Detroit Tigers: Did Al Avila miss the window to trade Matthew Boyd?

There isn’t a massive amount of pressure to move Matt Boyd because he’s still under team control until the 2023 season. He is pitching on a team-friendly 1/$2.6 million dollar deal this season as the Detroit Tigers ace. Boyd will undoubtedly see a nice pay raise if the two parties can’t come to terms on a deal before the left-hander hits arbitration over the Winter.

The left-hander is quickly having the best year of his career this season anchoring the Detroit Tigers rotation. He, along with Spencer Turnbull has primarily been the only reliable starting pitchers in the rotation this year for the club.

Matthew Boyd has already set a career-high in strikeouts in a single season; he’s fanned 160 batters thus far through 120 innings of work. That’s good for a staggering 12k/9 innings pitched to go with an impressive 1.8 BB (walks) per 9 innings of work. Boyd owns a WHIP of 1.133 on the season with a career-best 4.13 season ERA.

It would be nice if Boyd were able to get that ERA back under 4, but the last few starts have really elevated that number. Boyd has a win/loss record of 6-8 on the season. Boyd has given up four or more runs in each of his last six starts totaling 35.1 innings of work allowing 26 earned runs which works out to a 6.67 ERA. Yikes!

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It appears Al Avila has once again dropped the ball on any blockbuster return he’d received in a deal for Matt Boyd. If the Detroit Tigers decided not to move Boyd this season, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. He’s not going to break the bank, and it would leave the Tigers another opportunity next season to move the southpaw slinger if he starts the regular season in the same fashion he did this year. The team shouldn’t try and force a deal that isn’t in their benefit. Also, we shouldn’t rule out a potential sale over the Winter, especially if Boyd can finish the year strong.

The problem is I don’t exactly trust Al Avila or his staff to garner the proper return for Boyd or even move the left-hander at the right time–when his value is the highest. What if Boyd has already plateaued? The organization could find themselves in the same situation they were in with Michael Fulmer.

For the record, I was absolutely wrong when it came to Fulmer. I bought into the nonsense the organization was spewing to the fans. “The rebuild will be a five-year overhaul.” Well, it appears it could end up being an eight or do I dare say ten-year rebuild? Today this is the worst team in baseball with little to no fielding prospects. They have plenty of top pitching throughout the organization but not very many promising hitters.

I thought if it was a five-year plan the Detroit Tigers could hold onto Fulmer and he’d be the teams’ veteran ace when they were ready to once again compete for a title. Well, it appears the best days could be behind Fulmer already leaving the Tigers with nothing in return. It’s a bit too early to ultimately make that assumption since he’s only pitched three seasons, But his numbers have continued to move in the wrong direction since his rookie season. Plus this year is completely lost due to injury.

The Fulmer stuff sort of forces me to lean towards moving Boyd rather than keeping him. The Detroit Tigers are desperate for fielding prospects; if Boyd returns to form, Avila should be able to land an excellent package for Boyds’ services. He’s scheduled to pitch Tuesday night at home against Aaron Nola and the Philadelphia Phillies.

Next. Which Teams Are the Most Interested In Matthew Boyd?. dark

If Casey Mize, Matt Manning, Alex Faedo and Beau Burrows all have a future in the big leagues, the Detroit Tigers could sign a couple of veteran pitchers to help solidify their rotation once they are ready to compete similar to when they signed Kenny Rogers. Justin Verlander recently mentioned he’d like to maybe finish his career in Detroit, wouldn’t that be something.

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