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Detroit Tigers: Al Avila Running Out Of Dombrowski’s Assets To Sell

By Jon Poole

(Photo by Duane Burleson/Getty Images)
(Photo by Duane Burleson/Getty Images) /
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On July 30th, 2015 the Detroit Tigers were 50-52, one day away from the trade deadline and had to decide whether to go to for it or sell the expiring contract of David Price. With a roster containing Miguel Cabrera, J.D. Martinez, Yoenis Cespedes, Nick Castellanos, Ian Kinsler, Victor Martinez, Justin Verlander, David Price & Anibal Sanchez…Dave Dombrowski chose to sell and traded David Price, Yoenis Cespedes and Joakim Soria for Matthew Boyd, Daniel Norris & Michael Fulmer. Tigers finished 74-87 in 2015.

Just two weeks after the 2015 trade deadline Dombrowski was released by the Detroit Tigers and Al Avila was promoted to GM. When Avila took over, he had a nice mix of Hall of Famers, perennial all-stars, major league ready prospects and prospects we didn’t know were assets yet like Boyd, Fulmer, and Norris. He and the Detroit Tigers had to make the same decision again, to either try to win with or finally start the inevitable rebuild.

In the 2016 offseason, just a few months after being promoted to GM Avila would sign Justin Upton [6YR/132M] and Jordan Zimmerman [5YR/110M].  Both All-Star caliber players, yes even Zimmerman made the All-Star game two of previous three seasons before signing with Detroit. With the massive money spent it was clear the Tigers were going for one last run at a World Series. The Detroit Tigers were 56-48 at the 2016 trade deadline, Avila opted to neither buy or sell. The 2016 season was a complete waste of time and money.

Here comes offseason 2017 and much like the trade deadline months prior there are no big moves to hint at a direction. The same Tigers head into 2017 and were 47-56 at the trade deadline, Avila put everyone on alert he was open for business. Here are the assets the Tigers’ had in 2017;

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The Avila rebuild finally begins with these trades;

2018 offseason was another quiet one highlighted by signings of Mike Fiers and Leonys Martin. Fulmer and Jimenez’s stock goes through the roof since the 2017 trade deadline with Boyd and Greene starting to show promise. After a 46-62 run into the trade deadline, here are the assets the Detroit Tigers had in 2018;

With Fulmer, Jimenez and Castellanos at peak value neither were dealt, at this point both Fulmer and Jimenez would have gotten a return similar if not more than the Verlander haul. A very disappointing trade deadline with only the selling off of some rentals listed below;

In the 2019 offseason, Avila seemingly tried to replicate what he did with the Fiers and Martin rental flip by signing Matt Moore, Tyson Ross, Jordy Mercer, and Josh Harrison to flip at the trade deadline barring they perform. Since they haven’t these are the tradeable assets for this weeks 2019 trade deadline;

If you notice the list keeps getting shorter and shorter, Avila is almost out of deals to make before he’s sold off all he was given, and he was given a lot.

With all those assets, an essential part of a successful rebuild that Avila hasn’t been able to pull off is acquiring high-level prospects. Whether that’s packaging players or just being the better GM, you need a handful of elite prospects as most are not going to work out. Franklin Perez was the 41st overall ranked prospect when traded for in 2017, according to MLB.com/prospects. Perez is the only player the Tigers received during his rebuild that was a top 100 prospect. Franklin Perez has started nine games in the last two years in the Tigers system due to injuries.

For Matthew Boyd not be dealt you’d think it would be because they didn’t get the haul they wanted, but I would find that hard to believe given the market if Avila is any good at his job.  Boyd is the premier left-handed pitcher on the market with a team-friendly contract for three more seasons, but a contract gets less valuable the longer you wait. Though his performance and his 6.46 K/BB ratio have scouts drooling the decision is not 100% about the player performance. It’s also about the market, 2019 is a seller’s market, and Matthew Boyd is sitting on top of it. No telling what next year brings.

Shane Greene is an even more straightforward case, he’s not only performing like the best relief pitching available for trade, but Shane Greene is also pitching like one of the best relief pitchers in baseball. With this being the last year on his contract and the probability of production decline, sell him high while you can as there’s no need for him on the worst roster in MLB.

Nicholas Castellanos needs one team to want his above-average bat that is better than that against left-handed pitching. Castellanos is batting .347 vs. lefties compared to .260 vs. righties. Some NL contenders are worried about left-handed pitching come playoff time which could make the ‘just needs one team to want him’ a real possibility. At this point, Avila should trade Castellanos for the best offer; the problem is everyone knows that. Avila’s job is to make it happen, captain.

dark. Next. Trading for Gleyber Torres makes a ton of sense

Whether it comes by making the smarter deal or by packaging up players, Avila must get maximum value and high-level prospects with some of his last trading chips, or he should be the next one shipped out of Detroit.

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