Asked Sunday about the direction that the Tigers will take at this year’s trade deadline, GM Dave Dombrowski told reporters, including Chris Iott of MLive.com, “We’re trying to win this year.” Dombrowski acknowledged that both Alfredo Simon and Shane Greene have struggled greatly in the rotation of late, though he stressed that the organization still likes both starters and feels they can be viable cogs to a winning rotation. Dombrowski did seem to concede that a poor start to the second half could alter the organization’s thinking. “I don’t know how many games we have,” said the GM. “Let’s say (after) the All-Star break, we’ve got 10, 11 games. Well, if you win 10 or 11 games or you lose 10 or 11 games, well that can change the way you are a great deal.”
Here’s more from the game’s Central divisions…
- Iott writes in a second piece that Tigers fans need to remember that the decision on whether to buy or sell will not come from Dombrowski, but from club ownership. Dombrowski will execute any trades that are made, but he alone is not solely responsible for the direction the organization takes, Iott writes. All that said, Iott feels that the Tigers’ best chance for a World Series win and a sustainable model of success is to trade this year. The team, which is without Miguel Cabrera for six weeks (Iott feels it’s just as likely that Cabrera is out eight weeks), is playing .440 ball since an 11-2 start and has a pair of gaping holes, Iott notes. With six pending free agents — including David Price and Yoenis Cespedes, who would be highly desirable trade chips — the Tigers can rebuild their system without parting with controllable talent like Jose Iglesias and J.D. Martinez.
- Jon Heyman of CBS Sports adds to the recent glut of Jay Bruce trade rumors, noting that he, too, hears the Reds have made the right fielder available. At this time, according to Heyman, the Reds aren’t willing to take on any of the remaining salary on Bruce’s deal. The 28-year-old Bruce struggled to open the season but is batting .308/.386/.549 over his past 50 games. Bruce, who is owed about $19.5MM through 2016, has a $13MM club option for 2017 on his contract as well. He underwent knee surgery early last season but rushed back in less than a month, which some believe to be a significant factor in his diminished play in 2014 and early 2015. Bruce can reportedly block trades to the D-Backs, Red Sox, Marlins, Twins, Yankees, A’s, Rays and Blue Jays.
- Corner infielder Josh Satin has an opt-out clause in his minor league deal with the Reds that he could exercise on Wednesday, reports Andy Martino of the New York Daily News. Should Satin exercise the clause, the Reds would be required to either add Satin to their 25-man roster or let all 29 other clubs know that he is available to be added to their 25-man roster within 48 hours. (Cincinnati would choose Satin’s destination if multiple teams expressed interest.) Satin, 30, is batting .263/.368/.387 in 225 Triple-A plate appearances this season. He’s a career .243/.346/.351 hitter in the Majors and has been much more effective against left-handed pitching (.793 OPS) than right-handed pitching (.613 OPS). All of Satin’s big league experience has come with the Mets.
- The Cardinals have a number of players on the verge of returning from the DL, and GM John Mozeliak told Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Sunday that, “Part of having an understanding of when players will come back is really driving how our trading deadline strategy will look.” Mozeliak said he hopes to have two to three players back with the team and producing between now and July 31. Specifically, Hummel writes, Matt Holliday, Jaime Garcia and Jordan Walden could all return within the next 18 days. Matt Belisle, Jon Jay and Mitch Harris are also possibilities to join the team, though Hummel paints a less certain picture regarding their timelines. Marco Gonzales, too, is working back from a shoulder injury in the minors and could be a sixth starter for St. Louis in the second half, Mozeliak said.
If the Tigers start the second half with mediocrity, I think they should sell. Their farm system is weak right now which makes the possibility of buying impact pieces to put them back into contention unlikely. Their best move would be to sell off their upcoming free agents (specifically, Price and Cespedes) or stay put. If they sell off some pieces, they can restock the farm system to a better level, and chase after some big-name free agents in the Winter. By doing so, they toss this season and make their team better next year which seems like the better approach at this point. By staying put they give themselves a chance at winning the Wild Card with Price on the mound, but their pitching isn’t good enough outside of him to make a strong push deep into the playoffs. And by staying put, their team will not be any better next year which means they could have the same issues as right now, only with less free-agents-to-be and more longer term contracts.
Whether they sell off or not, they will be in the same position to chase big-name free agents in the off-season. Rental players have not really cost teams high level prospects. E-rod was probably the best talent traded for one player, and imo, no one else was close. To get Russell, the Cubs had to trade two of their starters. Adding two low level prospects, or one high-level prospect by packaging them, is not going to “stock” the Tigers farm system. They can stock the system by making qualifying offers and adding the picks if the players leave. If they Buy, they could use a 4th starter. I’d be fine going into the playoffs with Price, Sanchez,Verlander, and say…Leake. Then they need a lefty for the bullpen. Dare I say …Chapman. Seems like they are closer by buying than selling.
Shields would look good in their starting rotation.Dont think KC will win division.Indians, and Soxs have a lot of pitching and are playing good.
Twins will make it to the WC with the Royals easily winning the division.
Twins are being written off this year as the Royals were last year.
Lol what? The twins just arent as good of a team. The are one position player short. They need a shortstop aka the hardest position to get an above average regular on both sides of the ball.
You find that funny?
They have 3 guys playing SS, and 2 more top prospects in the minors. They’ll get by this year. Paul Molitor is one of the best 1st year managers I’ve seen in years. Try watching a weeks wort of their games. That is a stacked team. The bullpen has fallen into place (they could use one more arm), and the starting pitching is terribly underrated – hats off to Neil Allen.
3 random guys and none a quality big leauger…
Nonsense.
Do you see a perfect team out there?
Royals have a tough schedule in the second half.12 game against Detroit won’t be easy.6 with Cleveland and I would bet on Cleveland SP in every one of those games.Lot of games against the east also
I’m tired of hearing about Cleveland’s SP. 1) the bullpen is not deep at all; 2) they’re tied for last place, and have not had a major injury with the pitchers, while the only position player out was Gomes for 6 weeks or so.
Have you watched the Royals play? Do you have any idea how deep that team is?
I really like the idea of re-signing Cespedes to lock down the corner OF spots for the future. He looks good in this lineup. But if they get a nice trade for him, take it. Definitely deal Price. I wonder if they could get anything for Soria?
tigers are a terribly run organization
Is it the division titles or the world series appearances by this operating team after seasons of historic loss totals that has you down? Heaven forbid they ever have a .500 record midway through
a season. Tiger fans are blessed to have an owner that will pour his own resources into a team. Go talk to Royals , Pirates, or Brewers fans and see if you find much sympathy.
Perfectly stated as always Red.. Ilitch is one of the few owners that happily puts in whatever he feels is necessary to make them a winner.. I am not a Tigers fan but I would like to see Ilitch get a ring.. If any owner deserves one, it is him. And Screwball, they may seem terribly run to you because of the big contracts they have given out.. But, that is another good thing about Ilitch.. He rewards players for past performance and loyalty.. Besides, Scherzer (who was offered a monster contract AAV of $26 million but was greedy and wanted a contract that would have handcuffed the Tigers for years) can you name a free agent that left? The Tigers are only a mid market team but Ilitch allows them to operate like one of the big boys.. Granted, the Tigers are going to be like the current Phillies team in a couple of years but that is because they are doing everything they can to get Ilitch a ring.. DD has made a few trades that turned out bad but he has made more that have turned out to be total fleece jobs of other gm’s.. The Tigers are by far one of the better ran organizations in baseball.. Their 4 straight division titles are the longest current streak in baseball..
UIf Dombrowski plays the cards right they might be able turn some free agents leaving into some picks or flip a Price for something. They are .500…that’s not out of it. They aren’t dominating the division now, but they are relevant. This isn’t Phillie bad just yet
I agree with most of what you said. The Tigers are actually getting younger, not older.
Detroit is not close to becoming the Phillies. McCann,Iglesias, Gose,and Castellanos are all 25 or younger.J.D. Martinez is 27, so thats 5 starters with team control. Kinsler has 2 years left and VMart 3 on their contracts. Cespedes at 29,Simon at 34,and Soria at 31 are FA. Only Cabrera(8 years) and Verlander(4years),both 32 have longer deals. Nathan at 40 skewed the average age, but he is gone.
4 consecutive division titles, terrible!
Absolutely horrible! To think they won them consecutively AND in order! How cliche!
They are still leaps and bounds ahead of PHI…so…there is that?
Ironically, RAJ has been in the same boat as DD with ownership calling the shots the last few years. For DD he has had one owner in Mr. I to deal with but who would give him all the resources he needed but still maintained final say. RAJ had to contend with Dave Montgomery who, if media sources are correct, was the one insistent on ill advised early contract extensions and certain trades. I am not defending RAJ as I do believe there are many better GM’s around. Just saying that it’s not always that unusual for GM’s do not have full carte blanche…. And often successes based on who controls the purse strings and how they want to use it.
I think Dave trade’s Price & Cespedes….top prospects for them is better then any comp pick they could receive….Dave should also dangle Victor and Sanchez….After doing this….Dave could go after Cueto or Samardzija for the rotation…Gordon or Upton for the Outfield…this Winter…….
I think Dave should trade for a last name.
He can’t He already spent all his money buying vowels.
I’ll be surprised if Gordon leaves KC
Agreed.. A couple of years ago I could see him leaving to chase a ring with a better organization.. But now the Royals have just as much chance to get one as any other in the AL.. They seem to be a tight group of players and he is one of the leaders.. It would be like Gardner leaving the Yankees..
I think Gordon is in,a similar hometown situation to Mauer in Minnesota
I can see him leaving. Do you really think that KC will suddenly loosen the purse strings? I could see Gordon getting 18mm per, which is more than KC will pay.
I’m not saying he doesn’t leave… I’m not in his mind or the Royals mind. I’m just saying that this isn’t a typical free agency. I believe he’s in a similar situation to Mauer in Minnesota. He has every reason now to stay put barring a completely outlandish demand. I’m guessing the Royals have conceived of his free agency already. They have cash flow.
I think they could trade vmart while eating some money. Only if they fall back but i would. j can only imagine him getting worse next season. Id prolly try and sell kinsler too. Entering decline years.
Unless the Tigers are trading MLB talent for MLB talent I don’t see the logic behind selling. A team with a healthy Miguel Cabrera isn’t any stronger than a team with Soria, Davis, Cespedes and Price.
The only reason I can see them selling is to capitalize on players before they leave in the off season.. The Tigers already have $100 million locked up in 5 players.. If they were to sign both Price and Cespedes they would be close to crossing $150 million.. That doesn’t leave much room to fill out the roster.. I would like to see them trade Kinsler to the Yankees and take the savings from him and offer contracts to both Price and Cespedes.. That won’t completely fix the team but it will allow them to keep both players without adding too much in payroll.. If they trade Kinsler to the Yankees they can get back a couple of solid bullpen arms which is what they need badly..
Unfortunately, because of his contract, and his offensive decline this year, Kinsler has very little trade value. The Yankees wouldn’t take him.
Really! I was under the assumption that Kinsler is sporting a 1.6 War. I don’t think that equates to “little trade value”.
Yes sir! I agree with everything you say, except offering a contract to Price. $200 million contracts to pitchers north of 30 is a fool’s errand. The Tigers know this well.
I think the article could be true for many teams. If they start the second half with success, they will try to improve their teams. If they start with mediocrity and lose many games, they will become sellers at the deadline. The drawback for fans is they shouldn’t expect teams to trade all their top prospects for players. Most of the trades at the deadline involve minors with upside or a contract is exchanged for another player with more club control. I doubt if anyone is traded where a team gives up their top prospects, regardless who the name is.
But yet every year, top prospects are traded for MLB players at the deadline. I’m willing to bet we see it again this year. It is just how supply and demand works.
Agreed. Rarely do prospects get traded for prospects and less commonly MLB impact for MLB impact…so I expect DET to trade Price & Cesp for prospects.
I wonder how big the return would be for both Price and Cespedes together? Adding both of them would surely make any AL team favorites to go to the world series..
Since the Tigers already have both, does that make them the favorite?
No, which is why it’s a silly statement.
99% of the time packaging the both would yield less. You might get a higher end prospect but you will fill less holes. I say package them seperately and try a fleece somebody for one of them. Maybe buy low and do a dylan bundy for price, bundy is out of options and hurt. Price only a half year. If bundy has one more injury just make him a closer long term and its still a good trade.
Think it’s possible cubs can put a package together to land price and cespedes without including Schwarber?
It might be possible. If Schwarber isn’t included in the deal, it is probably a must that McKinney is. Probably something like McKinney, Baez, and a couple other well-regarded pieces.
Tigers don’t need Baez. They have middle infield already. They need pitching, so say goodbye to Edwards
Love baez’s upside. If that man ever figures it out… Watch out
I was thinking mickinney with edwards, Black and junior lake. Would think that package would atleast get some consideration from Detroit
I don’t think Detroit should sell but if it were me, I’d do that trade in a heartbeat
And none from the Cubs. They aren’t trading Edwards AND McKinney for a rental.
As a Cubs fan, McKinney looks like a nice player (I like him a TON more than I like Albert Almora, who is still much more highly regarded) but Edwards means little to me at this point. I see him as nothing but a reliever. If we can find some other team that still values him as if he was a starter I’d have to use that advantage and pull the trigger.
Completely agree with you. I would try and keep mickinney. If Almora and edwards are dealt for a good return I wouldn’t be too upset to see them go
Price isn’t a rental. its a courtship. A reunion with Maddon. If they really felt they could win it all with Price, they would do it. They would have to include Schwarber.
No one wants lake. Strikes out that much at triple a cause he sucks. Also doesbt have a real defensive position.
Possible? Yes, but it’s extremely unlikely the tigs trade them away in the first place.
Agree I doubt tigers move either. Just spitballing. I know it’s a lot for 2 rentals and maybe more of a possibility if the cubs were closer in the division race
Yeah they definitely can, however you are looking at a mckinney, vogelbach and edwards package along with a lottery ticket like candelario or wilson contreras. Thats a big package for price since cespedes is a marginal upgrade over a coghlan/ denorfia platoon.
.297/.322/.499/.821 51RBI;13HR;27 doubles If Cespedes was a Cub he would have the 2nd best overall numbers on the team
You are banking on cespedes maintaining a 347 bapib with a walk rate under 4%?! Lol gl with that.
Feasible trades?
Yankees get: David price, Yoenis cespedes
Tigers get: Luis severino, Aaron judge, Chris lindgren
Cardinals get: David price
Tigers get: Alex Reyes, Rob Kaminsky
Blue jays get: David price, joakim soria
Tigers get: Jeff Hoffman, Daniel Norris, + some other prospect
OR
Price to jays
Tigers get Hoffman + Pompey
Dodgers get: David price
Tigers get: Julio urias,Juan Gonzalez
To dream, the impossible dream!
The chances of prying both Judge and Severino in any trade is probably less than 5% right now. Also, I think you mean Jacob Lindgren.
LOL…Dodgers aren’t trading Urias for 2+ months of David Price. Especially if they think they can sign him in the off-season without giving up a top-10 prospect. And that’s assuming they’re even interested in price at all. Hell, the Rays didn’t even get that for Price when they moved him last year when he still had another season of control remaining.
The only way any team gives up the proverbial farm is if some sort of extension is worked out as part of the trade. And that just doesn’t happen very often in MLB.
The Tigers don’t need prospects. They have one of the best offenses in baseball and 8 of the 9 starters are locked up. Only Cespedes needs to be replaced and the best replacement for him would be Cespedes, not some minor league prospect who won’t contribute quickly and would most assuredly be a downgrade.
They need 2 starting pitchers and a replacement for Price if he signs elsewhere. One of them may be Greene. They need starters for 2016. They already have talented starters with promise in AA.
The goal isn’t to have the best players in the minors, it’s to have the best major league roster.
The Tigers should stay focused on that as long as Miggy. VMart and Verlander are in their prime. Selling now is a mistake, but if they do, they need to get young major league starters under team control who will contribute next year.