The Detroit Tigers need a modern approach to the trade deadline

Trade deadlines are no longer a simple ‘buy or sell’ conundrum; the Detroit Tigers should embrace that

There was no debating once the Detroit Tigers sold off Justin Verlander to the Houston Astros in the summer of 2017 that the team was amid a total and complete teardown. JD Martinez, Justin Wilson, Alex Avila, Justin Upton, and Ian Kinsler were sent off in addition and thus began a much different era of Detroit Tigers baseball.

The landscape of the game is much different today than it was back then and the Detroit Tigers are in a much different position than when they dumped payroll. Teams today view their organization comprehensively–carefully examining what their near and long-term goals are, who they believe is a part of those visions, and what they would need in addition to making those ponderings a reality.

Many times, these moves might sound contradictory at the surface level. Take the 2021 Tampa Rays deadline, for example. The club acquired Nelson Cruz at the trade deadline as a DH who mashes lefties and has a knack for coming up big in the postseason. In addition, however, the club also traded reliever Diego Castillo, who had been Tampa’s closer for a good portion of that season. A trade like that would usually scream sell, but in return, the Rays received reliever JT Chargois, who supplied them with 25 games of 1.90 ERA baseball despite some rocky walk numbers.

The Detroit Tigers do have tradeable MLB assets that would be coveted by other teams. Trading a Gregory Soto or Michael Fulmer or Alex Lange would certainly be a difficult sell to fans after communicating that their goal was to win at the MLB level, but it might be the right move for them now for a few reasons.

The Tigers have a bounty of pitching depth from some arms they weren’t expecting to get much from heading into the season. Pitchers like Jason Foley and Will Vest, while promising, were expected mostly to be emergency depth arms throughout the season. Likewise, Wily Peralta, Beau Brieske, and Alex Faedo have done an outstanding job on the starters’ side filling in.

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This assessment, of course, even ignores some of the promise that still exists on the farm with arms like Ty Madden and Reese Olson–both of whom could sniff Detroit as early as summer of next season themselves.

But trading MLB players doesn’t necessarily mean acquiring prospects; and as we know, the Tigers could use a lift offensively. Arms, relief arms particularly, are known as one of the more volatile position groups in the game. Dealing Soto or Lange would be dealing from a strength, but it would also be selling high to a team that realizes the importance of bullpens in the postseason (take Boston or Toronto, for example).

If they can flip either or both for bats, it would perhaps bring more performance stability to the lineup and while both would be missed out of the bullpen, their corps of Foley, Vest, Chafin, Fulmer, and Cisnero (once he returns) remains formidable.

The Detroit Tigers can still fulfill their goal of improving their major league club this summer. They should keep an open mind on all avenues to do it–including trading from their current roster.