The Detroit Tigers are cruising toward a playoff berth. But if they want to go on a run when they reach October, they may need to add some reinforcements ahead of the MLB trade deadline.
The Tigers are a strong team with an offense that ranks third in the American League with 4.97 runs per game. While the Tigers could use a right-handed bat to lean into their strengths, they could also attempt to solve a glaring weakness for a bullpen that has had problems missing bats.
With Detroit relievers ranking 21st in the majors with 314 strikeouts, adding a high-powered arm isn’t out of the question. It has already left the Tigers connected to a division rival that could bring home an upgrade not only for this season, but for years to come.
Tigers Should Make Blockbuster Deal for Griffin Jax Ahead of Trade Deadline
A report from USA Today’s Bob Nightengale surfaced last week that the Tigers are one of several teams interested in Minnesota Twins relievers Griffin Jax and Jhoan Duran ahead of the July 31 trade deadline. While Duran is armed with the league’s hardest fastball at 100.3 mph, Jax may be the better fit thanks to his ability to fool opposing hitters.
According to Baseball Savant, Jax owns the highest chase rate at 41.4% this season and ranks in the 99th percentile with a 40.4% whiff rate. His 37.9% strikeout rate also ranks in the 98th percentile, and he does a great job limiting walks (5.7% rate) and keeping the ball in the park with a 45.9% ground ball rate. While his 1-4 record and 3.92 record look underwhelming, he’s posted a 2.23 ERA with 52 strikeouts and seven walks over his past 34 appearances (32.1 innings) and is under team control through the 2027 season.
Identifying Jax as a target is easy. Trying to figure out the cost for the Tigers to acquire him is complicated. Declan Goff of SKOR North referenced the 2024 trade that sent Tanner Scott from the Miami Marlins to the San Diego Padres as a barometer of what a potential deal could look like, and the Padres wound up coughing up four prospects, including pitcher Robby Snelling, who is currently ranked as MLB Pipeline’s No. 79 prospect.
While the Padres also acquired reliever Bryan Hoeing as part of the deal, San Diego still had to give up two more top-five prospects – pitcher Adam Mazur and utilityman Graham Pauley – and infielder Jay Beshears to make the deal happen. The price could be even more extravagant, considering Minnesota is still four games out of the final wild card spot and has not made an in-division trade since acquiring Michael A. Taylor from the Kansas City Royals in 2023.
So what could a deal look like? Here’s our best guess.
Tigers Acquire Griffin Jax, Danny Coulombe in Projected Deadline Trade
If you’re looking at this deal, this feels like a lot. The Tigers would give up a top 100 prospect in Thayron Liranzo and two organizational top 10 prospects in Jaden Hamm and Ty Madden. The Tigers would also bail on Tyler Mattison, who was their fourth-round pick in the 2021 draft, making this deal a tough pill to swallow.
But looking at it on a deeper level, it may be expendable. Liranzo is the Tigers' top catching and first base prospect after he was acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers in last year’s trade for Jack Flaherty, but his path to the majors may be blocked by Spencer Torkelson, Dillon Dingler, and Tigers’ No. 4 prospect, Josue Briceño.
Hamm and Madden are also strong pitching prospects that could become starters but they also could be suited for bullpen roles long-term. Even the throw-in of Mattison looks reasonable as he works his way back from Tommy John surgery and is offset with the addition of Coulombe, who is a free agent at the end of this season but has strong chase (41.1%), and strikeout (27.9%) rates from the left-handed side.
This is all contingent on the Twins' desire to trade Jax and whether the Tigers would want to send this haul within the division. Detroit could also pivot to a cheaper option, such as Pittsburgh Pirates reliever David Bednar or Jake Bird of the Colorado Rockies, but they could also want to go all-in for a championship in a weak American League.
A projected Jax trade sounds like a lot to give up. But it may be the price of poker if the Tigers want to make a blockbuster deal.