(Photo: Michael Owens, AP)
Detroit — It was painful, of course it was.
James McCann grew up in the Tigers organization. Drafted in 2011, he broke into the major leagues in 2014 and was the club’s starting catcher from 2015 through 2018. So, yes, when the Tigers opted not to tender him a contract last winter, in his second year of arbitration, it hurt.
“It’s not the way you’d draw it up,” he said Thursday morning, taking a break from his pregame work in the visitor’s weight room at Comerica Park ahead of the start of a four-game series with the White Sox.