The Hot Stove season doesn’t officially begin until next week, but the Tigers are already at work clearing their roster, including one of their most familiar relievers. Left-handers Blaine Hardy and Daniel Stumpf, right-hander Victor Alcántara and catcher John Hicks are free agents after being designated for assignment and clearing waivers this week.

Fellow relievers Nick Ramirez, Zac Reininger and Eduardo Jimenez were outrighted to Triple-A Toledo, along with outfielder Dustin Peterson. All four will be eligible for Minor League free agency five days after the World Series ends, free to sign with any club, including the Tigers.

The moves reduce Detroit’s 40-man roster to 34 as the team tries to clear roster spots for a wave of prospects it would like to protect from the Rule 5 Draft on Dec. 12. Among those prospects are former first-round picks Daz Cameron (Detroit's No. 8 prospect, per MLB Pipeline, Beau Burrows (No. 14) and Derek Hill (No. 28), along with starters Kyle Funkhouser (No. 18) and Anthony Castro (No. 20), relievers Zac Houston, Nolan Blackwood, Jason Foley and Wladimir Pinto and outfielders Cam Gibson, Jacob Robson (No. 27), Jose Azocar and Danny Woodrow.

In addition, the Tigers could well be aggressive in the Rule 5 Draft as they try to stockpile young talent.

While the Tigers could try to re-sign some of the aforementioned players, Stumpf and Hardy are expected to look for deals elsewhere. Hardy tweeted his goodbye to Tigers fans on Thursday.

Hardy and Stumpf faced particular risk of being dropped. While Hardy is eligible for arbitration, Stumpf’s struggles this season, combined with the upcoming three-batter minimum for relievers in Major League games, would have whittled down his role in Detroit.

No Tigers pitcher had as long a history with the club as Hardy, who made his Major League debut in Detroit on June 16, 2014. He was a workhorse reliever in '15, appearing in 70 games for then-manager Brad Ausmus, but topped out at 39 games after that. He was a valuable swingman for manager Ron Gardenhire in '18, making 13 starts along with 17 relief appearances, but battled elbow issues for most of this season before going on the injured list in August.

Hardy had a platelet-rich plasma injection in August to aid healing in his flexor tendon in an effort to be ready for next Spring Training. He finishes his Tigers tenure with a 14-10 record, a 3.73 ERA, one save and 229 strikeouts over 289 2/3 innings across 233 appearances.

Like Hardy, Hicks was set to be arbitration-eligible, having spent the past 2 1/2 seasons on Detroit’s big league roster. His '17 and '18 seasons seemingly had him poised for a larger role this year at catcher and first base, but he struggled to a .210 average and .620 OPS, striking out 109 times against 13 walks in 333 plate appearances.

Though the expansion of rosters to 26 players next year is expected to create another spot for a versatile bench player, and Gardenhire has been known to carry three catchers on his roster for in-game versatility, the Tigers will look elsewhere.

On the flip side, the Tigers’ move with Ramirez was a bit of a surprise after he showed versatility as a lefty reliever in his first big league season. The former Minor League first baseman struck out 74 batters over 79 2/3 innings to go with a 4.07 ERA over 46 appearances, with a .644 OPS allowed to left-handed hitters.

The moves leave Gregory Soto and Matt Hall as the only lefty relievers on Detroit’s roster. Tyler Alexander could also fill such a role if he doesn’t end up starting in Detroit or Toledo.