Detroit Tigers send a message to Gamecock great Grayson Greiner
Former South Carolina baseball standout Grayson Greiner received some good news from the parent MLB club Monday.
Today, we purchased the contracts of catcher Grayson Greiner and OF Mike Gerber from Triple-A Toledo, RHP Gerson Moreno and Spencer Turnbull from Double-A Erie as well as RHP Eduardo Jimenez, LHP Gregory Soto and infielder Sergio Alcantara from Single-A Lakeland.
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) November 21, 2017
The Detroit Tigers’ move protects Greiner from being exposed to the upcoming Rule 5 Draft. It also means he’ll be a part of the big-league club when the Tigers head to spring training.
A full-time role in Detroit, however, could still be a few years away.
“He is likely to be in Detroit, as a back-up or more, by 2019,” The Detroit News wrote about Greiner on Monday.
This year he started the season at Double A Erie (9 games) and finished at Triple A Toledo (5 games). He batted .237 with 14 home runs and 44 RBIs.
The Rule 5 draft is “a method to prevent teams from stockpiling talent in their minor league systems,” according to Baseball America.
“Players with minimum time in the minors who have not yet cracked the 40-man roster can be plucked by another team as part of the Rule 5 process,” The Detroit News wrote.
Greiner starred locally at Blythewood High and with the South Carolina baseball team. He was a third round pick of the Tigers in 2014.
Greiner got married in October. He and other Gamecock greats will host an annual camp in January in Blythewood.
Very excited to have the opportunity to put on this camp for the 2nd straight year in Blythewood, SC! We’re adding two major leaguers, Jordan Montgomery & Tyler Webb, to the staff this year. Going to be a great camp, sign up today! pic.twitter.com/JNvSRnBodE
— Grayson Greiner (@ggreiner21) November 14, 2017
At a loss for words. Thank you to every person that made @madisondanker and I feel so loved on our special day #nothingfinerthanagreiner pic.twitter.com/C89dacTaHc
— Grayson Greiner (@ggreiner21) October 29, 2017
This story was originally published November 20, 2017 at 9:59 PM with the headline "Detroit Tigers send a message to Gamecock great Grayson Greiner."