The 34-35 Tigers trail the AL Central-leading Indians by 2.5 games, but owner Mike Ilitch remains confident in the people running his team, Drew Sharp of the Detroit Free Press reports. “I know we’ve got the right foundation,” Ilitch said, “the right people in place.” Here are more notes on the Tigers from Sharp…
- Ilitch expects the Tigers to enjoy a boost in offense and leadership if Victor Martinez returns this season. “He was really our leader, and he’s starting to come around again,” Ilitch said.
- Sharp wonders if the Tigers would consider trading Rick Porcello for a veteran starter or a right-handed bat with power. GM Dave Dombrowski could make Porcello available now or in the offseason if Jacob Turner is ready for a full-time starting role in 2013. Porcello, 23, has a 4.95 ERA with 5.2 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9 in 80 innings this year and will remain under team control through 2014.
- Turner, Nick Castellanos and Avisail Garcia are as close to untouchable as minor league prospects get, Sharp writes.
I’ve been wondering about the Porcello availability for a a few seasons. The way that Turner came through and the way he has pitched since coming back my belief is that Ricky is the centerpiece for a deal. He’s a talented 23 ground ball pitcher pitching on a team set up for fly ball outs.
I agree.
I’d be curious to see who’s in need of pitching and what they have that the Tigers would want
Barney from the Cubs or Seager from the Mariners would be nice for starters…
I think a Porcello for Barney trade makes sense for both sides, doubtful Porcello would be worth a cost controlled good young player like seager, Barney is just a complementary piece however.
I think Porcello is worth more than Barney… Barney isn’t as good as his numbers this year. There’s no way he sustains that BABIP.
said for starters – and look at the surrounding cast of the Cubs. Look at his numbers since he’s become a regular and contact rate.
Again – for starters not 1 for 1.
Fair enough. I’m not a Barney fan. I think Worth/Santiago platoon is not much worse than him… So, I’d rather not trade for him. Unfortunately for the Tigs, the 2b market is extremely thin. I’d love Altuve, but I’m guessing his price tag is really expensive…
Outside of him, I don’t see much on the block for 2b of interest to me…
also forgot to mention – he plays SS and he’s made 1 error this year and 12 last yr (1100+ innings) another glaring deficiency in the Tigers infield this year.
Tigers saw first hand what Seager could do when they were in Detroit. LH hitter too with power. K’s a little too much but clutch hitter especially with 2 outs.
You’re right Barney is a complementary player. No need for all the platooning and running guys back and forth from Toledo. Contact guy who plays his ass off every time he’s out there. You have him Berry and Jackson and now teams are having to worry about running which to this point has been non-existent with Smokey Joe Leyland.
Has Turner pitched more than once since coming back?
Once in the majors. 5 starts at A and a few at AAA I believe.
and can’t field ground balls…
before the cabrera trade maybin and miller were as close to untouchable as prospects get.
And I’m sure Garcia, Turner, and Castellanos could be available if a team were to offer a future HoFer with multiple years of control left too
Garcia’s MILB numbers are horrendous, I know nothing about him, what makes him untouchable?? Isn’t this his 5th year in a-ball?
Wow, you’re right, at least assuming the baseball reference link is to the right player. I wouldn’t say his numbers are HORRENDOUS but I can’t see a single thing that would make him close to untouchable. (I’d also say 2012 is his fourth year since I wouldn’t be inclined to count the Venezuelan Winter League, but I think your overall point stands.)
He’s only 21–still has a learning curve, but I am to wondering why he’s considered to be untouchable. Nothing he does screams out ‘superstar’ so I’m curious as to why the organization is so high on him.
He’s untouchable based on his tools. I’ve seen him play a couple of games in person and from my unprofessional oppinion he has a ton of ability. Will it pan out and turn him into a good major leaguer? Who knows but I do know that he has the body you want from an outfielder he’s built a lot like Giancarlo Stanton, he has unbelievable power that hasn’t really translated into game numbers yet, he has a very strong arm and for a man his size he is a very good athlete with good speed.
Tigers are infamous for having ‘big boppers’ at AAA that haven’t amounted to anything over the years and the one guy who wasn’t a HR hitter is hitting HR for Tampa (Joyce).
He’s not just a power guy though either. He has other tools.
Would there be anyway that the Tigers could Trade Porcello and Delmon Young, Raburn, Casey Crosby, to the Cubs for Castro and Dempster? Then they could move Peralta over to second.
The way to do that would be for Dave Dombrowski to buy Theo and Jed as many drinks and bong hits as possible, maybe take them to a strip bar, and then start talking deal.
I don’t think alcohol and weed are potent enough. He’d have to slip them some MDMA and then work trade conversation into a back rub from a high dollar escort.
The cubs have no use for DY and Raburn. It’d take something serious to pry Castro from the cubs… You’d have to include Turner and/or Castellanos
DY especially after his tirade in NY. Hits too close to home for Theo.
That too. I was thinking more along the lines of the Cubs rebuilding. DY is only of use to someone making a run this year… he’s a FA next and I doubt the Cubs want to pay him after…
Ok how about this… You give me your car, and I’ll let you take my garbage to the curb.
Exactly.
Haha yea that’s right on. People do not realize how good Castro is and how there is about no chance at all for the Cubs to move him. We could offer Verlander and they may turn it down. He’s that good.
Brandon.. We offer Verlander and you get Castro Garza and one other very high prospect. Cant believe you think Castro has more value than the reigning Cy Young AND MVP winner.
Exactly.
Clearly you didn’t sense my sarcasm. Fact remains though the Cubs will not be moving him and if they did it would take a ridiculous offer sheet in return.
Looks like someone already went to the bar with DD.
I’ve read Epstein say that Castro is one of only a couple of players he wouldn’t trade. Barney would be welcome here.
so Turner, Castellanos and Garcia are untouchable? What do they have left to trade? I can’t think of anything and I dont see Porcello bringing much. Oliver and Crosby walk way too many batters, they have no hitters worth anything in toledo, except maybe Brantly. They have Rondon in Eerie but those are the only 2 decent prospects i can think of, and they aren’t that good yet.
They have more than you think though. Maybe not a ton of elite prospects but plenty of mid level type guys. Also remember as much as Oliver has struggled with his control it was just a year or two ago when he was a very highly ranked prospect and he’s still young and is still left handed and still has a big arm. Also I think you could get quite a bit for Porcello if they decided to move him.
Oh really a young ground ball pitcher is having trouble with the worst fielding IF in baseball?
In all seriousness I could see AA wanting porcello. The question is what would the Tigers want from him? Nothing really. I dont think the Cubs would want Porcello as he is going to get expensive quick with arbitration. Turner would fetch more than Porcello.
Porcello looks a lot like one of those guys that turns into a bottom tier starter. He’s not a prospect anymore and he’s going to get expensive. Maybe they can find a deal with another contender and swap parts.
Boesch, Castellanos, and Turner for Castro and Garza (or Dempster)
Now throwing Boesch into the mix starts getting some interest with good possibilities in return. A lot of teams looking for OF hitters. Although he’s struggled on and off, what are the possibilities that someone at the Rays could figure him out and we land one of their starters (although don’t believe they’d let go of Price yet) because McClendon hasn’t been able to do anything,
I’d dangle Boesch all day. We could field an outfield without him and be fine.
As far as the Rays go… I don’t think you could put together an offer to lure away one of the top three (Shields, Moore, Price). And I don’t know if I want the other two… Smyly/Porcello/Turner should be able to do just as well. Not to mention, the Rays are in contention… So, getting one of their starters would be difficult.
Rays need hitting – just picked up Conrad who the Brewers dropped and he’s in the lineup. They’d love Boesch and they’re planning on losing Upton next year. They have a lot of starters and some that they aren’t going to be able to afford next year. So why not get something for one of them rather than just letting them go?
But which pitcher do you think we could get? I know Moore/Price aren’t going. They’re top of the rotation leftys with lots of team control left. Shields is a righty… but also a top of the rotation guy on a team in the playoff hunt. If Shields is attainable, I hope the Tigers are intested(assuming the cost is reasonable).
Niemann is hurt(60 day DL) and so is Hellickson currently (15 day DL). Archer and Cobb are both real young rookies… I’m not sure what it’d take or how they’d hold up over a decent sample size.
Unfortunately no LH’ers I’ve read on and off that Shields is more than likely gone after the season because of the big bucks he’ll get. They never thought they would get rid of Garza when they did. I don’t put anything past them.
Don’t forget Davis.
Don’t think that they’ll give up the real young guys like Archer because they’re inexpensive for awhile. Don’t know who else they may have in the minors that might be worth a shot too.