The Tigers and Athletics have announced the completion of the mid-season trade that sent starter Mike Fiers to Oakland. Righty Logan Shore will head to the Tigers in the deal, making him the second player to be named later.
About one month back, the sides announced the first PTBNL: young righty Nolan Blackwood. In the meantime, Fiers has continued mostly to pile up good innings for the A’s.
Shore, a 2016 second-rounder, is a rather notable prospect to be on the move. The 23-year-old turned in four strong outings at the High-A level before bumping up to Double-A. He has struggled to a 5.50 ERA there in 13 starts, but still seems to be a quality asset to add to the Detroit system. He’s just over two years removed from being selected in the second round of the 2016 draft and, in 2017, turned in a 3.68 ERA with an exceptional 87-to-16 K/BB ratio in 80 2/3 innings of work.
At last look, Shore sat in the No. 14 spot on the MLB.com ranking of the A’s farm. He’s known more for “pitchability than stuff,” as that outlet puts it, so he’s valued more for his floor than his ceiling. Of course, even a perceived floor requires health, and that’s one area that has been a problem in Shore’s brief time as a professional; he was slowed by a lat issue earlier this season and had a pair of trips to the disabled list last year in an otherwise encouraging campaign.
As for Fiers, the 33-year-old has been quite a boon for an otherwise injury-ravaged Athletics pitching staff. He’s taken the mound eight times since donning the green and gold, pitching to a sterling 3.09 ERA with 44 punchouts against just 10 walks in 43 2/3 innings of work. He’s still been far too homer-prone in that time (10 homers allowed), but Fiers has generally been one of Oakland’s most effective starters since joining the team. Oakland can control him through the 2019 season via arbitration.
Didn’t Fiers get sent to the A’s?
And they finalized the ptbl
The opening says ‘the trade that sent fiers to detroit’
That’s what he’s referring to
Mine didn’t say that when I commented
Yes it did because it still says that. Very first sentence:
“The Tigers and Athletics have announced the completion of the mid-season trade that sent starter Mike Fiers to Detroit.”
What a shock. I figured a low level prospect at best. A second rounder is nothing to laugh at.
I played against shore in high school. He could hit bombs. Great pitcher too
Sounds like a shore thing!
Not a bad haul for the Tigers for someone who pitches above his peripherals. Blackwood is a lotto ticket but I think Shore has potential as a back-end starter or high-leverage reliever. Excellent groundball pitcher that would have done well here. Our #14 prospect according to MLB.com, though I wouldnt rank him that high.
For the A’s, it must mean we intend to keep Fiers through arbitration. Considering his body of work here, I’m not thrilled (for 2019 – we absolutely need him now). Almost a 5 FIP since coming here and allowing 2 HR per 9. I get why we did it, but I think we lost the value end of the deal here long-term. But of course winning in the postseason will make that point moot.
Fiers is obviously a big regression candidate, but man I’m jealous that you guys have such a fun team to root for. It’s going to be lean for us Tigers fans for awhile.
I’m not sure how well Avila is at drafting, but he excels at turning marginal assets into slightly less marginal assets. It’s like that show where the person starts with a Griffey rookie card and 7 trades later they have a bulldozer.
ANY “prospect” is worth winning in the postseason…..But I’d agree, the price was a bit (not a ton) higher than I would have expected……Seems Avilla is getting more for his over-the-hill gang than one would have thought….some nice depth at least…..
Two guys with pitchability but without the stuff to be consistent contributors. I don’t see it as that high a price for a pitcher who will be with us next year as well, regression or not.
We’ll watch Nolan Blackwood and Logan Shore next season. So far, their numbers don’t see what the scouts see. I hope the scouts get it right. Billy Bean doesn’t trade away MLB talent..
“Billy Beane doesn’t trade away MLB talent…” Huston Street, Greg Smith, and Carlos Gonzales for Matt Holliday
Both players the tigers received have some potential. Shore was once a even higher prospect. Shore could turn out to be a gem. My guess is the tigers had a few players to pick from and they went pitching. Very smart always go for pitching.
You’re right he trades away future stars.
Blackwood and Shore both struggled to get Double A hitters out this season. Shore wouldn’t even have been our 5th starter in a rotation that only has 3 starters, and Dunshee and Howard both outperform him in terms of stuff, pitchability and peripherals.