This is the reason the Detroit Tigers should sell at the trade deadline

The Detroit Tigers are not ready to be buyers at the trade deadline

Buy or sell? That's the situation the Detroit Tigers find themselves in. They are technically still in the AL Central division race at six games out of first place. Nobody wants to take control of this division.

Because of this, some Tigers fans think the team should go for it at the trade deadline. On one hand, I get it. This is the closest they've been in the division race this late into the season for quite some time, and we're just tired of losing. I totally understand that. But how long have they been 5-6 games back in the division? A month? Six weeks? Nobody is consistent in the AL Central, and that includes the Tigers.

The Tigers have not won three games in a row since May 3. That's two and a half months of not being able to win more than back-to-back games. They are wildly inconsistent. Remember, they lost nine games in a row to begin the month of June.

This is a not a good team. They're not quite as bad as some people thought they would be, but they're still not good. They are 10 games under .500, for crying out loud. Why would this team be buyers at the trade deadline?

For starters, they don't have the assets to be buyers. They don't have a good farm system, and they should absolutely hold onto the few good prospects they have.

They don't have very many tradeable assets, but they have more assets to sell than they have assets to be buyers. Eduardo Rodriguez should net a good return, despite the opt-out in his contract. Michael Lorenzen should net a decent prospect as well.

This team does not have the talent nor consistency to be buyers at the trade deadline. Playoff teams don't give regular at-bats to Eric Haase and Nick Maton. A good team would have DFA'd Jonathan Schoop long before the Tigers did.

I completely understand why Tigers fans want to buy at the trade deadline. It's been a long time since they did, and a long time since this team has won anything. But this isn't the year. They aren't consistent enough, even in this division. Maybe 2024 will be the year this team finally gets over the hump and we can talk about buying.