Tigers' newest trade acquisition has been on fire since the deadline

The Tigers were widely, and perhaps deservedly, ridiculed for the way they handled trading Jack Flaherty to the Dodgers at the deadline. Five minutes before the official 6 p.m. ET cutoff, they let one of the best pitchers in the American League go to LA for a song. The Dodgers sent two prospects, Trey Sweeney and Thayron Liranzo, which made the deal pale in comparison to what the Blue Jays got in return for Yusei Kikuchi.

Scott Harris clearly mishandled it, waiting far too long and probably asking for a little too much before it was too late, and it seemed like he was forced to take a low-ball offer just to make any trade happen at all.

Sweeney and Liranzo were far from bad additions to the farm system, though. Liranzo quickly slotted in as the Tigers' No. 5 prospect, and Sweeney went to No. 24. Still, a top-line starter for just two prospects?

It's a bit frustrating, but Sweeney is working overtime in Toledo to help the Tigers justify this trade to fans. He's played four games with the Mud Hens so far, and he's gotten at least two hits in all of those contests.

Jack Flaherty trade piece Trey Sweeney is looking like the Tigers' next big thing in Triple-A

Since arriving in Toledo, Sweeney is hitting a monstrous .529 with a 1.579 OPS, making opposing hitters look like absolute chumps. On Sunday, he went 3-for-5 with a double and a home run (his second with the Mud Hens), and he followed it up on Tuesday with a two singles (including an RBI, his seventh) and two walks. He hasn't struck out at all since his first game.

Hot streaks come and go, but Sweeney couldn't have asked for a better introduction to his new club. The only question now is whether or not the Tigers will actually use him. He's spent the entirety of his minor league career as a shortstop, and they could move him to second base to get him up to the minors quickly without a Javy Báez-sized obstruction, or they could do the not cowardly thing and dump Báez to call Sweeney up.

Sweeney could be the solution the Tigers are looking for. If they did release Báez, there's no way they would take a chance on the free agent market to try to find a replacement. Sweeney would be cheap and effective, and we've all said it so many times before but it still bears repeating: anything would be better than Báez.