Detroit Tigers: Division Rival Trade Targets

Detroit Tigers general manager Al Avila will soon navigate baseball’s annual trade deadline. If Detroit buys (which they should), the team could find some useful pieces on some division rivals’ rosters.

Detroit Tigers players have so far propelled the team to a 49-46 record. As of Thursday, that’s good enough for second place in the American League Central and 4.5 games out of the second American League wild card place.

In climbing to second place, the Tigers have leapfrogged fellow division rivals such as the Kansas City Royals and Chicago White Sox, while staying ahead of the Minnesota Twins.

While Kansas City seems likely to stay in contention considering their status as defending champions, the other two teams below Detroit may end up selling.

Minnesota is beyond out of the playoff race at this point, thanks to a 35-59 record and a 21-game deficit in the Central. The Twins are sellers at this point, and it looks like Chicago will be joining them. According to USA TODAY Sports’ Bob Nightengale, Chicago has a number of pieces “in play.” The reporter tweeted, “The #WhiteSox expected to keep rotation intact, but everyone else, except SS Tim Anderson, are in play at trade deadline.”

While that effectively rules out a Chris Sale trade—which probably wasn’t going to happen anyways—it does open up the possibility for the Tigers to poach some talent from their division rivals.

Here are four players from the White Sox and Twins who could improve the Detroit Tigers.