Detroit Tigers Trade of the Day: Francisco Liriano to the A’s

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 five days remaining until the deadline, we will be writing up a potential trade daily. We have experimented with a Jordan Zimmermann trade, a Francisco Liriano trade and a trio of Jose Iglesias trades. While Iglesias is the most likely to be dealt, teams are almost always in need of a left-handed pitcher who can get left-handed hitters out. Enter Francisco Liriano.

The Detroit Tigers trade Francisco Liriano and $500,000 to the Oakland A’s for Jack Meggs

Why the A’s will do it

The A’s have already made a handful of moves to shore up their bullpen, pulling off moves to acquire Fernando Rodney, Jeurys Familia and Shawn Kelley. However, they only have one lefty in their bullpen, veteran Ryan Buchter. While Buchter has done a solid job against left-handers this season (.180/.258/.305) the team could certainly use another lefty specialist while they battle for a playoff spot.

Liriano has done his duty against lefties, holding them to a ridiculous .138/.233/.225 line. He would immediately give the A’s a superior option against the excellent lefties in the AL West, including Robinson Cano, Shin Soo Choo, Kyle Seager and Josh Reddick.

Why the Tigers will do it

For the same reason they should make any trades at the end of August, to get something for players that will otherwise walk in free agency. Liriano was signed specifically to eat innings during a rebuilding year and to get flipped for prospects. Liriano has held up his end of the bargain, throwing 102.2 subpar innings this season. If the Detroit Tigers are able to get a prospect and some salary relief for Liriano, they should jump on the opportunity.

Meggs was Oakland’s tenth round pick in 2017. The former UW outfielder has done a little bit of everything in his professional career, hitting nine home runs and stealing four bases in 110 games, split between short-season and Single-A.

Meggs has played all three outfield spots and first base so far in the minors, and even pitched twice. He is not a ranked prospect, but would give Detroit a versatile, advanced bat to plug into the lower level of their farm system.

Jettisoning Liriano would give the Tigers a prospect to try to develop down on the farm, while allowing some of their younger arms a chance to pitch in the big leagues. Hopefully, the team will consider left-hander Matt Hall or strikeout artist Zac Houston if a roster spot is cleared.