Detroit Tigers: Laying out an ideal trade season

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+.