Detroit Tigers: Prospects in Justin Verlander trade give team bright future

Detroit Tigers fans saw the team’s face-of-the-franchise, Justin Verlander, traded on Wednesday night. The move signals the start of a rebuild, but the team has a bright future.

Detroit Tigers general manager Al Avila did extremely well in the Justin Verlander trade on Wednesday night.

Trading Verlander will obviously be a tough pill to swallow for fans given what the ace has meant to the franchise and the city, but the three players acquired for the veteran give Detroit pieces to contend well into the future.

The Tigers announced the trade with the Houston Astros in a tweet on the team’s official Twitter account on Wednesday night.

Detroit tweeted the following:

“We’ve acquired Franklin Perez, Daz Cameron & Jake Rogers from the Astros in exchange for Justin Verlander & a PTBNL or cash considerations.”

The haul is one to get excited about, and it’s headlined by Perez.

Franklin Perez

Still just 19-years-old, the converted infielder already reached the Double-A level in Houston’s system this season.

That fact in itself is encouraging considering Perez’ age, however the right-hander has found plenty of success with Double-A Corpus Christi.

Playing against competition that is on average 5.1 years (!) older than him, Perez has pitched to a 3.09 ERA in 32 innings.

Perez being that advanced at only 19 is impressive enough, but the starter also mixes in four pitches.

In addition to a promising fastball that can hit the mid-90s, the right-hander throws a 12-6 curveball that could be a plus pitch, as well as well as a slider and a changeup.

All four pitches have the potential to be least above average in the Majors should Perez develop.

If he continues to develop at his current pace, it wouldn’t be a shock to see the prospect in Detroit down the stretch in 2018.

Even if he takes slightly longer to reach the Majors and begins pitching out of Detroit’s rotation in 2019, that’s a quick return for a pitcher who has the potential to be frontline starter.

All of a sudden, the Tigers’ future rotation looks even more promising when you add Perez to a mix that could also include Michael Fulmer, Matt Manning, Alex Faedo, Beau Burrows and Kyle Funkhouser.

Jake Rogers

The last player involved in the deal, Jake Rogers, is a step ahead of Cameron in terms of minor league affiliates.

The backstop spent most of the 2017 campaign with Advanced-A Buies Creek.

Playing on a team that featured fellow top prospects like Perez, Tucker, Yordan Alvarez and Forrest Whitley, Rogers also had a breakout campaign.

A standout defensive catcher, Rogers showed some promise at the plate in 2017.

After hitting .233 with 16 RBI, 15 extra-base hits and a .718 OPS in 186 plate appearances in Short-season A-ball and Single-A in Houston’s system during his first professional campaign, Rogers turned in a .263 average, 70 RBI, 57 extra-base hits and an .824 OPS in 483 plate appearances for Quad Cities and Buies Creek.

The catcher also showed better plate discipline as he moved from Single-A to Advanced-A this season.

Rogers lowered his strikeout rate from 24.1 to 19.6 while upping his walk percentage from 7.8 to 12.0.

You can’t judge a player purely based on stats. However, if the backstop can continue to provide some offensive production as he moves up the organizational ladder, he’ll be able to carve out a role in the Majors.

Rogers’ acquisition also gives the Tigers another catching option for the future.

At this point, the team doesn’t have too many options for long-term replacements for James McCann and John Hicks, both 27.

Grayson Greiner has made it to Triple-A, but he’s already 24.

Next: Why the Tigers should give Christin Stewart, Mike Gerber a look in 2017

Elsewhere, 2017 draftees Sam McMillan and Joey Morgan are developing in the low minors. Adding Rogers to the mix with McMillan and Morgan gives the Tigers three promising catchers to choose from down the line.