Detroit Tigers: Three foolish roster moves of Al Avila over the years

December 9th, 2015: The Detroit Tigers send Luis Cessa and Chad Green to the New York Yankees for Justin Wilson.

The first of the foolish moves might be one that slips under the radar, especially since the Detroit Tigers would flip Justin Wilson for prospects the following year. However, it seems that Al Avila got fleeced in terms of losing some arms that have developed quite nicely.

Immediately, the loss of Chad Green and Luis Cessa did not mean much, but the two have blossomed into reliable relief arms in the Yankees bullpen. The logistics of the trade are listed below:

The left-handed specialist Wilson would be moved to the Chicago Cubs the following trade deadline in 2016 for Jeimer Candelario and Isaac Paredes, which was a great deal for the organization. Still, looking specifically at this Tigers/Yankees trade, it seems like it was not the best move.

Since giving up Wilson, the Yankees have not missed him and have one of the more prolific bullpens around the game of baseball. Wilson has not continued to be an effective reliever, falling off since then, while Cessa and Green have been great.

Cessa has fallen short of his prediction to be a mid rotational starter, but he is still quite valuable to a team like the Tigers. In the new age of baseball, where the opener strategy has become more prevalent, Cessa has become a long-relief arm or someone who can start for three to four innings as a one-time through the order guy.

Green has become more of a shutdown reliever guy who has also been trotted out there as the first inning opener while the Yankees bullpen has suffered plenty of injuries. Green has been a sixth-seventh inning guy for the Yankees and could be valuable to the Tigers’ horrific bullpen.

It may not be the worst trade since the Tigers walked away with Candelario and Paredes when all is said and done, moving Wilson, but the initial deal gave up two arms who could be useful on this current struggling team.