Detroit Tigers Trade of the Day: Jose Iglesias to the Cardinals

The Detroit Tigers still have trades to be made this season. We will post one potential trade per day until the August 31 deadline.

The Detroit Tigers have until August 31 to trade their players on expiring contracts. Thus far three players; Jose Iglesias, Francisco Liriano and Jordan Zimmermann, have passed through waivers. That means they are eligible to be dealt to any team.

With eight days remaining until the deadline, we will be writing up a potential trade daily. First up is the player most felt was as good as gone prior to the season, but he still remains with the Tigers: Jose Iglesias.

Tigers send Jose Iglesias and $1M to the St. Louis Cardinals for Delvin Perez

Why the Cardinals will do it

St. Louis is finally looking like a contender, after flirting with that mark for most of the season. Their recent acquisitions of Matt Adams and Tyson Ross indicate a plan to compete, and they could really use is a glove-first infielder.

Presently, they have Kolten Wong and Paul DeJong starting up the middle. Jedd Gyorko is playing third, although he may transition into more of a utility role with Adams playing more first base, shifting Matt Carpenter back to third.

The Cardinals also have Greg Garcia currently serving in their utility role. Garcia’s defense has received positive marks in the past, but he currently sports a -0.2 UZR/150 at short. Iglesias would give them a younger option with considerably better defense up the middle. Plus, Iggy’s slash line (.267/.311/.390) is in line with Garcia’s (.227/.314/.327).

In order to get anything of value, the Detroit Tigers would need to send over some cash. Iggy is currently owed $1.38 million for the rest of the season, so if the Tigers were willing to eat $1 million of that, the Cardinals could acquire their new utility infielder for pennies on the dollar.

Why the Tigers will do it

Detroit has made it very clear that Jose Iglesias is not a part of their future. His contract is up at the end of the season, and if the Tigers do not trade him it is clear they will lose him in free agency. As such, it makes sense to deal him this season if at all possible. While trading him almost certainly will require the team to eat most, if not all, of his contract – it could net the Tigers an interesting prospect.

In this case, the Tigers should take a hard look at 19-year-old shortstop Delvin Perez. A first rounder back in 2016, Perez has displayed outstanding plate discipline and speed at short-season A ball this year. He has a strong arm and soft hands, so much so that most scouts believe he will stick at shortstop long-term. His bat-to-ball skills are solid as well, although he has nearly no power to speak of.

He’s a long ways away, but Perez has the tools to be a big league shortstop in the future. If he can tap into some power, he could be an above-average one at that.

The Detroit Tigers should do everything they can to move Iglesias before August 31. If they can move him and acquire a teenage shortstop prospect, even better.