Detroit Tigers: 5 teams that could be good trade partners this offseason

The Detroit Tigers have a golden opportunity to improve this roster and take advantage of a weak AL Central. However, it's a very weak free agent class overall. The Tigers may have to turn to the trade route to make some substantial improvements to the team.

Thankfully, there are quite a few teams that would make sense as trade partners. The Tigers have a surplus of young arms, but lack young, quality bats. There are many teams out there where the exact opposite is the case.

In fact, several playoff teams in 2023 had lackluster starting pitching, and had early exits because of it. You can bet those teams will want to address that this offseason.

Since the Tigers need bats, it only makes sense for them to deal some pitching in order to get some. So with that being said, here are five teams that make sense as trade partners for the Detroit Tigers this offseason.

St. Louis Cardinals

The Cardinals were wildly disappointing in 2023. They were heavy favorites to win the NL Central, but ended up finishing in last place at 71-91.

Rumors are already starting to surface that the Cardinals are expected to be big spenders in the free agent market, specifically in the starting pitching department. Considering they were 26th in baseball with a 5.07 ERA among their starters, that's not entirely surprising.

The Cardinals also have a pretty crowded outfield. Top prospect Jordan Walker, Lars Nootbaar, Tyler O'Neill, Alec Burleson, and Dylan Carlson are among the guys that got time in the outfield for St. Louis this past year.

Carlson seems to be a guy the Cards are reluctant in moving. His name has come up in many trade rumors over the past couple years, and they've never really been too keen on moving him. However, O'Neill is someone we've been wanting the Tigers to trade for for a while.

He's a free agent after next season, so he wouldn't cost much to acquire. He could definitely use a change of scenery. He and manager Oliver Marmol have never seen eye to eye.

Utilityman Tommy Edman is someone else that could be expendable. He's not far removed from a 5.6 fWAR season in 2022. He wouldn't be too bad of a get.

With the Tigers surplus of starting pitchers, and the Cardinals need for arms, this seems like a great fit for a trade.

Baltimore Orioles

Mike Elias has done amazing work as GM of the Orioles. But one thing most people can agree on is that he flubbed this year's trade deadline pretty hard.

The O's really needed an impact starter to put them over the top, and their answer was...Jack Flaherty, who ended up moving to the bullpen. Not exactly an inspiring move.

The result was getting rocked by the Texas Rangers in the ALDS. 101 wins in the regular season, only to lose three straight in the playoffs. Kyle Bradish was fine, but their other starters...not so much.

It's common knowledge that the Angelos family doesn't like to spend money, so the odds of the O's going out and signing someone like Blake Snell are pretty slim. However, they have the richest of rich prospect pools. They can go out and trade for someone pretty easily.

The Tigers would be wise to consider a trade with Baltimore. They could get a major league-ready prospect in return for one of their starters, say, Matt Manning. He's got three years of control still left.

If I'm Scott Harris, I'm having lots of conversations with Mike Elias this offseason. It could lead to a blockbuster deal.

Cincinnati Reds

Speaking of teams that should have done more at the trade deadline, the Red finished with the third-worst starter ERA in the league this season. Despite that, they finished just two games out of a wild card spot. If they had just gotten one quality starter at the deadline, things could have changed dramatically for them.

Much like the Orioles, they, too, have a rich prospect pool. The Tigers could get a nice haul from the Reds for one of their starters.

Second baseman Jonathan India is said to be available this offseason, and he would be an interesting get. But the 2021 NL Rookie of the Year has dealt with a lot of injuries and incosistentcy the past couple of years. He's not a free agent until 2027, so the Reds may just end up holding onto him anyway.

Still, the Reds would make for a great trade partner this offseason with all of their young bats. Let's try to make a deal.

Los Angeles Dodgers

Ah, the trade that wasn't. Scott Harris had a deal with the Dodgers that would have sent Eduardo Rodriguez to LA, but E-rod nixed the deal at the last minute. We may never know what the Tigers would have gotten in return in that deal.

However, maybe Harris and Andrew Friedman could restart those conversations. Start with a different player — preferably a player that doesn't have a no-trade clause in their contract.

The Dodgers ranked 20th in baseall in starter ERA this season. Most of that had to do with the majority of their rotation being on the injured list. Walker Buehler, Tony Gonsolin, and Dustin May all missed significant time this season. And then to add insult to injury, Julio Urias decided to be a bad person again. The Diamondbacks jumped all over their makeshift rotation in the playoffs.

Gonsolin is expected to miss most, if not all of 2024. May and Buehler will likely pitch at some point, but who knows if they'll anywhere close to where they were pre-injury. The Dodgers need more pitching, and they have a great farm system with lots of young bats. I think we have a winner.

Harris will have to be careful, because Friedman is very crafty, but this seems like a very good pairing. It almost worked at the deadline. Let's see if it can work at the Winter Meetings.