Detroit Tigers trade candidate: Rick Porcello

The Detroit Tigers will have to make moves, of that there is little question. They have a few decent young prospects, but trading them away with a roster that will one day be aging and expensive may not be the best solution long term for this team. That means they will have to deal away something of value, something proven, something other teams may actually want. That is not Ryan Raburn, but may just be Starting Pitcher Rick Porcello.

Porcello makes tons of sense as a trade chip. He is a 23 year old two time 14 game winner. He projects quite well as a major league ready back of the rotation guy, and maybe a change of scenery would improve on all that. Furthermore for a team like the Tigers who play questionable defense at best, why keep a pitcher who gets hitters to hit so many ground balls? Do we really trust this defense with more ground balls? I mean think about that…seriously.

For any sellers out there this year they are going to want something that makes them better right away, and likely something that could make them better down the road. Looking over the Tigers 40 man roster there are not many guys like that that the team would feel comfortable getting rid of. On top of all that Drew Smyly and hopefully one day Jacob Turner would likely push Porcello off this roster anyways. With that in mind why not deal him for another piece this team desperately needs. That of course is a better option at second.

There are other needs, but that one seems to be the most urgent. There of course are other players. One has to wonder if another team would take a chance on Delmon Young. He came to Detroit Last year and performed well, might another change of scenery and a new role on a ne team inspire a raise in his performance?

Past that there are not a lot of players the Tigers could or would be willing to trade. That means of course draft picks, money, and/or prospects will have to be added to sweeten the pot. Not one of the top prospects of course, but one that the team (and the fans) feel comfortable with trading away.