Well look at that, the Detroit Tigers have already made a trade. Andrew Parker of Sox Prospects reports, and Chris Cotillo confirms, that the Tigers have acquired infielder Tsung-Che Cheng from the Boston Red Sox for cash considerations. Cheng will join fellow Taiwanese infielder Hao-Yu Lee in Detroit. The 25-year-old left-handed hitter is a solid shortstop with a little bit of major league experience.
The Red Sox 40-man roster was getting a bit crowded, so this clears a spot for them. Of course, the Tigers 40-man roster is also a little crowded with eight players due to be added back to the 40-man roster off the 60-day injured list. The point here appears to be developing some other options at the shortstop position beyond Kevin McGonigle. John Peck gives them a right-handed bat, and Cheng a left-handed one. If this spells trouble for anyone on the Tigers it’s probably Trey Sweeney.
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Cheng signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates as a 19-year-old international free agent for $380,000 back in 2019. The Pirates finally released him last offseason and he was picked up by the Washington Nationals and then placed on waivers, where the Red Sox acquired him.
Cheng has some tools. He’s fast, he can play an average major league shortstop, and he has experience at second base, and a little at third as well. The problem is that he strikes out quite a bit, and his power is just fringe average. He struck out 23.8 percent of the time in Triple-A last year, though he does walk a good amount, 13.5 percent in 2026 at Triple-A, and posts solid chase rates. Still, he does swing a miss more than you’d like, and needs to trim that down to be a regular platoon player. More likely the Tigers want to work with him and see if they can unlock something. With Sweeney now recovering from a major shoulder surgery, and few other shortstop options beyond McGonigle and Peck, this is just a little added coverage. The lack of options is a problem though.
Obviously the offseason just began, and for all we know, Cheng will end up getting waived by the Tigers before the offseason finally ends. He’s out of options and not a particularly notable player. For now this is a depth pickup. Perhaps they see something to unlock in his bat, and it doesn’t hurt that Hao-Yu Lee and Cheng are familar with one another as former teammates for Chinese Taipei’s 2019 World Champion U-18 WBSC team. Sometimes a little more comfort factor for international players can help.
