MLB Trade Rumors: Detroit Tigers in the Market for Michael Saunders?
The Major League Baseball offseason if officially heating up. MLB trade rumors are beginning to pop up all over the league as teams will look to make improvements to areas of need within their rosters.
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For the Detroit Tigers, two areas of need stand out more than the rest. The bullpen, and the outfield.
With guys like Austin Jackson, Torii Hunter, and Andy Dirks no longer with the club, a major void has been left in the outfield for the Tigers. They do have prospects in the pipeline that could possibly be brought up, however general consensus is that they aren’t quite ready to make the jump.
So where does that leave Detroit?
MLB Daily Dish writer, Chris Cotillo reported that the Seattle Mariners may be in the market of shopping right fielder, Michael Saunders and that the Detroit Tigers are among the teams that are interested.
The #mariners are expected to shop OF Michael Saunders hard at GM meetings. Both sides appear ready to move on.
— Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) November 7, 2014
Saunders was an drafted by the Mariners in the 11th round of the 2004 MLB draft. He made short work of the minor league system, joining Triple-A Tacoma when he was just 21-years-old. Then, during his MLB rookie season in 2009, Saunders hit .221/.258/.279 in 129 plate appearances.
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Things wouldn’t improve much over the years, though Saunders would show some potential in 2012. He hit .247/.306/.432 with 53 extra base hits and 21 stolen bases in 507 plate appearances, but was only worth roughly 2 WAR due to some defensive shortcomings in center field.
However, injuries have hampered the progress of the former top 100 prospect over the last few years as he has made just 731 plate appearances. Keeping in mind that Saunders is still just 27-years-old, there is an upside still there.
The real question begins to be, if the Mariners are truly shopping the out fielder, what are they looking for in return?
Saunders had a 128 OPS+ in 78 games this yr. Has had injury issues, but he's potential turnaround candidate at 28. #mariners
— Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) November 7, 2014
If the demand is high for him, the price will obviously go up. If Saunders came to Detroit, and could stay on the field, it would be a good move for Detroit.
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