New Tigers trade pieces emerge in The Athletic's latest rumor roundup

With Jack Flaherty and Tarik Skubal at the top of most fans' minds as the Tigers approach the trade deadline, less attention has been paid to the handful of other players who are in walk years. Mark Canha and Gio Urshela's names have been floated, particularly as potential add-ons to a Flaherty trade, but Carson Kelly, Andrew Chafin, and Shelby Miller's contracts are also set to expire at the end of the season.

It's not entirely surprising that more names haven't been top of mind, though. The Tigers are almost definitely going to trade Flaherty, but otherwise have made no signs that they're going to be big sellers at the deadline. There also haven't been many signs that other teams are interested in any Tigers other than Flaherty, Skubal, and Canha.

However, Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic alluded on Thursday that the Tigers might be moving in silence. He wrote that they have received inquiries about not only Kelly but players with a lot of team control left — Andy Ibáñez, Jason Foley, and Will Vest (subscription required).

Carson Kelly, Andy Ibáñez, more names dropped as potential Tigers trade chips at the deadline in new Athletic article

Kelly has been having a sneakily great season as co-catcher to Jake Rogers. He's batted very well since mid-May, for a .281 average and a .834 OPS, six homers, and 23 RBI. Trading him does make some sense; the Tigers exercised his club option to keep him on this year and he's come through for them in a big way. Detroit seems pretty enamored by their two-man setup behind the plate, but Triple-A catcher Dillon Dingler has been raking in the minors (.306 average, .924 OPS), so they could call him up if the right opportunity to trade Kelly materializes.

Ibáñez, Vest, and Foley are a vastly different story. All three are still pre-arbitration, and the latter two are years away from arbitration eligibility. The Tigers would be hard-pressed to give up players with that much team control, and none are the player that Skubal is, so interested teams likely wouldn't be willing to give up a huge return for them. Detroit is also quite attached to their young players (to an extent that's been detrimental to them in the past) so they're more likely to hold onto those three as long as they're able.

Still, with Kelly now in the picture, the Tigers' trade deadline presence could be louder than it's been expected to be. If they do end up trading Skubal, everything else will seem small in comparison, but if not, Kelly, Flaherty, and Canha could be the headliners.