Tigers trade All-Star Mize to Padres in 4-player Deadline deal

DETROIT -- Casey Mize watched his good friend and longtime teammate Tarik Skubal exit the Tigers via trade on Saturday night. On Monday, it was Mize’s turn. The 2025 All-Star and former No. 1 overall Draft pick is headed to the Padres along with infielder/outfielder Gage Workman for left-handers Kash Mayfield -- the Padres’ No. 2 prospect, per MLB Pipeline -- and Jackson Wolf.

The deal, which was finalized moments before Monday’s 6 p.m. ET Trade Deadline, completed the Tigers’ shedding of soon-to-be free-agent starters for prospects. Mize was further down the rankings than Skubal, but his 2026 form put him near the top of the next tier of available starters after Skubal.

Mize has had a late rise to his career after going first overall to the Tigers out of Auburn in the 2018 MLB Draft. After an encouraging 3.4 bWAR rookie season in '21, Mize made just two starts in '22 before injuries led to Tommy John and back surgeries that sidelined him for the better part of two years.

TRADE DETAILS
Tigers receive: LHP Kash Mayfield (No. 6 DET prospect), LHP Jackson Wolf
Padres receive: RHP Casey Mize, INF/OF Gage Workman

Mize's career seemed at a crossroads following a frustrating return season in 2024, but he was an All-Star last year and finished 14-6 with a 3.87 ERA over 28 starts. He took a bigger step forward this season, becoming more of a strikeout pitcher on his way to a career-best 2.70 ERA, 8.8 K/9 rate and 4.47 strikeout-to-walk ratio. His splitter, a wipeout pitch in college, regained its bite. His fastball, though down a tick in velocity from last season, plays up with more induced vertical break. He has a traditional slider as well as a slurve.

Mize has battled a nagging groin injury for most of the season, including two stints on the injured list and a shortened start against the Angels on July 19. He tossed six innings of one-run ball with three strikeouts six days later against the Royals, but his fastball velocity was down about 1.5 mph from his season average.

The dip caught evaluators’ attention, but interest remained high. Ultimately, the Tigers decided to scratch Mize from his last scheduled start against the Athletics as a precaution.

Had Detroit held onto Mize, he would’ve pitched Tuesday in Seattle. Instead, he’ll join the Padres in Arizona and slot into San Diego’s rotation this week.

Holding on to Mize would’ve netted the Tigers a compensation pick had he declined a qualifying offer and signed elsewhere for more than $50 million. Instead, Detroit gets a former first-round pick in Mayfield, the 25th overall selection from the 2024 MLB Draft.

“We really liked him in the Draft,” Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris said, “and he was always a player that we had our eye on.”

Mayfield was a two-time Gatorade Oklahoma Player of the Year in high school. The 6-foot-4 southpaw has racked up 150 strikeouts over 114 innings across two pro sessions, including 62 over 53 1/3 innings this season at High-A Fort Wayne to go with a 3.54 ERA in 15 starts. His fastball has ventured around the low-to-mid 90s. His out pitch is a low-80s changeup, and he spins a high-70s slider for a third pitch.

“It's a big projectable frame, it's a really athletic delivery on the mound, it's a really fast arm,” Harris said. “He has the fastball shape and deception that typically allows for pretty unique playability of the fastball. I think you can see it in the miss rates on his fastball and his really high punchout rates. And he's still only throwing 91-92 [mph]. He's touching 95 right now, but he's still sort of growing into body and getting to the velocity gains that we think are ultimately going to help the fastball play even higher.

“But with the combination, he has a pitch that is pretty dominant in the Minor Leagues even if he hasn't reached the velocity that he'll ultimately reach. He couples that pitch with a swing-and-miss changeup that adds to the fastball playability because it keeps hitters off balance.”

Mayfield is the third ranked pitching prospect Detroit has acquired in three days, joining right-handers River Ryan and Brady Smith from the Dodgers' system. The additions add some much-needed depth to a Tigers system that has been deeper in hitters than pitchers in the last couple of years.

Wolf, who has bounced between Triple-A El Paso and Double-A San Antonio the past couple of seasons, adds innings-eating depth to the farm. He’s 5-10 with a 7.05 ERA over 24 Triple-A appearances (17 starts) in 2026. Harris called him a “pretty funky” pitcher who “creates really unique arm angles.”

“I think the main goal there was to try to add innings to our Triple-A team and add some innings to potentially support our big league team,” Harris said.

The Tigers called up Workman, their fourth-round pick from the 2020 MLB Draft, for a three-week stint in May after Kerry Carpenter was shelved with a left shoulder injury, but they hadn’t brought him up since then despite his solid summer at Triple-A Toledo. The 26-year-old slashed .305/.366/.502 in 82 games for the Mud Hens with 25 doubles, 11 home runs, 51 RBIs and 20 stolen bases.