Detroit Tigers: Sellers, David Price return, Miguel Cabrera’s loss

The Detroit Tigers are facing a crossroads. Are they buyers or sellers.

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They are still very much in the wild-card hunt, at a game back most days, but getting into the wild-card round guarantees you only one game, probably on the road. Should the Tigers once again mortgage the future if there is no guarantee they can even get to that one game?

Certainly any team can turn it on and the Tigers have the talent to do so. It is just that they look so out of synch too often and unable to sustain long winning streaks in order to prove themselves a legit contender. We talked last week before the Miguel Cabrera injury that the Tigers should be sellers and try for a quick retool on the fly considering strong free agent market next off-season.

If Detroit decided to part with David Price, their hottest commodity right now, what would they get?

Lastly, Brad Ausmus attempts to put into words what the loss of Miggy would mean. I don’t expect this team to give up with Cabrera being out, but they haven’t looked great, with a 41-40 mark exactly halfway through the season, with him to instill confidence they will be able to weather the time without him.

Should the Detroit Tigers buy or sell? – Joshua Sadlock, Baseball Essential

Further emptying the farm system to reach the playoffs would be a mistake. By no means should the Tigers sell everything, but come July 31st, if Detroit finds themselves more than five games from a playoff berth, serious consideration needs to be given to trading David Price. That would be a difficult move to make, but it could be one that saves the Tigers from becoming the Philadelphia Phillies of the American League — a team that went for it one too many times and had to face the consequences later.

What A David Price Trade Could Net The Detroit Tigers – Chris Robbins, Vavel

What might it take to get a guy like David Price? From the Cardinals perspective, it would likely take a package that revolves around someone like Alex Reyes, a young right-hander currently pitching in High-A for the Cardinals. He’s their number two prospect, and was rated by baseball prospectus as the 55th best prospect entering this season. Fangraphs did an article on him in February of 2014, a little over a year ago, and at that time he already had a 95 MPH fastball, an above average curve for a minor leaguer, and was working on his changeup which has since improved to also be close to a plus pitch. He’s only 20-years old and has pitched extremely well in High-A ball this season. He’s got an ERA just over two, with 90 strikeouts and 30 walks in 60 innings, and on top of that hasn’t allowed a home run this season. While he may not be ready for major league action for around two years, he could be an All-Star talent in the future.

Tigers’ Ausmus: Losing Miguel Cabrera is ‘huge blow’ – George Sipple, Detroit Free Press

“When you lose the best hitter on the planet it’s a huge blow,” Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. “We’re going to have to find a way to get it down without him, at least for the next month and a half or so. We still have a very good offense.”

Next: Tigers still have hope left even without Miggy