The Detroit Tigers might be finding it difficult to find a trade partner for out-of-options reserve catcher Bryan Holaday.
It became apparent that catcher Bryan Holaday would not be long for the Detroit Tigers roster when the organization signed veteran backstop Jarrod Saltalamacchia to a one year free agent contract in December.
What was not clear, however, was the circumstances around which he (i.e. Holaday) would be removed from the club’s roster. Indeed, the lack of clarity in this matter remains even with one week remaining until the Tigers begin their regular season campaign.
Really, there are three possible outcomes for the Holaday saga.
- Tigers trade Holaday.
- Tigers designate Holaday for assignment and he’s claimed on waivers.
- Tigers designate Holaday for assignment, he’s unclaimed on waivers, and the Tigers assign him to AAA.
Options one and three are preferable to the Tigers organization. Either they get something in return for giving him up or they keep him as emergency depth as a quality reserve.
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Unfortunately number three looks incredibly unlikely. He’ll be offered to every other team in the league free of cost in a matter of days and it would seem that at least one club would like to have him as the backup on their 25-man roster.
In order for option one to work, there would need to be enough interest in Holaday for a (very small) bidding war to develop. Holaday isn’t going to command any sort of top prospect in a trade, but they’re likely hoping for a lower level lottery ticket arm (or something of the like).
The Houston Astros were one club looking for a backup catcher after an injury to Max Stassi. The Astros had a scout looking at Holaday, but today traded for Erik Kratz of the San Diego Padres.
The New York Mets were another club looking for a backup catcher, but Adam Rubin of ESPN New York reports that they’re not particularly interested in trading the Tigers for Holaday.
"Out-of-options Bryan Holiday is available with the Tigers, but the Mets view that as more of a lateral move compared with Johnny Monell and do not seem interested."
The Mets would probably put in a waiver claim for Holaday in hopes of snagging him for free, but it doesn’t seem that they’d be interesting in dangling any sort of return package in front of the Tigers to aqcuire him.
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And this is the problem Holaday presents. He’s a reasonable backup catcher for a major league team, but his limited upside prevents any organization from seeing him as a particularly valuable commodity.