Detroit Tigers: Five remaining trade candidates

Alex Wilson

The Tigers recently agreed to a one-year, $1.925MM dollar contract to avoid arbitration with reliever Alex Wilson. Per Spotrac, Wilson is arb-eligible again in 2019 and then will be a free agent.

At 31, it seems unlikely that Wilson will be part of the Tigers rebuild. That makes him unlikely to be with the Tigers beyond his current contract.

Wilson has not drawn much interest on the trade market thus far this offseason. As such, the Tigers could hold onto him to start the season and look to deal him at the trade deadline. The Tigers have had success dealing relievers at the deadline, with both Joakim Soria and Justin Wilson bringing in solid returns.

Additionally, Wilson’s trade value is not at its peak right now. While his $1.925MM contract is quite reasonable, he is coming off an ugly 2017 season.

Wilson posted three consecutive seasons with a sub-3.00 ERA before posting a 4.50 ERA in 60 innings last season. His low strikeout rate finally caught up with him last year. His 1.05 HR/9 rate was a career-high as well.

It would behoove the Tigers to hold Wilson and hope he starts the 2018 campaign out strong. Then, they could deal him for prospects at the deadline. The risk of course is that he either continues to struggle or gets hurt. However, the Tigers still have Wilson for 2019 so they could always just hold him again and try and deal him at that point.

If a team comes forth with an interest in Wilson the Tigers absolutely need to listen in. He doesn’t hold a ton of value right now however, and they are better off moving him at the deadline if he returns to form in the first half of 2018.

Shane Greene

Our readers might be tired of hearing us talk about trading Shane Greene. First, we discussed dealing him for a second baseman. Then, when San Francisco started making moves to contend we discussed the possibility of sending Greene to SF and what a potential return could look like.

All-in-all, Greene is in a similar situation to Wilson. However, Greene is younger (29) and has two more years of team control.

Additionally, while Wilson is coming off the worst season of his career, Greene is coming off his best.

Greene would certainly fetch more on the open market than Wilson. However, it benefits the Tigers to keep him more as well, based on his contract and age.

The Tigers need to decide if Greene is part of their rebuild or not. The expected rebuild will likely have the Tigers contending in 3-5 seasons. That puts Greene between 32 and 34 years old.

Greene’s transition to the bullpen was successful last season, as he posted a 2.66 ERA and a 9.71 K/9 while also locking down nine saves.

However, a 4.52 BB/9 was concerning. Additionally, Greene posted a 4.24 xFIP, indicating some of his success last season was good fortune more than anything else. If Greene cannot learn how to limit his walks than last season may have been his career season. If that is the case, the Tigers would be smart to sell-high on the reliever and try and get something of value in return.

Of course, the team could choose to bank on his success from last season and hold onto him. If he has a strong first half the deman would be very high. He could command as much or more than what they received for Justin Wilson last year. There is risk of course, as Greene could struggle to regain his success from last year and decrease his trade value.

For now, the market for Greene has not really developed. Unless a few teams come calling for his services, it looks like Greene will start the year out as the closer in Detroit.

Jose Iglesias

The headlines loved Jose Iglesias over the last month. First, GM Al Avila went on 97.1 The Ticket and proclaimed that he does not see Iglesias as a part of the teams future.

“We’ve talked about it on a regular basis,” said Avila. “He’s one of those guys that, quite frankly, probably will not be with us in the long run. We have to make sure that we develop a good shortstop in our system for our future.”

This certainly puts Iglesias squarely on the trade block. While the Tigers don’t have an obvious replacement at shortstop, they could always move Dixon Machado over to short and use any one of their utility infield options to cover second.

In the short-term this is not an appealing option. However, the Tigers will listen to offers that could bring in an interesting prospect for the future.

We discussed a potential deal with the Padres a few days ago that also included some of the hangups regarding an Iglesias trade.

At this point, no contending teams are in need of a shortstop. With a salary that will eclipse $5 million dollars next year (his arbitration case is still open, another snafu that points to the Tigers disinterest in him) it seems unlikely that a team will want to pay that much money for a backup infielder.

All this points to a weak market for the defensive wizard.  If the Tigers cannot move him now, they should move him at the trade deadline. If they do not, he will sign elsewhere in the offseason and they will not get anything back for him.

Without much of a market, the Tigers may be smart to hold until the deadline. That way, if another team suffers from an injury and needs a shortstop in a pinch they will be able to market him and hopefully get a return that matches his value as an elite fielding shortstop.

Nicholas Castellanos

Castellanos has been one of the most difficult players to determine a future for in the Motor City. At just 25, Castellanos is coming off the best season of his career. He seems like a prime candidate to keep and rebuild the franchise around. Indeed the Tigers thought so, reportedly offering him an extension early in the offseason.

Castellanos turned down the extension offer however, apparently choosing to explore free agency after the 2019 season. If he is not interested in an extension then the Tigers best bet is to trade him while he still has value. Indeed a report indicates that Castellanos is on the trade block.

However, a trade does not need to happen this offseason. Opposing teams are likely going to want to see if Castellanos can handle the outfield defensively before they shell out the prospects necessary to acquire the young slugger.

Plus, just because an agreement on an extension was not reached after the season does not mean that the Tigers and Castellanos will not work something out before 2019. Indeed the Tigers could increase their offer if he improves defensively in right field, where he will start next season. 

Regardless, it seems unlikely that Castellanos will get dealt before the start of the 2018 season. With too many questions about his defense, and with him under team control for two more years, the Tigers will likely want to hold out and analyze if Castellanos is worth extending as a part of their rebuild. If they think he is better utilized as a trade chip, they can move him midseason or next offseason.

The trade market is very much a buyers market, with J.D. Martinez, Justin Upton and more recently Andrew McCutchen receiving very little return. The Tigers should hold Castellanos and bank on another successful hitting season and improvement on defense. If he is able to do that, they will have the luxury of either trading him for a nice haul of prospects, or shelling out an extension and rebuilding the team around him.

Michael Fulmer

Michael Fulmer has been one of the most popular names on the trade market this year. He has been closely connected to the Yankees who were said to be dangling Clint Frazier, among others.

However, the consensus is that Fulmer is likely going to start 2018 sporting the Old English D. From the MLBTradeRumors article:

He has come up here and there in rumors, though there’s still no reason to believe Detroit is willing to move its best asset for anything less than a haul.

“A haul” is one way to describe the Tigers asking price, and rightfully so. The Tigers were asking a king’s ransom to move Fulmer, who is under team control for the next five seasons.

Yu Darvish, Jake Arrieta, Alex Cobb and Lance Lynn are all still free agents. Gerrit Cole got moved for a fraction of what it would have cost to acquire Fulmer. As such, it seems unlikely that the Tigers will field more questions about their All-Star starter this offseason.

That is a good thing. The Tigers should use Fulmer as the center of their rebuilding project. With a bevy of young starting pitchers coming up through the minors, including Alex Faedo, Beau Burrows and top-100 prospects Franklin Perez and Matt Manning, the Tigers could have a very solid rotation in a few years.

Fulmer, along with current rotation pieces Daniel Norris and Matt Boyd, could help make up a rotation that will help the Tigers contend for another World Series in 3-5 years.

Next: Jose Iglesias to the Padres makes sense

This offseason has been incredibly slow to develop. With Spring training only a month away, there are still plenty of moves left to be made. Expect the Tigers to do whatever is necessary to make this team competitive 3-5 years down the road.