The Detroit Tigers made a calculated decision on Nov. 18, the deadline day for major league teams to cut players from their 40-man rosters, or add them. By adding a minor league player to the 40-man roster, a team protects him from being poached by a rival in the annual Rule 5 Draft.
The Tigers decided not to protect their No. 30 prospect, an intimidating, right-handed pitcher named RJ Petit who was Detroit’s 14th-round selection in the 2021 MLB amateur draft. Presumably, the Tigers hoped they could slip him through the Rule 5 Draft — which allows teams to take unprotected players who meet certain conditions from other minor league systems — without losing Petit.
But Petit is a hard man to hide. Standing 6-foot-8 and tipping the scales at 300 pounds, the 26-year-old will become the heaviest major leaguer since Hall of Fame lefty C.C. Sabathia, who pitched 19 seasons, mostly for the Cleveland Indians (now Guardians) and New York Yankees, and was also listed at 300 pounds. Sabathia retired after the 2019 season.
The Rule 5 Draft was held Wednesday at the annual MLB Winter Meetings in Orlando, Florida, and the Colorado Rockies held the first overall pick. New Rockies president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta, in one of his first moves since taking the job on Nov. 5, used that pick to poach Petit from Detroit, according to a report by The Denver Post.
Petit’s imposing stature was certainly not the sole reason he was taken, however. With a fastball clocked up to 98 mph, he posted a 2.44 ERA this season in 66 1/3 innings between the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens and Double-A Erie SeaWolves, with 79 strikeouts against 22 walks.
At the Triple-A level, Petit recorded a 51% groundball rate, an asset in Coors Field, the most offense-friendly park in MLB by a considerable margin, according to Statcast metrics. His slider and changeup were likely even more attractive to the Rockies than his fastball.
“Petit’s 83-85 mph gyro slider is much better at generating swing-and-miss and chase low in the zone with strong depth, and the Rockies think it’s the kind of breaking ball that should play in Coors Field,” according to an MLB Pipeline scouting report.
While MLB Pipeline had Petit ranked at No. 30 in the Tigers system, with the Rockies he immediately rose to No. 26. But if all goes according to the Rockies’ plan, Petit will not be considered a prospect for long. Under rules governing the Rule 5 Draft, any player taken must be immediately placed on the 26-man big league roster and stay there for at least one entire season.
If a team removes that player from its major league squad, it must return him to his original team for a price of $50,000.
According to the Denver Post report, the Rockies see Petit as a factor in their bullpen for 2026.
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