Tigers History: 2 terrible August waiver trades has Detroit happy deadline is gone

In 2019, MLB did away with the traditional August trade waiver system that allowed any player to be traded after the official trade deadline as long as they cleared revocable waivers. Now, the rules are a bit more complicated; only players signed to minor league contracts, those who haven't been on a 40-man roster at all through the season, and those who haven't be on the IL can move after the deadline.

Before the restrictions, the Tigers made a number of notable trades under the old waiver system, though none as big as these will ever happen again. August has historically been a wild time for the Tigers and featured some of their biggest moves (and unfortunately two that they definitely regret).

Biggest August waiver trades in Detroit Tigers history

August 31, 2017: Tigers trade Justin Verlander to Astros for prospects

Verlander will always be a legend in Detroit, but the writing seemed to be on the wall by the time they traded him to the Astros in the final minutes before the Aug. 31 trade waiver deadline. Most of the Tigers from the end of the Jim Leyland era were gone as the franchise attempted a rebuild, and they were barreling toward their second fifth-place finish in the AL Central in three years, so fans had to say goodbye to a player who spent 13 years of his career in Detroit and probably should've been a Tiger for life.

In return from the Astros, the Tigers received prospects Franklin Pérez, Daz Cameron, and Jake Rogers — and clearly, only one of them has worked out for Detroit. Perez is currently playing in independent ball, Cameron is with the Athletics and has actually been on a bit of a heater lately, and Rogers is one of two of the Tigers' primary catchers, but he's been floundering at the plate this season.

Trading Verlander was pretty much always going to read as a loss to Tigers fans, no matter who they got in exchange. Verlander has teased a return to Detroit in the last year of his career, and while we're not exactly holding out for that, he'd surely be welcomed back with open arms.

August 12, 1987: Tigers trade John Smoltz to Braves for Doyle Alexander

Smoltz went into the Baseball Hall of Fame as a Brave and would've been remembered as one even if he'd opted into a blank cap. It's unlikely that anyone but Tigers and Braves fans remember that he was a Tiger first, taken in the 22nd round of the 1985 draft. He made it all the way up to Double-A with Detroit, but was traded under the conditions of the trade waiver system in 1987, while the Tigers were looking to fortify their roster for a postseason run.

Detroit got veteran starter Doyle Alexander from the Braves in return. He made 11 starts for the Tigers in the regular season that year for a lovely 1.53 ERA, but he got blown up in his one postseason start as the Tigers fell to the Twins in the ALCS.

Smoltz didn't get his debut with the Braves until the following year and didn't hit a grove until 1989, but the rest is history. When he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2015, it was for his eight All-Star appearances, World Series championship with the 1995 Braves, 1996 Cy Young Award, 1992 MVP, an astounding Silver Slugger in 1997, and so on and so forth. Alexander pitched two more seasons for the Tigers and led all of baseball in losses in his last year, so it's pretty easy to say the Tigers lost this one.