This may seem odd now, but Drew VerHagen was once considered one of the top 10 prospects in the Detroit Tigers organization. Yes, I’m talking about middle reliever Drew VerHagen, he of the career 4.79 ERA in 141 career innings. The same Drew VerHagen that posted a 4.63 ERA in 56 1⁄3 innings for the Tigers this season, and has struck out fewer than 6.5 batters per nine innings in his entire professional career.
This wasn’t VerHagen’s fault, of course. The Tigers had one of the worst farm systems in baseball at that point, consistently sitting near (if not at) the very bottom of everyone’s organizational rankings.