The Tigers are signing infielder Drew Maggi to a minor league contract, as announced by the Staten Island FerryHawks of the Atlantic League (X link). The 35-year-old has appeared in 29 games with Staten Island this year.
Maggi garnered some attention in baseball circles last spring. A veteran of 13 minor league seasons, he earned a long-awaited big league debut with the Pirates last April. Maggi had previously spent some time in the big leagues as a member of the Twins but wasn’t called into game action. He appeared in three contests for Pittsburgh, collecting two hits in six at-bats. The Bucs outrighted him in May and released him in July.
The righty-swinging Maggi wasn’t hitting well for Pittsburgh’s Double-A team at the time of his release. That required him to head to independent ball. Maggi hit .235/.301/.343 across 113 plate appearances in the Atlantic League. He’s a .254/.355/.378 hitter over parts of six Triple-A campaigns and owns a .252/.338/.316 mark in seven years at the Double-A level.