Trade Deadline Comes and Goes Quietly for the Tigers

The 4 pm non-waiver trade deadline has come and gone, but the Tigers only pulled the trigger on a minor trade. Minor league outfielder Wilkin Ramirez was sent to the Atlanta Braves for a player to be named later or cash. Ramirez was designated for assignment a few days ago in order to make room on the 40-man roster for Jhonny Peralta, so the Tigers knew other teams would get a shot at him before they would be allowed to retain him in the organization. Wilkin took part in the Futures Game during All-Star week in Anaheim (a year or two too late), but just a few short weeks later he’s basically been given away.

All along, the indications were that the Tigers would be buyers, but the injuries and subsequent losing streak probably took Detroit out of the bidding for the big names. Adding Jhonny Peralta earlier in the week should help the offense (we’ve seen evidence of that already), but it was a move that was made with an eye on the future as well. That future may or may not include Peralta, but the Tigers didn’t have to commit long-term money to him nor did they give up a top-tier prospect.

It will probably take some unexpected play from at least one or two unexpected sources to keep the Tigers in the division race. No one really expects that to happen, but hopefully they’ll still be playing “meaningful games” long enough to get a good look at some of the young guys. The team is in a tough spot for us fans. They’re too close  to contention to give up on, but they’re too far away to hold on to much hope. Let’s just take it one game at a time.