Detroit Tigers: All About the Reboot

Well, the Detroit Tigers decided to do the thing we have been begging them to do.

We called it “retool,” not rebuild. This is because if the Tigers played their cards right and stacked teams against each other, they could get come great players back in return. Dave Dombrowski coined an even better word: a “reboot.”

The meaning is all the same. If the Tigers play is smart, they can stock some components in the farm system and perhaps at the major league level that will help them in 2016 and beyond. Meanwhile,with so many free agents this offseason leaving the team, Detroit will have plenty of money to work with in a deep free agent market.

Drew Sharp is first up, arguing shrewd moves could restore the Tigers to contender status in the AL in 2016. Think how the Boston Red Sox “rebooted” in 2012, shipping off a bunch of dead weight and then winning it all in 2013. Of course the Red Sox are poised to follow that World Series championship up with two last place finishes, but I would challenge any Tigers’ fan to not trade one title for two last place finishes.

So we have talked about who the Tigers should part with, such as David Price, Yoenis Cespedes, Joakim Soria, Rajai Davis, Alex Avila, Jeff Weaver, Jeremy Bonderman, Bobby Higginson–oh wait nodded off there for a minute…..So let’s see who Tony Paul thinks could be on their way to Motown in exchange for these players.

Finally, if it is ever more abundantly clear that the Tigers need to do this is by looking in their minor league system. We never know if Dombrowski will stick around next year (although some were saying that he convinced ownership to go down this road and that fact likely bodes well for his future in Detroit), but it is clear that he values the minor leagues not for development, but for trade parts.

It may well be that DD was in “buy” mode, but when no one wanted any of his parts, he convinced ownership to shift gears and “reboot.”

The final nice piece in the Tigers’ minor league system, Steven Moya, appears to be safe for at least another year as the Tigers shift to seller instead of buyer.

Tigers’ window still open if they trade right – Drew Sharp, Detroit Free Press

"For the Tigers, regrouping remains more important — not rebuilding, retooling or any of the many other expressions for concession. It’s more important using the remainder of the 2015 season to give the injured and long inactive, such as Justin Verlander and Bruce Rondon, more time to work through the rust. It’s more important focusing on what aspects of the roster need a full repair, rather than offering trade deadline patchwork options that likely won’t lift the Tigers to a playoff they’re too weak to win anyway."

What can Tigers get back? Here are the possibilities – Tony Paul, Detroit News

"It has to start with the Blue Jays, who have a Murderer’s Row lineup, made better by acquiring Troy Tulowitzki from the Rockies, but they need pitching, big-time. Blue Jays lefty Daniel Norris, a top-20 prospect in baseball, would be front and center in these discussions.A close second contender might just be the Dodgers, even as they were zeroing in on Mat Latos on Wednesday. The Dodgers have to love the idea of going into the playoffs with a rotation led by Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke and Price. They have the pitching prospect, in lefty Julio Urias, the Tigers might covet most, but they’re not getting both Arias and third base / outfield prospect Corey Seager, which is fine. The Tigers might want pitching, and only pitching, in all of their trades."

Tigers don’t have much, but Moya is the best prospect – Steve Schrader, Free Press

"And the Tigers’ top prospect is outfielder Steven Moya, currently hitting .225 with 52 RBIs and 14 home runs in 88 games for the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens. He also has struck out 111 times.But last year, the big guy — the 23-year-old Moya is 6-feet-7 and 260 pounds — hit .276 with 105 RBIs and 35 homers in 133 games for the Double-A Erie SeaWolves. And struck out 161 times.“Moya has about as much raw power as any prospect in the game, the kind of hitter veterans will stop what they are doing to watch him take batting practice,” mlb.com writes. “He can hit the ball out of any ballpark, with strength and bat speed. With great power comes great swing and miss potential and Moya does strike out too much thanks to a long swing and poor pitch recognition, and he doesn’t offset the K’s with many walks at this point. Moya runs well, especially for his size and has a strong arm even following 2012 Tommy John surgery.”"

Next: If Tigers sell Price, they could make bank