12:53pm: Reds starter Mike Leake is on Detroit’s radar if they choose to buy, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports on Twitter.
12:34pm: At least one club that is selling pitching believes the Tigers to be “actively shopping,” ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick tweets.
12:08pm: The Tigers have informed clubs over the last day that they are still not selling and could look to add arms, Jayson Stark of ESPN.com reports on Twitter. That matches up with statements yesterday from GM Dave Dombrowski, who told Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com that his club is “doing everything we can to try and qualify for the playoffs.”
There has been some back and forth on Detroit’s trade status over the last week or so. While an earlier report indicated that the team would be shifting into seller status, and Dombrowski has acknowledged the possibility, more recent indications (including the most recent reports, cited above) are that the decision has yet to be made.
The Tigers have not exactly done much on the field to improve their position. Since exiting the All-Star break, the club has put up four wins against seven losses. As things stand, Detroit is 12.5 games back of the Royals in the AL Central and 4.5 games out of a Wild Card spot.
Obviously, the two major trade pieces that could be had from the Tigers are ace David Price and outfielder Yoenis Cespedes. The addition (or exclusion) of either or both to the market will have significant ramifications for other starting pitching and corner outfield trade targets. Closer Joakim Soria could also be an important chip who could have implications for the bullpen market.
The Tigers need to sell. At 48-51, they have a very small chance at making the playoffs and moving Price and Cespedes now would give them a great chance at improving a very weak farm.
Agreed! They can net some solid pieces for Price and Cespedes, and net some more lower-ceiling filler propsects for Soria, Davis and others. They need everything from top-end prospects, to prospect depth, in their farm. It isn’t just thin on talent, it is thin on depth as well.
It does seem like they could have gotten something nice for Price and then signed a new ace in the off-season to reload.
If they don’t sell, it seems they need to buy something big. Can’t just sit still while the Royals load up.
Buy something big with what? From what I understand they have a very limited payroll. Even with Price and Cespedes coming off the books regardless at the end of this year.
You don’t understand correctly unless you have inside info that they are going to drastically cut payroll next year. They should have over $40 million to spend if they match this years payroll. Soria, Davis, Simon and Avila come off too.
I mean the Tigers are going to become the Phillies in like 2 years anyway so they might as well just go for it now. Teams don’t trade top top prospects for rentals, unless they are very very dumb. Just go for it!
They might not be able to get a top prospect but Price could probably bring in something similar to what the Reds got for Cueto. And if they can get that they absolutely should, because prospects like Finnegan and Reed would greatly improve the Tigers farm.
Who cares about the farm? The goal is to have the best 25 man roster.
Part of having the best 25-man roster is making sure some of those guys are cheap. You can’t have 25 players all making more than $15 million. The way to get good, cheap players is by stocking your farm.
Go for it Now, If tigers don’t make Playoffs . then there plenty of time in offseason to Peddle Veterans. Minus Price and Cespedes ! Start with New ( Leader )Manager whose’s not weak !
Outside Price, Rajai, Cespedes and Alex Avila, they don’t have any veterans they can trade, and all 4 of those guys are FAs. They should absolutely trade all 4 of those guys for some prospects and start a retooling offseason with money at hand, and prospects in the farm.
Minus Price and Cespedes? That makes no sense considering any return they’d get from any other veterans they could peddle would likely bring a lot less in return than either Price or Cespedes could.
I believe they will attempt to add Tom Koehler
Reports r the Yankees are in on cespedes for minor leaguer and money
Tigers don’t need money and don’t need a minor leaguer given Miggy is still near his prime. Move on.
I think they are shooting themselves in the foot if they don’t sell. They won’t resign Price, and can’t re-sign Cespedes (his contract has a weird clause that he must be offered an extension before end of season, or can’t sign with team until May 15th…definitely sounds like a Billy Beane negotiation). V-Mart is old and banged up, Verlander is shot, bullpen is awful. They need to get what they can now and not try to go ‘all-in’ for an outside chance at a one game wild card (on the road most likely).
What clause are you talking about in Cespedes’ contract? I only heard he can’t receive a QO. The Tigers have the opportunity to resign him in the Winter if they choose.
Nope. Because the clause in his contact the Tigers have to release him after the season is over. Any player released cannot sign a contract with the team that released him until a certain point the next season. I want to say it’s the middle of May, but don’t quote me on that part.
The team he ends the season with cannot resign him until May 15th 2016. Unless an extension is done within 5 days of the end of the WS I believe
That is correct, sir.
Even though he’s a FA at the end of the year, I want my Angels to add Cespedes the most out of any of the LF options on the market save maybe Jay Bruce. However, the fact that Cespedes is a FA probably makes him a little cheaper than Bruce. Cespedes is a power-hitting, defensive-minded OFer who may not be the most patient batter out there, but from everything that I’ve seen from him playing against the Angels, he’s a great competitor and doesn’t take a play off. Cespedes-Trout-Calhoun could be the best defensive OF in baseball
the Tigers can’t win with Simon and Greene …they give up 5 runs a game twice a week. i know Asmus says Greene is headed to the pen…but Simon, Greene and Verlander are not good.
Makes no sense for them to try and add pitching and hope to compete. They could very quickly become irrelevant if they refuse to recognize their biggest weakness: the worst farm system (bar none) in the majors. They need to recognize they are not going to get any younger any time soon, they don’t have the financial clout to go grab the free agents to reload for the next couple years, and they have no major reinforcements in their farm system.
They need to trade away their impending free agents to be (Price and Cespedes) for minor league talent they so desperately need.
They already have a fairly young team, younger than KC in fact. What they need is pitching, regardless of the age. Doesn’t have to be top end, just reliable. Add Jake McGee to the bullpen, along with that starter, and they may have a shot. Two reliable relief arms would be better, but I won’t push it. Lobstein should be back shortly to be the 5th starter.
Tigers owner is 88. He has one thing left on his bucket list. Rational decision making may not be at play here.
Tigers will NOT be like the Phillies. They are new at every position in the last 2 years (Miggy moved, Avila in a platoon… everyone else is new). They have rebuilt their team while winning. They still only have one horrible contract (Verlander).
Remember if they lose Price, they get a nice pick and Save $20MM/year. They lose Cespedes, they lose his contract as well. That money can be used to get other players.
Agree that the owner is not making decisions for the future, but for the now. Only thing is that if the team that signs either Price or Yoenis has their pick protected, the Tigers could end up with a couple picks higher than the 40th overall. But they do save the money, but they have not been able to persuade a lot of FAs to come to Detroit.
Why wouldn’t free agents come to Detroit? I am not understanding the logic. Batters don’t want to hit in front of or behind Miggy? Pitchers don’t want to fill a huge void by complementing a solid hitting team that gives good run support?
Top free agents tend to not come to Detroit, but they don’t need a top free agent. The nucleus is already here. They need some pitching but cant afford the top end. Fill the rotation with reliable arms (like KC and Balt) and add bullpen arms. There will be a bevy of closers available, and not many closing jobs.
I know it isn’t straight comparisons, but….
-Catchers: Avila and Ruiz. Avila is a younger, lefty, worse defender than Ruiz. And in fact Ruiz offered and offers more offensive upside than Avila.
-1B: Howard and Miggy. Now obviously Miggy is far superior, and he has the advantage of being DH so he doesn’t breakdown, but both players were signed to enormous contracts that, in Howard’s case is hurting the Phils in more ways than one, and in Miggy’s case could be onerous in the future. Case and point is Albert Pujols.
-2B: Utley and Kinsler: Utley is a perfect example of a hard-charging, hard-working player where age finally has caught up to him. Kinsler is only three years younger, and on contract through his age 36 season. Given his injury history, it could turn into something that the Phils are experiencing now with Utley where injuries and age take too much of a toll over time.
-SP: Verlander and Lee: Two great pitchers. Both with enormous contracts that neither will live up to ever again (likely). Yes Lee is 36 now, and Verlander 32, but the fact that Verlander is signed through age 37 and appears to be no adjusting to not being able to throw 97+ consistently could in the long run cause him to be an ineffective, untradeable, and potentially injury-riddled albatross contract player.
Just my initial thoughts. Oh, and the Tigers have no farm system to speak of similar the Phils from a few years ago.
1. Avila is now a platoon/backup and a free agent after the year. McCann is the future and is under control for 5 more years.
2. Miggy is a tourist attraction. He sells 5000 seats/game on his own. In another 4 years, he will still be only VMARTs age. He is not that old yet.
3. Kinsler’s contract was FRONT LOADED. His salary is actually going DOWN year to year. His value may diminish, but so will his salary.
4. Verlander is sunk cost. A bad contract. However, he could morph into a #4. At his age, that is not unreasonable.
Tigers have under control CORE of: Iglesias and JD Martinez (both All Stars), and McCann. That is not bad at all.
Kinsler has only 2 years left on contract (2018 buyout).. Miggy is now a career Tiger to go into the Hall of Fame with the Old English “D”
Same guy who said Victor Martinez was the best hitter in baseball based on a career year and declared his now-obviously-terrible contract a big win for the Tigers when it was signed.
The homerism is strong with this one.
VMART is recovering from injury… you do know that…right?
You obviously haven’t seen him bat since his return from the DL
I sure have. He’s hit at a 130 wRC+ clip – the very same clip he hit at before 2014. The same 130 that’s in line with his career average.
The same 130 that’s almost forty percentage points below his 2014 line. The line that dude used as a basis to claim he’s the best hitter in baseball.
A 130 wRC+ is nowhere near – no where. near – the best hitter in baseball.
I assume in order to make a trade for even a 2nd tier prospect, they would need to move one of Steven Moya or Derek Hill. Both 2nd tier prospects on most teams, but probably the two best on Detroit. I assume one of those guys would probably get them Latos or maybe one of the Padres starters not named Ross or Cashner.
I think either Moyà or Hill would interest the Reds in exchange for Mike Leake. Not that it matters, but Hill’s dad was a Cincinnati minor leaguer in the early ’80s.
48-51. 12.5 back of the Royals. Even if they do win all 13 or so remaining games against the Royals, they aren’t catching the Royals for the division. The farm system is pretty bad. Don’t make it worse for the 1 game playoff. Sell, sell, sell!
Do the Tigers even have any prospects to trade who are more valuable than a compensation draft pick? Acquiring their top tow prospects – Moya and Hill – would probably be a worse deal than letting Leake leave for a draft pick.
Is Leake going to get a QO? At about $17MM and there being a lot of better pitchers on the market, he should accept if he is offered. I imagine the Reds would avoid that situation and deal him for something now.
Agreed. I can’t see the Reds making Leake a QO. Moya could be a match.
Though Moya is the “worst” top prospect by many lists, I still can’t see the Tigers parting with their top prospect for Leake – a #3 profile starter.
Leake, though, has been dominant in his last four starts. He shut out the Cardinals on four hits for eight innings Tuesday. He’s allowed three runs in his last 30 innings. The guy can help a contender.
Can’t say that I am not frustrated by this bit of news. They could totally revamp their farm with a few trades. Drewnasty is right, it’s like the Phillies…
Here’s a thought. Tigers could move Price and then flip a better package to get Hamels. That would help them extend their window for a few more years.
This is sad news… Tigers are in for some rough years. They could shorten that a bit by selling now. I don’t think they have a prayer of reaching he playoffs as is
The tigers aren’t one pitcher away from being playoff bound. They need two solid starters and a couple bullpen arms.
Outside of Price and Sanchez, no one in the rotation is dependable.(JV has been decent the last couple, but that’s still just 3).
And in the pen, outside of Alex Wilson, Soria, and maybe Blaine Hardy… No one.
Not to mention Ausmus manages that pen with the grace of an intoxicated elephant. Feliz shouldn’t get late inning spots
I would not want to play poker with DD. This is just one of the chips played in the cat and mouse game of Let’s Make a Deal. Tigers still could sell. If Price loses tonight in a low scoring game, all bets are off for this “buying” idea, and the money should be put on “sell”..
Tigers are going to pull a trade for King Felix. Just watch.
Dombrowski doing his best Phillies impersonation
Aren’t there enough leaks in the Tigers pitching staff already? The Tigers should get what they can from the good players they have and try to regroup next season. But at least Cespedes has been trying to help build his trade value lately.