Detroit Tigers: 3 veteran starting pitchers to target this offseason

With another rebuilding year coming up, the Detroit Tigers would be wise to add a veteran starting pitcher to potentially flip at the trade deadline in 2019.

The Detroit Tigers are nearly done with the first, and hopefully most painful, year of their rebuild. While next year should feature more of their young prospects reaching the big leagues, the team will still primarily be made up of quite a few fringe MLB regulars holding down a spot.

The rotation, as of now, will look somewhat similar in 2019. Michael Fulmer, Matthew Boyd and Daniel Norris are all expected to return for another season in the Olde English D. Boyd is a possible offseason trade candidate, although I’d be surprised if he is dealt. The team will also return Jordan Zimmermann, as they owe him roughly $50 million dollars in the next two seasons.

The final rotation spot could go to multiple different arms, including Matt Hall, Spencer Turnbull, Blaine Hardy or even (shudder) Jacob Turner.

However, it would make sense for the Tigers to do what they did last offseason, when they signed veterans Francisco Liriano and Mike Fiers to one-year deals. Each contributed in the rotation this season, chewing up innings for the Tigers while many of the other starters battled injuries.

Liriano remains with the team, but the Tigers were able to flip Fiers to the Oakland A’s in exchange for reliever Nolan Blackwood and a player to be named later.

Detroit should take the same approach next season, adding a veteran arm (or two) who has had previous big league success. If they don’t perform well, Detroit can cut them. No harm done. If they do, they could potentially flip them for more prospects – continuing their quest to get younger as they build to the future.

Here are three arms the Detroit Tigers could consider signing this offseason.

Marco Estrada

Estrada, 35, is coming off his worst season as a starter. He currently boasts a 5.75 ERA, with a 5.36 FIP and a 5.44 SIERA. His 6.56 K/9 is the second lowest of his career, and his 3.25 BB/9 is the second highest. It’s safe to say it hasn’t been his year.

However, Estrada was a solid back of the rotation starter prior to that, even posting an All-Star caliber season in 2016. He has long been a fly-ball pitcher, which has not served him well in Milwaukee and Toronto – two notorious fly-ball friendly parks.

Comerica is much different, and while I don’t expect Estrada to suddenly become a stud with the switch, it won’t hurt. CoPa has a HR park factor of 0.847, the 24th lowest in the major leagues. That means the park favors pitchers with regards to home runs, by a fairly substantial margin.

His velocity dip is no doubt a concern, and is likely contributing to his dip in strikeouts. At 35, it’s possible age is catching up with Estrada, who has thrown over 1,200 big league innings. It comes with risk, but if the Tigers are willing to gamble that a change of scenery could squeeze some more value out of the veteran, he could be a nice No. 5 starter for a half season.

There are a fair amount of similarities between Estrada and Mike Fiers, and Fiers ended up having a very solid year in the Motor City. Perhaps Estrada will be Fiers 2.0.

Josh Tomlin

Detroit Tigers fans are all too familiar with Tomlin, who has thrown nearly 900 innings with the Indians since 2010. Tomlin has pitched primarily out of the bullpen this season, but started 55 games between 2016-2017. He posted a 4.66 ERA (4.54 FIP) in those two seasons, with a 1.22 WHIP and a 6.5 K/9. He is a control master, only walking 34 batters in those two seasons combined, good for a 1.0 BB/9.

Tomlin was squeezed from Cleveland’s rotation in 2018, and has not had the same level of success in the bullpen. He currently sports a 6.49 ERA (7.62 FIP) with a 5.58 K/9 and a 1.66 BB/9. Obviously those numbers are less than ideal, but Tomlin has the pedigree of a former back of the rotation starter, and a change of scenery and a low pressure role could help him return to those ways in Detroit.

Tomlin has a four-pitch mix, with a four-seam fastball, a cutter, a curveball and a changeup. Tomlin’s curveball is his money pitch, with a career .193 BAA. Tomlin is likely the most affordable of the three options listed, although he is the least likely to recoup trade value at the deadline.

However, if the free agent market blows up, the Tigers should still grab Tomlin to get some extra SP depth. It’s a low-risk, medium-reward endeavor for a team that has little to lose heading into 2019.

The Detroit Tigers are gearing up for what projects to be a fairly lengthy rebuild. Adding veteran starting pitching and flipping them at the deadline for more prospects is a good way to speed that process up. Let’s hope Detroit can do that again next year.