Detroit Tigers: Young position players needed, regardless of buying or selling

Trades and hypothetical trade fits

Detroit could trade short-term veterans like J.D. Martinez, Jose Iglesias and Justin Wilson in order to recoup some position player prospects to plug into the team.

While Martinez and Iglesias are both relatively young, Detroit can get by in the short term with fill-ins. Said fill-ins include Jim Adduci, Mahtook and Machado.

This is all purely speculative, but there are a number of intriguing prospects in Triple-A who could be fits with the Tigers.

Los Angeles’ Willie Calhoun (second base) and Alex Verdugo (center field) both could fit with Detroit, as could Houston’s Derek Fisher (outfield).

Anthony Alford is a 22-year-old outfielder in Toronto’s system who hit .325 with a .867 OPS in Double-A. He logged eight at-bats with the Blue Jays in 2017, is another potential fit.

Ketel Marte, a 23-year-old shortstop who’s posting a blistering .350 batting average with 36 extra-base hits and a .936 OPS in Triple-A for the Diamondbacks’ team in Reno, is another hypothetical trade target.

An ideal situation would see the Tigers bring in a similar haul to the one that they netted at the 2015 trade deadline when Fulmer, Norris and Boyd joined the team, only with position-player building blocks joining the franchise.

In that same ideal situation, Detroit would stay competitive while keeping hold of the likes of Miguel Cabrera, Justin Verlander and Ian Kinsler.

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Either way, the Detroit Tigers need some young position players to build around and integrate into the team.