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Detroit Tigers offseason priority should be finding young position players to build around

ByBen Rosener|
TORONTO, ON - SEPTEMBER 9: Jeimer Candelario #46 of the Detroit Tigers is congratulated by teammates in the dugout after scoring a run in the ninth inning during MLB game action against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on September 9, 2017 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - SEPTEMBER 9: Jeimer Candelario #46 of the Detroit Tigers is congratulated by teammates in the dugout after scoring a run in the ninth inning during MLB game action against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on September 9, 2017 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)
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Detroit Tigers
DETROIT, MI – AUGUST 4: Al Avila laughs during a news conference at Comerica Park after he was promoted to executive vice president of baseball operations and general manager on August 4, 2015 in Detroit, Michigan. Avila replaces Dave Dombrowski who was the Tigers’ general manager since 2002. (Photo by Duane Burleson/Getty Images)

Detroit Tigers fans could conceivably see a number of trades in the offseason. In a perfect world, the Tigers will be able to add young position players via those trades.

Detroit Tigers general manager Al Avila did well at the trade deadline to beef up the team’s farm system.

Avila began the team’s rebuild by trading the likes of Justin Verlander, J.D. Martinez, Justin Upton, Alex Avila and Justin Wilson for a host of prospects.

Deals for Verlander, Martinez, Avila and Wilson netted the team a bevy position player prospects in Daz Cameron, Jake Rogers, Dawel Lugo, Jose King, Sergio Alcantara, Jeimer Candelario and Isaac Paredes.

While those players will certainly help the rebuild, more position players are needed.

Before the trades, Detroit’s best position player prospects included the likes of Christin Stewart, Derek Hill and Mike Gerber.

All three have promising futures, but Stewart and Hill represent a bit of a rarity for the Tigers.

The duo were position players selected in the first-round of the draft.

Sure, you can find talent elsewhere—Gerber was a 15th-round selection, Martinez went in the 20th round.

However, the first round is where much of the impact talent in the draft is taken.

First-round picks through the years

In fact, since the turn of the century, the Tigers have selected just six non-pitchers in the first round.

Those six would be Michael Woods Scott Moore, Cameron Maybin, Nicholas Castellanos, Hill and Stewart.

The Tigers need to add young position players in the offseason, preferably players the team can build around.

Long term the likes of Candelario, Stewart, Paredes, Cameron and Rogers have the potential to be franchise building blocks.

However, not all prospects pan out, so some more options would be prudent.

With Paredes, Cameron, Rodgers and Hill still a few years away from debuting, Detroit could use more players like Candelario in terms of being closer to the Majors.

This is obviously easier said than done, but it’s what the Detroit Tigers should be doing.

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