The Detroit Tigers waited as long as they possibly could to see if the team could make a strong push in the days leading up to the July 31st non-waiver trade deadline. Unfortunately for Detroit, it entered Wednesday three games under .500 and 12.5 games out of first place in the American League Central.
This means that the squad is reportedly looking to go into full-scale fire sale mode over the next couple days.
ESPN’s Jayson Stark reported earlier on Wednesday that the Tigers have told other teams that they are “rebooting,” which is another term for rebuilding.
“So even though they rallied to beat the Tampa Bay Rays 2-1 on Wednesday, other clubs received calls from the Tigers later in the day, informing them they’d decided to “reboot,” sources said. That means any of their six prospective free agents—(David) Price, (Yoenis) Cespedes, (Joakim) Soria, catcher Alex Avila, pitcher Alfredo Simon and outfielder Rajai Davis—could be dealt before the deadline.”
The most-notable names there are Cespedes and Price, both of whom will draw significant interest if Detroit’s asking price is reasonable. More so than potentially looking to go into full-scale rebuilding mode, Detroit probably understands the reality of the situation. Both of these All-Stars are going to see rather large paydays on the free-agent market this winter. Rather than lose them for what would be draft pick compensation, why not try to get something of substance in return?
In a pitcher-rich trade market, Price might be the best rental available on the market. And now that we are less than 48 hours from the trade deadline, the expectation has to be that things will heat up on that front.
Stark went on to mention the Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees as teams that have been in a “holding pattern” in hopes that Price would become available.
Photo: USA Today Sports