Detroit Tigers have personnel to trade some veterans, still contend

Why the Detroit Tigers can trade Jose Iglesias and stay competitive

Of all the players the Detroit Tigers could trade, Jose Iglesias is the easiest to replace.

Dixon Machado is already on the Major League roster, and offers similar defensive ability to Iglesias.

Granted he isn’t as flashy of a fielder as Iglesias—no one is—Machado still has the ability to be a superb defensive shortstop.

This defensive reputation helped him reach the Majors. So far this season, the 25-year-old has also shown that he can handle the bat.

In 67 plate appearances, Machado is batting .302 with a .338 on-base percentage.

He’ll never be much of a power hitter, but the shortstop does have four RBI, a double and a triple o the campaign. He’s also chipped in with five runs scored and three walks.

Machado is also much cheaper than Iglesias.

According to Spotrac, Iglesias is making $4.1 million this year. He’ll go through arbitration one final time before reaching free agency following the 2018 season.

Meanwhile, Machado isn’t arbitration eligible for two more seasons. Per Spotrac, he’s making $537,800 this year.

Trade fits

In terms of hypothetical trade partners, the Baltimore Orioles, Tampa Bay Rays, San Diego Padres and St. Louis Cardinals all make sense as speculative fits.

Iglesias probably won’t snag as much in a trade as Martinez or Wilson, but the Detroit Tigers could still net an intriguing prospect return for the shortstop.