Detroit Tigers free agency primer: Seung-hwan Oh is intriguing buy-low candidate

Potential trade chip

The nature of singing these kinds of veterans to one-year deals is a win-win situation.

Not only does it allow the rebound candidate a chance to rebuild his value ahead of another shot at free agency the next winter, but it gives the Detroit Tigers a potential trade chip if said player regains their past form.

That being said, if the player struggles, the Tigers aren’t out much over the long haul if they are cut loose.

Taking all that into account, Seung-hwan Oh is the perfect rebound candidate for the Detroit Tigers.

If he can pitch to a stat line somewhere between his 2016 and 2017 numbers and continue to miss bats, he’d likely be a valuable commodity at the trade deadline.

However, if he can find that 2016 form again in Detroit, the Tigers stand to benefit greatly in a trade.

Trade markets can change from season to season based on needs, but teams tend to be valuing pitching more and more these days.

More specifically, teams want deeper bullpens.

2017

As recently as July, rental relievers were able to fetch their employers multiple prospects in trades.

Joe Smith netted Toronto a pair of prospects from Cleveland while Pittsburgh acquired the same number of minor leaguers for Tony Watson.

Meanwhile, the Mets and Phillies were both able to extract three prospects out of the Red Sox and Rockies in respective trades for Addison Reed and Pat Neshek.

While not a prospect, the Mariners were able to acquire a useful Major League piece in Erasmo Ramirez in exchange for Steve Cishek.