Phillippe Aumont's contract sold to Detroit Tigers

The Can-Am League's Ottawa Champions have sold the contract of right-hander Phillippe Aumont to the Detroit Tigers. Photo Credit: Baseball Canada

By Kevin Glew

Canadian Baseball Network

The Ottawa Champions, of the independent Can-Am League, have sold the contract of right-hander Phillippe Aumont (Gatineau, Que.) to the Detroit Tigers organization.

The deal was announced on the Champions' Twitter account on Monday.

Aumont is likely to begin the 2018 season with the Tigers triple-A Toledo Mud Hens.

In a comeback season, after walking away from baseball in June 2016, the 28-year-old Aumont posted a 4.51 ERA and struck out 103 batters in 115 2/3 innings in 17 starts with the Champions in 2017. The highlight of his campaign was tossing a no-hitter against a touring team from the Dominican Republic on June 28 at RCGT Park in Ottawa.

A first-round pick of the Seattle Mariners in 2007, Aumont spent two seasons in the M's organization before he was dealt to the Philadelphia Phillies as part of a package for left-hander Cliff Lee on December 16, 2009.

The 6-foot-7, 240-pound right-hander would eventually pitch parts of four major league seasons with the Phillies from 2012 to 2015. His finest big league stretch came in 2013 when he posted a 4.19 ERA and struck out 19 batters in 19-1/3 innings in 22 appearances.

After being released by the Phillies in June 2015, Aumont was signed by the Toronto Blue Jays and he would make five appearances - including four starts - for the triple-A Buffalo Bisons. Prior to the 2016 season, he inked a minor league deal with the Chicago White Sox and appeared in 10 games for their triple-A affiliate before voluntarily retiring.

Aumont has also toed the rubber for the Canadian National Team on multiple occasions, including on the gold medal winning Pan Am Games team in 2015, as well as on the 2009 and 2013 World Baseball Classic teams.