Detroit Tigers Trade Rumors: Team ‘Actively Shopping’ for Pitching Help
By Matt Snyder
The Detroit Tigers are still publicly saying that they’re not intending to sell at the trade deadline, and rival AL executives are also passing along similar sentiments. Despite sitting three games below the .500 mark, the Tigers don’t appear to be in sell mode.
But not only that, the Tigers may actually be trying to make a serious push to make the playoffs this season. Current reports, like the tweet by ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick below, suggest that they’re acting as buyers on the trade market.
One team with pitching to trade says #Tigers are actively shopping. Substantiates Dombrowski's comments about making a push.
— Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) July 28, 2015
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The Tigers certainly do need pitching, both in the rotation and in the bullpen, but they don’t appear to have enough assets in their weak farm system to land a major impact arm.
And even if they were able to land a big(ish) name, would one (or even two) pitchers be enough to turn this club into a big-time contender? I’m not so sure.
The Tigers’ best plan of attack — if they are truly serious about buying pitching — might be to go bargain hunting for a couple of number four starters, a modest setup man, and a reasonable LOOGY.
It’s hard to imagine the Tigers making a sexy splash in the market, but they might be able to similarly improve the team by making a short series of lower-profile moves. They already have a front-line starter in David Price, so whoever they might acquire wouldn’t need to be relied upon to win a Wild Card play-in game or carry them through a postseason series. They simply need guys would can pitch in and provide reasonably quality innings.
Whatever the Detroit Tigers decide to do at the trade deadline, buy or sell, it’s bound to be interesting.
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