Detroit Tigers: Exploring a trade with the Mariners

The Detroit Tigers, despite being near the top of the standings in the weak AL Central, are still going to be sellers at the trade deadline.

Detroit Tigers’ GM Al Avila indicated this off-season that the team will be undergoing a rebuild for the next few years. Detroit’s surprising spot in the standings in mid-May should not impact that plan. As such, a handful of players should, and likely will be, dealt at the trade deadline this year.

The Seattle Mariners, Detroit’s opponent last weekend and this upcoming weekend, are in a much different place. With aging stars and a rather barren farm system, the Mariners are cashing everything in to try to make a play-off run sooner rather than later. While their offense has been good this season, some ugly performances from their rotation and bullpen have held them back.

Additionally, superstar second baseman Robinson Cano was just suspended 80 games for a positive drug test. The Mariners have some holes they need to fill, and they need to fill them soon if they want to secure themselves a spot in the wild card. Their playoff drought is nearly old enough to vote (last appearance: 2001) and the team in the Pacific Northwest is getting pretty desperate.

Between the handful of trade assets the Tigers have, and the needs of the Seattle Mariners, it seems very likely that a trade could be arranged.

Here are a couple of players the Detroit Tigers could trade, where they would fit in Seattle, and what type of return the Tigers could expect.