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Tigers shock fans with division-rival trade, but not the one most expected

Eric Cole
Eric Cole

Motor City Bengals

Tampa Bay Rays v Minnesota Twins / Ellen Schmidt/GettyImages

The one thing we know about the Detroit Tigers when it comes to the trade deadline is that they should absolutely be buyers especially when you consider their recent skid. The Tigers are in prime position for a deep playoff run and reinforcing one's roster is mandatory when you are in such a spot. The only question was exactly how aggressive Detroit would be in the trade market with so much on the line.

The Tigers being connected repeatedly to top trade deadline target Eugenio Suarez has been a pretty good sign that the front office is taking things seriously or at least want to look that way. However, the Tigers' wishlist isn't just for a bat and it appears they are close to adding an arm as, according to reports from The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal and others, the Tigers were in "serious discussions" with the Twins to trade for Chris Paddack and now we are getting word that the trade is done.

Tigers Rumors: Detroit in serious talks to trade for Chris Paddack

While there was a time when Paddack was a very highly regarded pitching prospect, he has been very meh for most of his major league career with a career 4.49 ERA with less than encouraging swing and miss metrics. That said, Paddack does throw a lot of strikes and gives the Tigers some needed pitching depth.

The Tigers are only giving up #14 catching prospect Enrique Jimenez and are also receiving RHP Randy Dobnak which lines up with the thinking that Paddack shouldn't be all that costly. Paddack is a free agent after the season and is making $7.5 million this season while possessing an ERA approaching 5.

Funnily enough, this isn't the in-division trade with the Twins that most observers thought could happen. While Paddack makes sense for Detroit in a vacuum, the Tigers had previously been connected to relief arms like Griffin Jax and Jhoan Duran as well as Guardians closer (who now appears to be in a whole lot of trouble over gambling allegations) Emmanuel Clase.

This is the first real trade deadline domino for the Tigers. Let's see what they have up their sleeve next.

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Eric Cole

Eric Cole

I started my career writing about baseball covering the Atlanta Braves for SB Nation's Talking Chop back in 2015 which has since been renamed Battery Power. After years of writing for those fine folks, I made the decision to take over as Site Expert at House That Hank Built before becoming a full-time MLB Staff Writer for FanSided in 2023. Along the way, I have been a guest on multiple ESPN radio affiliates as well as 680 The Fan and 92.9 The Game to discuss Braves baseball and especially Braves prospects and was a long-time host on the Battery Power podcast. These days, I continue to write about the Braves as well as covering the Astros, Padres, and Angels with particular expertise with minor league coverage, the MLB Draft, and bashing Anthony Rendon when possible. When I am not writing about or talking about baseball (which is seldom), I am an avid baseball card collector (Maddux and Soroka being my primary personal collections) and I also collect shark teeth. All other sports are mostly dead to me as my Bills have broken my heart too many times.