Raiding the AL Central for new Detroit Tigers

Major League Baseball is filled with players who would look great in a Detroit Tigers uniform.

Most of these players aren’t available for the Detroit Tigers, but that doesn’t mean we can’t dream a little bit. So for the next few weeks we will choose a division and take one player from each team to place them on the Detroit Tigers. We start close to home, in the American League Central.

Detroit Tigers Target: Cleveland Guardians RP Emmanuel Clase

One could argue José Ramírez would be an excellent fit for the Detroit Tigers. He’s one of the best players in baseball, and he could easily take over second base or third base when Jeimer Candelario and Jonathan Schoop depart. But he’s not going anywhere now, so I decided to choose Emmanuel Clase, the Guardians’ closer.

Clase just turned 24 in March, and he offers plenty of velocity and strikeouts. Last season, Clase appeared in 71 games and posted a 1.29 ERA. In 69.2 innings pitched, he struck out 74 and walked 16. His cutter averaged 99 MPH, and he also has a slider that averages 88 MPHl. With those two pitches, he has the tools to be a dominant closer.

Clase would fit well in the Detroit Tigers bullpen with injuries from José Cisnero, Kyle Funkhouser, and Andrew Chafin to start the season. Chafin just returned, but Cisnero and Funkhouser are currently on the 60-day IL and might be out for the season.