3 Detroit Tigers prospects who should be traded and 2 who should not

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Going into the 2023 MLB trade deadline, the Detroit Tigers currently find themselves 10 games below .500 and in third place in the American League Central which is not exactly the best position to be in. However, considering how many things that have gone wrong for Detroit this year including the litany of injuries they have, it could be a lot worse.

In fact, this Tigers team is somehow still in contention for a playoff spot at just 5.5 games back of the division leading Twins. However unlikely it may actually be, there is a real case for the Tigers to make some additions to their roster at the trade deadline. Between that and the guys that they should have coming back from the injured list in the second half, Detroit has a real chance of sneaking in.

If Detroit decides to do that, some hard choices are going to have to be made regarding which prospects need to be made available for trade and others that they have to keep around. Again, we are talking about a small percentage chance of even making the playoffs here. If there is a deal to be made that either isn't that costly OR could help the Tigers in the long-term that also happens to improve the team right now, why not?

Here are the Detroit Tigers prospects that should be trade fodder and others that need to stay

To be clear, there should almost never be a prospect who is literally untouchable. Sure, there are guys that you keep off the table except when the return is huge, but every prospect should have a price. However, given the state of the trade market as well as where this Detroit team is right now, there are some guys that it would be okay to let go and others where it would be pretty foolish in most situations to move them.

Without delay, lets get into the Tigers prospects that can stay or go.

The Detroit Tigers should trade Wilmer Flores

Considering all of the injuries that the Tigers have suffered in their rotation, it is fair to question why Detroit should consider trading away a starting pitching prospect with the stuff that Wilmer Flores has shown at Double-A. Flores possesses a mid-90's fastball that can touch the upper 90's, a plus curveball, a cutter that is his weapon of choice against lefty hitters, and a changeup that isn't particularly great. Normally, this is the kind of guy to keep around if you think a team is going to be contending soon.

However, the types of guys that the Tigers should be targeting at the trade deadline are either cheap rentals or guys that have some team control. For the latter group, prospects of real value need to be given up and Flores is one of our choices there. The Tigers have a lot of young pitchers either returning from the IL or are a little further away in the minors and Flores' lack of a changeup means that there is a decent chance that he ends up having to get shifted to the bullpen. His numbers have been reasonable at Double-A, but he is not dominating by any stretch. Making Wilmer available gives the Tigers a real trade chip to play with without mortgaging their future too much.

Detroit should absolutely not trade Jace Jung

On the other end of the spectrum, we have Jace Jung who the Tigers selected in the first round of the 2022 draft. Coming into the draft, Jung was hailed as an advanced college bat that could hit for average and power from the left side. Jung doesn't provide much value with his legs or his defense, but the guy should flat out hit as a professional.

The problem with using Jung as a trade chip this year has a couple of dimensions. First, he is only at high-A and guys who are in the lower levels of the minor leagues just have a lower value on the trade market. Moreover, Jung has yet to really figure things out as a pro as he is only hitting .245 at the moment with an .820 OPS in high-A. Given how highly Detroit drafted him and the value associated with that pick, trading Jung now wouldn't be getting great value back at the moment. Our guess is that the Tigers still like Jung in the long-term, so hanging on to him so that he can reach his full value (either with the big league squad or in a trade after he develops some more) makes more sense than trading him now.

Trading Peyton Graham isn' t the worst idea for Detroit

We just got through mentioning that guys in the lower level minors typically don't carry as much of a premium. That is true, but the Tigers' second round pick in that same 2022 draft, Peyton Graham, requires a different decision calculus. Graham is a very athletic shortstop that can run and hit for a bit of power as well (well, he did in college at least). He may not stick at shortstop long-term and his arm could allow him to play third base, but it is his bat that will determine his future as a big leaguer.

Graham currently plays a premium defensive position at shortstop and does have some projection and upside, but he doesn't look particularly close to the big leagues. With some guys ahead of him in the minors that also play in the infield, what Graham's role with the Tigers could be is in question especially since he is repeating at low-A right now and not hitting very much. Including Graham before he does too much damage to his trade value would allow the Tigers to deal from their area of depth and give whoever gets him a longer term project to develop.

If nothing else, the Tigers should not trade Colt Keith at the deadline

If you have been following the Tigers' minor league system for any length of time, you are probably already aware of Colt Keith by now. Detroit got him in the fifth round of the five round 2020 MLB Draft. Since becoming a professional, all Keith has done is hit and he has managed to blast his way all the way to Triple-A this season. He hits for average, draws plenty of walks, and hits for power. This is the kind of guy that you want at the top of your minor league system.

If the Tigers were a team that could make a deep run in the postseason and were one really good player away from getting there, maybe you could consider trading Keith. However, the Tigers are going to have to get lucky just to get into the postseason and there are not really any players on the trade market that the Tigers should entertain trading Keith for. There is a chance he gets promoted to the big leagues this year and that is probably going to provide more value than most (if any) trades could get them anyways.

Parker Meadows should be used as trade bait by the Detroit Tigers

Finally, we come to Parker Meadows who the Tigers drafted with their second round pick in the 2018 draft. It seems like everyone in the Meadows family is uber-athletic as Parker can really run and made some real progress last year with his swing that let him hit for some power. He has made his way to Triple-A this year where he has put together a respectable .784 OPS with 11 homers in 2023.

The issue with Meadows is that it has taken him a while to finally round into a player of value as a professional. At 23 years old, Meadows is getting to the point where the Tigers have to make a decision on him. The nice thing about trading him is that he could go to a team that needs outfield help soon or to a rebuilding team that wants to stockpile assets for the future. The Tigers don't have an immediate need for an outfielder especially once Riley Greene comes back, so dealing Meadows now that he has rebuilt his value as a prospect gives Detroit a trade chip to help get a lot of different types of deals done.

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