Detroit Tigers trade J.D. Martinez to Arizona Diamondbacks for modest return
By Matt Snyder
The Detroit Tiger traded outfielder J.D. Martinez to the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for a modest package of infield prospects.
The Detroit Tigers finally began the rebuilding process on Tuesday afternoon as the team announced the trade of slugging outfielder J.D. Martinez to the Arizona Diamondbacks. In return the Tigers will receive three prospects: third baseman Dawel Lugo, shortstop Sergio Alcantara and infielder Jose King.
Jon Morosi of FOX Sports and MLB Network was first to report the trade on Twitter.
J.D. Martinez trade is agreed upon, source confirms. #Tigers receiving prospects in deal. @MLB @MLBNetwork
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) July 18, 2017
The Tigers are betting on quantity over quality here as none of the three youngsters are top rated prospects. The Diamondbacks have one of the worst farm systems in baseball and yet the Tigers did not manage to wrest one of their top ranked players.
According to J.J. Cooper of Baseball America, Lugo was going to be ranked fifth in the Diamondbacks’ mid-season update, but the other two remained outside their top ten.
We have not released Dbacks updated 10 yet but had Lugo set to be 5th...Alcantara among rising non top 10 prospects https://t.co/rNrhL3N687
— JJ Cooper (@jjcoop36) July 18, 2017
Dave Cameron of FanGraphs doesn’t think the Tigers got enough in return for the best hitter on the trade market.
"Obviously things can change during a season, but these are three kind of shocking names to be traded for an elite hitter, even a rental one. Eric had Lugo as the best prospect of the trio last winter, giving him a 40 FV and ranking him as the team’s 10th best prospect. Alcantara was in the others of note section. King wasn’t mentioned."
A 40 future value player is one that’s projected to be a significantly below average player with the ceiling of a bench player. The Tigers obviously think Lugo could be better than that, but the industry consensus seems to be that he isn’t anything special.
For what it’s worth, Lugo has hit fairly well in his minor league career. The 22-year-old owns a more than solid .282/.325/.428 batting line in AA this season and hit .311/.339/.492 between Hi-A and AA last year. As the biggest name in the group, the success or failure of this trade could hinge on Lugo’s development at the plate.
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J.D. Martinez hit .305/.388/.630 in 232 plate appearances for the Tigers this season with 16 home runs to his name.
Two years ago the Tigers got Michael Fulmer for rental outfielder Yoenis Cespedes. This return appears to pale in comparison to that.