Detroit Tigers: Laying out an ideal trade season

Detroit Tigers fans could see the team make some trades as the season progresses. Here is a blueprint for the perfect trade season for general manager Al Avila and the rest of the team’s front office.

Detroit Tigers players entered Sunday with a 23-26 record, with five games separating them and the first-place Minnesota Twins.

While that may seem like a lot on paper, the Tigers are far from out of the playoff picture.

Stranger things have happened, but Minnesota doesn’t look like a postseason contender on paper. If the Tigers can stay close to Cleveland in the standings throughout the year, Detroit will be in excellent shape.

The Tigers are also just three games out of the wild card entering Sunday.

Regardless of Detroit’s record, the team could conceivably make some trades.

The team needs to save money, so dealing non-essential veterans on short-term deals makes sense.

In this scenario, the likes of Francisco Rodriguez, Anibal Sanchez and Jose Iglesias could be flipped. However, whether the Tigers are able to find trade partners remains to be seen.

Here is a look at a potentially ideal trade season for Detroit Tigers general manager Al Avila and the rest of the team’s front office staff.

These trades will keep Detroit in contention while helping to build for the future.

Deal away non-essential veterans

These include Jose Iglesias and Francisco Rodriguez. The Detroit Tigers need to save money and both Iglesias and Rodriguez are replaceable.

At shortstop, Detroit can turn to Dixon Machado, who is every bit as dependable of a fielder as Iglesias is.

Elsewhere, the Tigers bullpen is thriving without Francisco Rodriguez.

With Justin Wilson closing and Shane Greene and Alex Wilson serving as setup options, Detroit doesn’t need Rodriguez to pitch late in games.

Dealing him to save money certainly makes sense as the likes of Blaine Hardy, Bruce Rondon, Joe Jimenez, Chad Bell, Arcenio Leon and Daniel Stumpf provide manager Brad Ausmus with more options.

The Tigers will also need to eventually make room for promising relief prospects Victor Alcantara and Jairo Labourt.

Both pitchers, who can light up the radar gun, should be in the Majors by 2018 if they continue producing in the minors.

Alcantara has pitched to a 2.08 ERA in Triple-A Toledo, with five strikeouts in 4.1 innings.

He recently made the jump to Toledo after posting a sparkling 1.96 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 23 frames for Double-A Erie.

Labourt recently was promoted himself, going from Advanced-A Lakeland to Double-A Erie.

The left-hander pitched to a 0.66 ERA with the Flying Tigers. He’s struck out 16 compared to just two walks in 11 innings for Erie so far. His ERA currently sits at 3.27 in Double-A.

Don’t deal Justin Wilson

Hypothetically, the Tigers could probably receive a significant haul for Justin Wilson. However, the team has struggled for years to find a consistent closer.

According to Spotrac, Wilson is only controlled through 2018. While it would be ideal to have him longer, the Detroit Tigers should hang on to the reliever for the time being.

That way he gives the team a steady presence in the ninth, while letting Joe Jimenez and Bruce Rondon come along slowly.

Ideally, either Jimenez or Rondon would be ready to close in 2019.

Keep the franchise icons

As of now, neither Justin Verlander nor Miguel Cabrera has performed up to their usual standards. With that being said, neither is exactly at an all-time high in terms of value.

What’s more, if the Tigers want to stay in contention and avoid a tear-down, trading either future Hall of Famer would make it hard to sell to the fans.

Verlander owns a 0.5 WAR to go along with a 4.87 ERA, a 4.55 FIP, a 5.15 xFIP and a 4.71 SIERA.

He’s struck out 8.56 batters per nine innings to go along with 4.28 walks and 1.33 home runs surrendered per nine frames.

Next: Trading Iggy makes sense

Meanwhile, Cabrera is hitting a very un-Miggy .256 with a .357 on-bae percentage, a .414 slugging percentage and a 106 wRC+.