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Detroit Tigers: Miami Marlins trade ideas

By Ben Rosener

PHOENIX, AZ - SEPTEMBER 23: Kyle Barraclough #46 and Giancarlo Stanton #27 of the Miami Marlins celebrate after closing out the MLB game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on September 23, 2017 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images)
PHOENIX, AZ - SEPTEMBER 23: Kyle Barraclough #46 and Giancarlo Stanton #27 of the Miami Marlins celebrate after closing out the MLB game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on September 23, 2017 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images) /
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CINCINNATI, OH – AUGUST 18: Kyle Barraclough #46 of the Miami Marlins throws a pitch during the game against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on August 18, 2016 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Cincinnati defeated Miami 5-4. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images)
CINCINNATI, OH – AUGUST 18: Kyle Barraclough #46 of the Miami Marlins throws a pitch during the game against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on August 18, 2016 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Cincinnati defeated Miami 5-4. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images) /

The Detroit Tigers (hypothetical) trade return

In exchange, Detroit would nab a controllable reliever with swing-and-miss stuff in Barraclough. The Tigers would also acquire the second-overall pick in the 2014 draft in Kolek.

Just 27 and controllable through 2021 (per Spotrac) Barraclough will be eligible for arbitration for the first time following the 2018 campaign.

The reliever wasn’t as dominant in 2017 (4.14 SIERA, 10.36 strikeouts per nine innings, 11.9 swinging strike percentage in 66 frames) as he was in 2016.

Just a season ago, the ex-St. Louis farm hand pitched to a 3.06 SIERA, 14.00 strikeouts per nine innings and a 13.8 swinging strike percentage.

However, he was a valuable late-inning arm nonetheless.

Bullpen potential

Long term, he’d form an imposing, late-game bullpen troika with Shane Greene and Joe Jimenez.

Rounding out the deal would be Kolek. In this situation, he’d purely be a lottery ticket in the sense that he’s been limited to just 3.2 innings over the past two seasons due to Tommy John surgery.

Yet to pitch above Single-A, Kolek still has time on his side at 21.

Now back on the mound, he’s still got plenty of potential moving forward.

Miami doesn’t exactly have a deep farm system, so parting with Kolek wouldn’t be easy.

That being said, the franchise started to take steps in restocking their farm system with mid-season trades of A.J. Ramos and David Phelps.

Next: So yeah, the Tigers RF defense wasn't the best in 2017. Will it improve next season?

If the likes of Stanton, Yelich, Gordon and Marcell Ozuna are also moved, the Marlins could have a number of premium prospects on hand, making the hypothetical loss of Kolek a little easier to deal with.

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