The Detroit Tigers didn’t have the splashiest trade deadline, as they added a few pitchers in the rotation and the bullpen, but no major deadline pickups. It would’ve been expensive, but other teams around baseball made such moves.
Bleacher Report’s Tim Kelly believes that the Tigers should regret their trade deadline moves. From not adding a high-profile closer to capitalizing on the Tarik Skubal window, Kelly named the Tigers a team that should regret their trade deadline moves.
“So, while a relatively young Tigers team might seem to be World Series contenders for years to come, this felt like a year to pounce,” Kelly writes, “particularly considering how weak the AL is compared to the NL.”
Instead of taking a big swing for a starting pitcher, a dominant closer, or even a quality third baseman, the Tigers settled for quantity over quality at the deadline.
Kyle Finnegan has been a nice pickup, but in his career, he’s had his ups and downs, and isn’t as much of a sure-fire thing as other relievers dealt at the deadline. Also in the bullpen, Rafael Montero, Codi Heuer, and Paul Seawald haven’t been major contributors.
In the starting rotation, while Chris Paddack and Charlie Morton had good Tigers debuts, they’ve come back down to earth in their starts since. Morton allowed six earned runs in his second outing, while Paddac allowed four in his second.
At third base and shortstop, Javier Baez and Zack McKinstry have taken a step back from their All-Star production. A player like Eugenio Suarez, even though he hasn’t been the best in Seattle, would’ve been a nice upgrade at third base.
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But, even though Kelly believes that the Tigers missed out on capitalizing on their chance to add star power at the deadline, he still sees the team as likely winners of the AL Central.
” Detroit will likely win the AL Central, but not making a major move or two might be the difference in winning a playoff series or three in October.” Kelly writes.
What makes the Tigers’ lackluster trade deadline sting less, however, is that the New York Yankees and New York Mets both went big and have struggled a ton since the deadline.
Detroit didn’t make any major changes, but the moves they did make haven’t come back to haunt them. It’s rather the moves they didn’t make that hurt. That’s a lot more palatable than if the Tigers overpaid for a player who was struggling.
Sitting at 6-6 in August, the Tigers have only a 6.5 game lead in the AL Central. While a complete collapse doesn’t seem likely, the missed opportunity at the trade deadline to add higher-profile talent is tough to look back on.
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