Considering A Tigers Fire Sale

Omar would cease drooling (hopefully) when he realized that getting Magglio would cost F-Mart.

I'd MUCH prefer the Mets to have a firesale of their own, but that will never happen.

I fear another Kazmir/Zambrano deal because Omar knows he needs to do SOMETHING to turn this thing around. He likely won't be around when F-Mart is ready anyway, so he won't have a problem dealing him away.

Cards would love to bring Polanco back.

Wonder if Chris Duncan, Anthony Reyes and Adam Kennedy would do the trick? Cards might even throw in a bullpen arm if necessary...Parisi or Worrell?

No, the tigers don't want Adam Kennedy. He has negative trade value.

But Duncan and Reyes alone should be enough to get Polonco if the tigers are really serious about trading him.

"His offensive numbers are better than lugo's, and his defense can't be any worse."

Stan, do you remember Rent-a-wreck's defense in Fenway. Having no one there might have been more beneficial. I remember a few distinctive plays where ionstead of throwing to first or home he threw to the ground two feet away. I really think Renteria is simply just a national league player and better with a less fanatical fanbase.

I'd be surprised if Mags was traded, but Rodriguez makes sense. I bet he'd move if he was asked. His leadership presense in a young club house (Marlins redux?) would be beneficial, might net the Tigers a nice pitching prospect.

Detroit has won 3 of the past 4 so I don't think they should cash their chips in just yet. Maybe following the all-star break, if they're still not in reaching distance of the division, they can.

I'm gonna be honost, I'd rather see Detroit do a complete fire sale than just trade Maggs or Pudge.

By trading either, they're stating that they're playing long term. If that's the case, then there's no point to have guys like Kenny, Todd Jones, Renteria, etc, on your roster at all.

So here's how I'd rebuild the Tigers (as a self-admitted Tigers fan). It might big a bit long, but I'll continue.
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Firstly, indentify who the team will be built around. On the offensive side of the ball, the obvious choice is Miguel Cabrera, but a veteran like Carlos Guillen and a youthful rally starter like Granderson would be ideal.

On the rubber, Verlander is the ace and the obvious choice to build the rotation around, despite the average year he's having. Keep Bonderman & Galaragga in the rotation in '09, and reluctantly accept the fact that Dontrelle is about as tradable as a bat boy.

So you're then left with Kenny Rogers and Nate Robertson. 2 lefties who can surely help you nab some sort of prospects. So now there's a temperary hole in the rotation which can be filled with Casey Fossum or even Zach Minor for the time being until a minor leaguer (Porcello?) earns a chance in the rotation. That would open up roster spots for Joel Zumaya and Fernando Rodney to re-enter the bullpen. Of course, Tigers might call them up far before they would start a fire sale.

Now, onto a tough one. Get Gary Sheffield healthy and trade him for anything and everything you can get. Even if you have to put the guy on marionette strings for games to make him look motional. Even if you must trade him outright for the best prospect offered to you. The guy offers nothing to Detroit long term.

Onto rebuilding the bullpen. Todd Jones is the first and only name to be traded. He hasn't blown a save all year (to be fair, he hasn't had a ton of save oppurtunities) and there has to be a team somewhere who wants him. What did Cleveland get for Bob Wickman? Is that a comparable value?

So now you build the bullpen around Rodney, Zumaya, and First-Round Pick Ryan Perry.

The new roster would give the Tigers payroll some breathing space and (if they're not wastefully trading the players away) some young studs to help the team for years to come.

Just some theoretical thoughts.

Josh Banks, Michael Barrett and Brian Giles for Mags and cash

Given Rogers is a FA after the season and Robertson has been disappointing, would the Tigers consider moving Zumaya into the rotation next season while signing one of the good FA closers that'll be available after this season like Francisco Rodriguez, Brad Lidge, Rafael Soriano etc.? Zumaya's not that far-removed from starting as he did so as recently as '05. That'd be an awesome 1-2 punch with both Verlander and Zumaya throwing 100+mph.

"Zumaya's not that far-removed from starting as he did so as recently as '05. That'd be an awesome 1-2 punch with both Verlander and Zumaya throwing 100+mph."

Throwing 100 MPH is rare as it is, maintaining it for more than 5 innings is even more rare. Zumaya may have started in AAA, but it doesn't look like he was ever really stretched beyond 5 innings, there's often a reason for that. I'm pretty sure all the scouting reports have said he should stick to set-up/closing. I think it's far more likely, even with recent injury woes, the Tigers see Zumaya as the closer next season.

You've got to wonder if Dombrowski will be on the hot seat soon. The Yankees, Tigers, and Mets have the 3 highest payrolls in baseball, and none of them are doing very well. Interesting...

themfightnwords, you forgot the Mariners as well. But I don't think Dombrowski is on the hot seat. Let's face it, everyone praised his offseason moves. Most people stated this could be one of the top offenses of the modern age. If anyone is on the hotseat, I'd say Leyland would get the axe before Dombrowski.

Wasn't this article posted like 3-4 days ago? Anyone who thinks the Tigers are going to "Fire-Sale," or that Zumaya would even be considered for a starting role is absolutely drunk. They just took 2 of 4 to the Indians, and have already won 2 of 3 to the White Sox. They are showing signs of waking up, and in a division where nobody is breaking away the Tigers would be stupid to throw in the towel. Not too mention that Zumaya, Rodney, and their 100 mph throwing first round pick will all be in the pen come crunch time. With those circumstances, and the fact that there are roughly 100 games left, who would have a "Fire-Sale"?

One more thing, you should reference check salaries and such, considering they are wrong in the article, and I imagine that is a key part to any trade.

That being said, I'd love to see the offers for Maggs, if some kind of really good prospect were involved I'd take it in a heartbeat.

"The sweep of the WhiteSox just decreased the chances of this happening by a ton."

I agree. Detroit is rolling at the moment. I think if there WILL be a firesale, it's coming in the off-season.

The tigers have won 6 straight i think we can put out the fire now and say there is not going to be a fire sale.