The Detroit Tigers have found themselves in unfamiliar territory this year, and that is by being on a dry spell filled with several losses. Detroit still holds a semi-strong lead in the American League Central by being eight games over the Cleveland Guardians, but the Tigers have lost 10 of their last 11 contests, and it has caused a slight level of concern that they may need to add a piece or two at this deadline.
Luckily for the Tigers, they have a great farm system and could essentially pull off any deal they want with a team that is content to sell and boost their farm system. These teams include the Pittsburgh Pirates, Baltimore Orioles, Atlanta Braves, Colorado Rockies, and a few more.
Detroit’s Biggest Need is Bullpen Reinforcements
The Detroit Tigers’ pitching staff is backed by the AL Cy Young frontrunner Tarik Skubal, and he is the type of arm that can seemingly carry a team deep into the playoffs, which the Tigers have aspirations of doing. However, their bullpen has seen a slight dip over the last month or so, and the one thing they lack is a real needle-mover at the end of games.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan recently named the Tigers as the third “most desperate team to make a move” headed into the final week before the trade deadline.
“But the Tigers might have Skubal for only the rest of this year and next season, before he, advised by his agent Scott Boras, heads into free agency and becomes maybe the first $400 million pitcher in history. Now is the time for Detroit to make a push for its first championship in more than four decades. And for Scott Harris, the team’s president of baseball operations, that means adding a couple of high-impact relievers capable of generating a lot of swing-and-misses.”
Passan is right, the time is now in Detroit, and you never know what the future holds, especially in Major League Baseball. After defying the odds in August and September last season and making a historic run to the playoffs, the Tigers are poised to at least reach the American League Championship Series.
Analyzing Potential Trade Options
The primary teams willing to sell, like the Baltimore Orioles, Pittsburgh Pirates, Atlanta Braves, etc., do seem to all have high-leverage type arms that are seemingly being made available.
For the Orioles, they have Felix Bautista, who has carried on some trade talks over the last few weeks, but it’s still unknown if Baltimore wants to deal him. David Bednar of the Pirates is also a great option due to his 48 strikeouts in 35 innings and 2.31 ERA to go along with. There is a higher chance, it seems, that Bednar will be moved than Bautista, just because the Pirates are in desperate need of prospect bats that can help bolster the farm.
However, there will certainly be a bidding war on Bednar as multiple other teams will also come calling on the two-time All-Star, like the Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers.
As Passan outlines, though, the Detroit Tigers need to make a move for a reliever in some capacity, or else the losing ways may prolong and prove to be a detriment to their season.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Detroit Tigers Urged to Trade for ‘High-Impact Reliever’ appeared first on Heavy Sports.