Detroit Tigers Trade Deadline Preview and Predictions

    

    With the MLB All-Star break approaching, this means that the trade deadline is also looming. July 30th is the MLB trade deadline. We are currently in 4th place in the AL Central at 44-49, 14 GB of the first-place Cleveland Guardians, and 7 GB of the AL Wild Card Spot. We have about 16 games left until the deadline against the Minnesota Twins. The rest of the games in this stretch are against the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays. Looking at this stretch of games, the AL Central could be very different come the deadline. The Tigers can win at least 10 of the next 16, putting us back over the .500 mark. There is an opportunity to hop the Royals for third in the division and if the Twins start to scuffle, move into second place. 

    This is where the real dilemma begins. If you are back over .500 and you think you have a real shot at making the playoffs, do you buy at the deadline? Or do you still sell and look forward to next year? Well, here is my opinion. I think, with the track record of our beloved Tigers, you need to be more sellers than buyers. You have a couple of expiring contracts that you can offload for decent returns. Below are a couple of those contracts, what they have done for the team so far this year and who I think they would be beneficial to go to for contending playoff teams.

1. SP Jack Flaherty: 1-year, $14,000,000 deal
• This past offseason, the Tigers made two signings for some veteran pitching in Kenta Maeda who has been an absolute flop, and Jack Flaherty who has been arguably the second-best pitcher for the Tigers this season, behind Tarik Skubal. So far this season, Flaherty has started 16 games for the Tigers, carrying a 6-5 record with a 3.13 ERA and 119 strikeouts in 95 innings pitched. After having a few rough seasons, it seems Flaherty has returned to his earlier form that allowed him to finish 5th in Rookie of the Year voting in 2018 and 4th in Cy Young voting in 2019. With this being said and the Tigers needing to get some help offensively, Flaherty is the perfect candidate to send in a deal to get that help.
• Potential Landing Spots: San Diego Padres, Milwaukee Brewers, St. Louis Cardinals, Atlanta Braves, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Boston Red Sox.
2. UTIL Gio Urshela: 1-year, $1,500,000 deal
• The Tigers added veteran utility man Gio Urshela in the offseason to help supplement the platoon of players that we have had playing third base the last few years. Urshela has had some injury issues but has still managed to amass a .257 batting average with 3 home runs and 27 RBIs in 66 games. While these are not massive numbers, this is a good, veteran bat that could be added to a team to allow its stars to rest coming down the stretch. Urshela has played third, shortstop, and most recently first base for the Tigers this year.
• Potential Landing Spots: Gio Urshela
3. OF/1B Mark Canha: 1 year, $11,500,000 deal
• The 35-year-old veteran bat was added to the Tigers in hopes he would provide a power spark for this lineup. At this point in the season, it has been a bit of a disappointment. Canha has hit .223 with 6 home runs and 34 RBIs. While I don't think we will find much of a market for this bat, he could be packaged with one of the aforementioned players to get a decent return.
• Potential Landing Spots: Philadelphia Phillies or Kansas City Royals
4. IF/OF Matt Vierling: 1 year, $766,000 (arbitration through 2027)
• Vierling was acquired in 2023 via a trade with the Phillies. Since joining the Tigers, Vierling has had flashes of greatness, being able to run well and hit well. This year has seen an uptick in the power numbers from Vierling as he has hit 12 home runs in 83 games, two more than he has all of 2023. With this power surge and contract control through 2027, Vierling could be a trade piece that no one sees coming.
• Potential Landing Spots: St. Louis Cardinals