The Detroit Tigers are looked at as one of the best teams in Major League Baseball, but since the All-Star break, they have been struggling mightily. With four days left until MLB’s trade deadline, Detroit is now urged to be an active buyer and make necessary additions to their roster.
Detroit has lost 12 of its last 13 games, and their division lead in the American League Central is down to just seven games. Any team would be glad with a seven-game lead in any division, but the Tigers are going in the opposite direction, and about 2 weeks ago, they led the AL Central by 12.5 games.
The Atlanta Braves are likely headed towards selling, and they have a couple of assets in their bullpen that Detroit may want to make calls on.
Detroit Should Ask About Braves’ Dylan Lee
With the Atlanta Braves in a downward spiral, it makes sense for them to ship off any tradable players they have. The Detroit Tigers and Braves are on opposite sides of the same coin. Detroit has a plethora of prospect capital that they could be open to giving away, and the Braves have a depleted farm that they are desperate to build back up.
The Tigers should ask about Dylan Lee, who has been one of the best relievers in baseball over the last two seasons. Lee is a cheap reliever who is under team control for a few more seasons. Over 45.2 innings this season, Lee has a 2.56 ERA and 50 strikeouts. In 2024, Dylan Lee had a 2.11 ERA in 59.2 innings.
He is certainly an arm that the Tigers can afford, and having a plethora of bullpen arms in October pays dividends. Another potential wish list item for Detroit could be a third baseman, but it remains unclear if they will go after the big guy on the market, Eugenio Suárez.
The only drawback to Dylan Lee is that he has struggled a bit in July. He had a 1.67 ERA through the end of June, but in eight appearances this month, Lee has allowed six earned runs and has an ERA of 9.00, which has caused his overall earned run average to inflate about a run/nine innings.
What Could the Tigers Send Away for Lee?
For the Detroit Tigers, they have the best starter in the game in Tarik Skubal, but as of late, Detroit has not been helping out his potential back-to-back Cy Young ace. Skubal recently gave the Tigers six strong scoreless innings, but the bullpen had a blowup in both the eighth and ninth innings, and they ended up losing 6-1 to the Toronto Blue Jays.
In terms of what the Tigers may send away in return for a guy like Lee, their top two prospects, Max Clark and Kevin McGonigle, are likely untouchable, but any of their other top prospects seem logical to trade away. And again, the Atlanta Braves are so desperate in attempts to rebuild their farm system that virtually any of the Tigers’ prospects would help them greatly.
If the Tigers still have Fall Classic hopes, which the way their roster is built says they do, a trade might be required over the next four days.
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