Detroit Tigers-Winter trade partners series: Oakland A’s

As the season comes down to the end, each week, we will present a total hypothetical concept of trade partners for the Detroit Tigers. This week, we focus on the Oakland A’s.

I know what you are thinking. Writing this article for the sake of “boredom” or clicks and that more than likely, these trade partner ideas for the Detroit Tigers will never happen.

You are probably correct but for the sake of using our imaginations and looking around the league with the possible new collective bargaining agreement around the corner,  there could be some avenues for the Tigers to pursue and other names you may not know or even thought about.

If you have not checked out Baseball Trade Values, it is a site that allows you to put in trade values for any team and determine whether or not a trade is fair or not.

In this case, they posted an interesting article about an A’s rebuild coming on due to several factors. The author and the founder of the site,  John Bitzer, stated his case very well and listed a few players that I think, could be a good fit for the Detroit Tigers next season.

Heading into play as of September 23rd, the A’s are 3 and a half back of the AL Wild Card. They have made the postseason three years in a row under manager Bob Melvin. They had a three-season run in 2012 until 2014 so Oakland has always found a way to stay competitive with a small budget.

Bitzer points out they are in a similar situation like they were in 2014 with a core that went all in before losing to the Kansas City Royals only this time, with the pandemic hurting the team’s finances and the chances of a new stadium seem to be slipping away.

Another item that Bitzer points out is the state of the Oakland A’s farm system, which is ranked 27th out of 30 according to Baseball America. While the Tigers farm system at a glance does seem top-heavy with Riley Greene, Spencer Torkelson, and Ryan Kreidler as possible graduates for next season, the last few drafts have given Tigers fans a change in philosophy as Detroit has been taking high school bats recently (Colt Keith, Isaac Pacheco) and whichever the new director of player development wants to go.

Before you say “don’t trade the future!!!” if you want Detroit to continue to get better next season, moves, whether in free agency or trades, can make Detroit better

So let’s look at the talent that the A’s could trade-off this off-season and three players that could benefit the Tigers the most.

The Detroit Tigers acquire RHP Frankie Montas

So what would it take to acquire Frankie Montas, who has two years left of club control and is not a free agent until 2024? Before we get to who in theory would make sense for the Tigers to give up, let’s look at his body of work.

He was originally signed by the Boston Red Sox in 2009 as an international signing and was linked to the Tigers before, in 2013 when he was part of a three-team deal with the White Sox and the Tigers that landed Jose Iglesias in Detroit and sent Avisail Garcia to Chicago.

As far as production goes, this season, he has put up a bWAR of 3.3. In 174 innings of work so far this season, he is 12-9 with an ERA of 3.57 with 192 strikeouts and 53 walks. According to Baseball Savant, he features a four-seam fastball, slider, splitter, and sinker.  He has a K% rate of 26.5 with a walk rate of 7.3%.

He has hit the IL a few times this season but he turns 29 in March so the Tigers would have a good pitcher in his prime that could bolster a rotation with a lot of unknowns heading into 2022.  With Matthew Boyd’s elbow and Spencer Turnbull out with Tommy John, the Tigers’ depth of starters is thin beyond Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal as proven, known starting pitching options that are currently on the 40-man roster.

While I am in favor of another season of Wily Peralta, it still leaves a void that if we look at it right now, we are not sure if Joey Wentz, who is still figuring out his command post Tommy John surgery or Rony Garcia will be effective. The “Chris Fetter Effect” seems real, but maybe it’s time to see if he can help improve established big leaguers the way he has prospects and reclamation projects.

So once again, this trade is one in theory and an attempt to keep this one as realistic as possible. 

RHP Frankie Montas to Detroit for INF Isaac Paredes and RHP Matt Manning.

Currently, the A’s starting second baseman has been a rotation of Tony Kemp, Jed Lowrie, and Josh Harrison. Paredes has seen time at second base and has also seen time at short and third base.  He has drawn walks and gets on-base, which is an A’s staple to their offense.

Matt Manning is from northern California and if you don’t think a team is going to ask for a pitcher of Manning’s caliber, again, trying to keep this trade proposal as realistic as possible. The A’s are a smart organization.

This trade, on paper, would make sense for the A’s because it would address their infield needs. Nick Allen, who is the 3rd ranked prospect in Oakland’s system is an infielder who plays shortstop and second base, has been in Triple-A Las Vegas this season so he may get an opportunity but Paredes may not be in the Tigers long term plans so a new opportunity in Oakland, hitting into the cavernous dimensions,  it could be a good fit.

Utility player Tony Kemp

As Jacob Boes discussed in one of his recent articles, the Tigers have a boatload of utility players but not one is posting a 2.9 bWAR like Tony Kemp (career-high) or walks around 13% clip so he walks more than he strikes out, which makes up for his lack of power.  He can play second base, the outfield, and played under manager A.J Hinch for four seasons in part-time duty.

Granted, he does not hit for power but he has a DRS of 2 at second base and if Hinch wants to throw Jonathan Schoop at first, Kemp could play second. In left field, he has posted a DRS of 2 so filling in the outfield is no issue.

In the case of Kemp, the Tigers could give up a minor prospect, should they decide to move on from the various utility players they have now.

As far as his past in Houston with the whole cheating scandal, Kemp is on record that he was not involved in it and felt no pressure to do it.

“Once I got there in September the system was already in place and I just tried to keep my head down and play hard and not really concern myself with it,” Kemp said”

No disrespect to Harold Castro, who has been clutch in providing hits this season but if you look at the utility players like himself, Victor Reyes, and Willi Castro, the Tigers could use another player that gets on base and provide defensive value.

Conclusion:

For the Detroit Tigers, addressing the pitching staff outside of the shortstop situation should be the number one priority.  You still have to watch the innings of Mize and Skubal and potential Joey Wentz. When it comes to free agency in pitching, it is a gamble but if the Tigers can grab at least one arm under club control, it allows them to potentially have more wiggle room to sign a big-name player.