then recalled. Outside of a heroic three-run, go-ahead homer against the Guardians on July 6, he hasn’t improved. Since his return, he’s batting .115 with a .481 OPS, and his defense has been just below league average.
He might still pull some weight in a trade, so he could even be sent on his way at the trade deadline. If not, and the Tigers like McGonigle’s development enough to let him compete in spring training, Sweeney could be out the door in the offseason.
McGonigle is still in the early going in Double-A and needs to recover a little bit of power (although he projects as a better contact than power hitter) before we get too carried away, but Sweeney should definitely be at least a little concerned that he’ll be out of a job within the next calendar year.
