Detroit Tigers: A Look Ahead Towards Next Years Possible Rentals

The 2018-19 offseason brought in Ross and Moore as mentioned above, but Jeremy Hellickson was rumored to be signing a one-year deal with the Tigers be he ended up signing with the Washington Nationals.

Jeremy Hellickson has been nothing but electric for the Nationals pitching staff this season, well…. not so much. Posting a 2-3 record, 6.23 ERA, 1.72 WHIP, and forty-seven hits through thirty-nine innings of work he has been bad. But here’s the thing, Hellickson is a cheap arm, the Tigers could swoop in during free agency and snag him for cheap money which in turn is fine since he’s a rental.

The rotation next year should hopefully start to take shape as the young arms should get a limited taste of the big leagues here and there. Bringing in Hellickson means he’s an arm the Tigers can throw once every five days, hoping for the best while Casey Mize, Alex Faedo, Matt Manning, Beau Burrows, and now Joey Wentz get tuned up in the minor leagues.

In terms of a best-case scenario, Hellickson will be someone the Detroit Tigers could deal with someone for rotation depth or bullpen help at the trade deadline in exchange for something light. Hellickson will not bring back a hefty return even if he has a great year, but he is somebody the team can use as a small trade chip at the deadline to round out the farm systems more modest needs.

Since the Tigers missed out on Hellickson this year, they could go back and target him next year. He would be a perfect guy for the rotation to eat up some innings on a team that might be just as bad as this year if not worse, the way things stand right now.