After being designated for assignment earlier this week by the Detroit Tigers, Clete Thomas has been claimed off waivers by the Minnesota Twins. Despite losing him to a division rival, Tigers skipper Jim Leyland is happy for the 28-year-old, who couldn't seem to consistently crack the Tigers' wall-to-wall outfield:
#Tigers Leyland about Clete Thomas being claimed by #Twins - "I'm happy for him Not surprised, Gardy has always liked him."
— Tom Gage (@Tom_Gage) April 14, 2012
In three seasons with the Tigers, Thomas received 443 plate appearances and had a hitting line of .253/.336/.728. Thomas was drafted by the Tigers in the 2005 amateur draft out of Auburn University, but was originally drafted out of high school by the Twins and he works out during the offseason with Twins' outfielder Denard Span.
For more on the Detroit Tigers, check out Bless You Boys. You can also head over to SB Nation's main MLB hub at Baseball Nation.