Grading every Detroit Tigers trade from the 2024 deadline

The countdown to the trade deadline officially ran out at 6 p.m. ET Tuesday, and the Tigers walked away four major leaguers lighter and seven prospects heavier. They did what they set out to do: they sold off multiple players who will be free agents at the end of the season to bolster their minor league depth without impacting their opportunity to compete in 2025.

Although the Tigers didn't add any huge names, they did say goodbye to a few of them. How did their moves stack up against each other?

Grading every Detroit Tigers trade from the 2024 deadline

Tigers trade Carson Kelly to Rangers for C Liam Hicks and RHP Tyler Owens: B

Trading Carson Kelly on July 28 was the Tigers' first move of the deadline, two days before the actual deadline. It seemed like an easy enough decision for the Tigers to make; Kelly was in a walk year with them and had turned into a stealthily good player in Detroit after being unceremoniously dumped by the Diamondbacks last season.

The two prospects who came to the Tigers in return for Kelly, both in Double-A, are unranked but seem promising, but the real upside to trading Kelly was that the Tigers were able to call up No. 11 prospect Dillon Dingler, who picked up a double, a walk, and an RBI in his MLB debut on Monday. He'll almost certainly be kept in the majors for the foreseeable future as the new co-catcher to Jake Rogers.

Trading Kelly would've been a hard one to mess up, but thankfully the Tigers managed to get a couple of interesting names back and found the perfect opportunity to open up a spot for Dingler.

Tigers trade Andrew Chafin to Rangers for RHPs Joseph Montalvo, Chase Lee: A

Chafin also headed to the Rangers on July 30, this time for a ranked prospect in righty pitcher Joseph Montalvo, who was 27th in Texas' pipeline, and Triple-A reliever Chase Lee. Montalvo has been having a great year in High-A, having made 13 starts so far for a 2.44 ERA. Lee is doing just as well, if not better, as a reliever in Triple-A, with a 1.93 ERA over 10 2/3 innings.

Like with Kelly, a trade for Chafin probably would've been hard to mess up. Chafin has a neat little club option written into his contract with 2025 and he's been one of the Tigers' best relievers this season, which definitely warranted a ranked prospect in return. Although it leaves Detroit a lefty short, Tyler Holton has still been great, and the Tigers could even make good, quick use out of this trade to call up Lee if things get dicey toward the end of the season.

Tigers trade Jack Flaherty to Dodgers for SS Trey Sweeney, C/1B Thayron Liranzo: D

This was the big one, but the Tigers didn't exactly pull it off. Jack Flaherty was the best the Tigers had to offer at the deadline, and our mock trades for a Tigers-Dodgers trade with Flaherty at the center predicted that Detroit would get LA's No. 1 prospect Dalton Rushing, whose path to the majors is blocked by Will Smith. Alas, the Tigers didn't get Rushing, nor did they get any other top five prospect.

Sweeney could be viewed as a potential Javy Báez replacement, if we're being optimistic, but prospect watchers have questioned whether he'll even be able to stick at shortstop. Liranzo did represent the Dodgers at the All-Star Futures Game this year.

However, this still feels like an underpay. The Tigers should have been able to get more, given how late the trade came down and the fact that Garrett Crochet came off the table. If they'd kept him, they would've retained a starter for what's now a pretty starter-strapped team, and the Dodgers would've been out of luck. Maybe they should've made the Dodgers sweat a little more.

Tigers trade Mark Canha to Giants for RHP Eric Silva: C

The Tigers' trade of Mark Canha to the Giants was announced a couple of minutes after the actual deadline, but it was another player who was completely expected to be moved. Same as the three departing Tigers who left before him, Canha was in a walk year with Detroit and valuable as a veteran outfielder who's managed to stay (mostly) consistent this season.

The return for Canha to the Giants was mostly unremarkable. San Francisco sent Double-A reliever Eric Silva, who's pitched 41 1/3 innings this season for a 4.35 ERA. While that line screams "just okay" if not "kind of bad," a jaded Giants fan could probably make the same argument about Canha, who had a nasty dip in performance in June.

This one gets a C. It was fine, and it's sort of hard to feel strongly either which way about this one.