Tigers legend Trammell gets 'in the trenches' with club's prospects

This story was excerpted from Jason Beck's Tigers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

The Tigers sent a prospect-loaded roster to last week’s Spring Breakout game against the Braves. They also sent a legend.

Like last year, Detroit’s 2025 Spring Breakout squad was managed by Hall of Fame shortstop Alan Trammell.

“After winning the game, he’s got a contract for life,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “That’s two in a row.”

Not that Trammell is going to take any credit.

What makes Trammell special, beyond his Hall of Fame career, isn’t his presence at a showcase event. It’s the work that goes on behind the scenes, every morning on the back fields of Tigertown during Spring Training, every afternoon of early work on his visits to the Tigers’ various Minor League affiliates, every time on the infield dirt for early batting practice on visits to Comerica Park.

“Tram exceeds expectations every spring on the work that we ask him to do, and he does more,” Hinch said. “He’s invested in these guys. He wants to be in the trenches and be involved, learning and growing. And if a Hall of Famer is willing to do that, I mean, we’d be crazy not to do it.”

It bears repeating: Trammell could be doing anything he wants at this point in his life. He turned 67 last month.

“I'm happy to be involved,” he said beforehand. “It kinda keeps me going, keeps me young at heart. And speaking for the whole organization, we're on the map now. We certainly are, and I'm proud to say that.”

They’re on the map in no small part thanks to Trammell’s work. And when the Tigers took the field for Spring Breakout, it was fitting that they had three shortstop prospects across the infield.

While Bryce Rainer -- Detroit’s top pick in last year’s Draft and MLB Pipeline’s No. 52 overall prospect -- made his pro debut at shortstop and announced his presence with two hits and three RBIs, Kevin McGonigle (Tigers No. 3 prospect, MLB No. 28) handled the hot corner and nearly made a highlight play to throw out Braves prospect John Gil while falling back onto the foul line behind third base. Franyerber Montilla, the Dominican teenager whose breakout season in the Rookie-level Florida Complex League last year propelled him up the Tigers’ prospect rankings to No. 12, started at second.

All of them have worked with Trammell.

“The first day I stepped in Lakeland, he was the first guy there by my side, helping me with every little thing at shortstop,” McGonigle said. “It's just truly special to be able to learn from a Hall of Famer like that, a Detroit legend. It's really amazing.”

Rainer didn’t get to work with Trammell last summer due to injury, but they’ve made up for it this spring.

“He’s there a ton. I don’t think I haven’t seen him there in a day. It’s honestly pretty crazy,” Rainer said. “People think he just talks about defense, but he’s in the cage with us, he’s on the field giving us whatever he’s got. It seems like he’s always working.”

Part of that, Trammell said, is the process of preparing them for what pro baseball is about.

“I’m talking to Montilla and I’m talking to McGonigle and I’m talking to Bryce,” Trammell said. “Just trying to give them a little heads-up, along with others, about what to expect. And they’re bright-eyed and listening, but they don’t really know. But now [No. 6 MLB prospect] Max [Clark] and McGonigle have a year, so they have a little bit of a feel of what a professional season is all about.

• Clark getting full dose of MLB experience -- and soaking it in

“There’s no season like a professional baseball season. Even if it’s Minor Leagues, where it’s 130 [games], 140, 150 [in] Triple-A, that’s a lot of baseball, not just a couple days a week. It’s different when you play a game [every day]. There’s no substitute; you have to do it and figure it out when you struggle.”

Trammell sees depth developing in the Tigers’ system, not just at shortstop. But of course, he sees traits in each shortstop prospect.

On McGonigle: “First thing that comes to mind is the term engagement. He is engaged from pitch one, whether it's offense, defense, baserunning. He's got that mentality that it's game on. He is elite in that category. That's what I notice, the intensity. He's a sponge. He's talented, too.”

On Rainer: “He didn’t play a game last year. It’s not his fault, so he’s getting some on-the-job [training], and he’s handling himself very well. He’s an elite-looking player as well. I love the body, I love his actions, I love what I see in batting practice. There’s a lot to work with.”

On Montilla: “I did see him during the FCL. He’s a delightful young man, a sponge as well. He’s got a little more flair, but I love this kid, I really do. He’s got what I want to call the Omar Vizquel instincts. He’s got a little more than most. I’m telling you, he’s really good, a switch-hitter. But he’s fun to be around. He loves the game.”