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Detroit Tigers: A Look Ahead Towards Next Years Possible Rentals

By Tyler Kotila

LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 16: Pitcher Gio Gonzalez #47 of the Milwaukee Brewers pitches during the first inning of Game Four of the National League Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on October 16, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 16: Pitcher Gio Gonzalez #47 of the Milwaukee Brewers pitches during the first inning of Game Four of the National League Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on October 16, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /
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During the 2019-20 Offseason, Detroit Tigers GM Al Avila will need to bring in some new players who will be rentals/investments to become possible trade chips. Being realistic, the Tigers are not going out and signing Gerrit Cole this offseason.

In the 2018-19 offseason, Detroit Tigers GM Al Avila went out and brought in names like Tyson Ross, Matt Moore, Jordy Mercer, and Josh Harrison. These guys that came in on one and two-year deals were being used as “investments” or being brought in to fill gaps and hopefully become trade bait. Looking at those “investments,” it did not go so well for Avila in terms of trading any of those players away.

Starting with Ross, he has been on the 60-day injured list with an elbow injury that has kept him from pitching, only appearing in seven starts. Ross was 1-5 with a 6.11 ERA during those seven starts which are not worth anything on the trade market. Besides Ross, the Detroit Tigers added Moore as an investment which has been recuperating from an arm injury.

On the 2019 season, Moore has made two starts and also finds himself on the 60-day injured list. However, He has thrown ten shutout innings, possibly having the best ERA and WHIP of any pitcher at the deadline… if only injured players could be traded. In all seriousness, Moore has been hurt, meaning his trade value was zero, saying he was another failed investment by Avila.

Moving into the notable position players because guys like Bobby Wilson are not worth mentioning in trade talks, and frankly neither are Harrison or Mercer. Harrison has been hurt just like Ross and Moore meaning he has zero trade value and has not exactly worked out for the Detroit Tigers except opening up a spot in the field for guys like Willi Castro and Dawel Lugo. Harrison was released by the Detroit Tigers this past week.

Mercer has had minor injuries that land him on the injured list, but he has terrible stats and was another example of a failed investment. Mercer is posting a .247/.275/.371 slash line with only six home runs and eleven RBI on the season has not been pretty.

Those are the failed rentals from the 2019 season, but it’s time to start scouting out the free-agent class for next year, seeing who the Tigers should watch at the end of the season and hope to sign. Going into next year, the Tigers projected payroll would be around $76,250,000 without factoring in arbitration salaries and pre-arbitration salaries. (Estimate courtesy of Jon Becker at RosterResource.com)

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