Detroit Tigers: Hypothetical, Beneficial Change of Scenery Trades

Change of Scenery Deals

Generally, change of scenery trades aren’t commonplace in Major League Baseball.

Teams will trade established veterans for prospect hauls or vice versa. Franchises also tend to take fliers on players with upside who have struggled, or move players in deals designed to shed salary.

Rarely do you see a change of scenery transaction that involves two teams swapping Major League veterans in an attempt to see if a different player can find success in a similar role.

However, there have been a few examples of this recently.

Benoit for Storen

The Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays swapped struggling relievers on expiring contracts last July.

Seattle flipped former Tiger Joaquin Benoit (5.18 ERA, 4.95 FIP at the time of the trade) to Toronto for Drew Storen (6.21 ERA, 5.01 FIP with the Blue Jays).

Benoit would go on to post a stellar 0.38 ERA in 23.2 frames for the American League East franchise, while Storen logged a 2.76 FIP in 18.1 innings in the Pacific Northwest.

Elsewhere last season, the Pirates swapped Antonio Bastardo and Jon Niese.

Bastardo for Niese

While Niese struggled mightily in his return to New York, Bastardo turned in a 3.94 FIP and 10.5 punch outs per nine frames for the Pirates.

Nolasco for Santiago

Ricky Nolasco and Hector Santiago also switched teams in trade that also involved Alex Meyer and minor league pitcher Alan Busenitz.

Nolasco would go onto thrive in his new settings, pitching to a 3.21 ERA in 11 starts for the Angels.

So far this spring, the likes of Anibal Sanchez, Mike Pelfrey and Mark Lowe have struggled.

The trio have combined to pitch 11.1 innings in Grapefruit League action.

Over that span, the three pitchers have combined to allow 24 hits, 19 runs, seven walks and four home runs.

While spring training numbers aren’t everything, the trio are coming off down seasons.

Here are some hypothetical change of scenery trades that could benefit all parties.