The MLB trade deadline is a little under four weeks away and the Detroit Tigers have a glaring need to fill.
While the Tigers are in a comfortable position in the AL Central at 54-34 with a 12.5-game lead over the Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Guardians, who are tied for second in the division, Detroit needs pitching help if it wants to go on a deep postseason run.
More specifically, the Tigers need bullpen help and they need it badly. In the month of June, Detroit’s bullpen ranked 26th in the MLB in bullpen ERA. Through just three games thus far in July, the bullpen has surrendered 11 runs in Detroit’s three-game series against the Washington Nationals, who are in 14th in the NL.
According to the trade deadline for the urgency index from The Athletic, the Tigers’ bullpen is not built for October if they do not find relievers at the July 31 trade deadline.
While Will Vest and Tommy Kahnle have had the bulk of success among Detroit’s relievers, the Tigers need more help when it comes to postseason competition.
The good news is that there should be relievers teams would be willing to trade if the Tigers are willing to meet the asking price of other teams. In a story from Athlon Sports, Kristie Ackert names Pittsburgh Pirates closer David Bednar , Miami Marlins’ Ronny Henriquez and Red Sox closer Aroldis Chapman as potential targets for the Tigers come the end of the month.
If Detroit wants to win a World Series this year, it will need to buy and go all-in at the deadline. The last thing the Tigers can afford is not doing enough at the deadline while seeing other AL playoff threats get even better.
