The Detroit Tigers got very unfortunate news earlier in the week when it was announced that right-handed youngster Jackson Jobe will be out for the remainder of the campaign after it was reported that he’ll undergo Tommy John surgery.
Jobe was looking to be one of the better youngsters in Major League Baseball after coming up from the prospect ranks as the top pitching prospect in the game.
It’s a challenging situation for a Tigers team that certainly has a chance to win a World Series, but instead of dwelling on it, the front office has to go out there and make the right moves.
Just Baseball recently put together some trade packages for the Tigers to accomplish that, pitching an idea for them to land Mitch Keller of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Pirates, arguably the worst team in baseball outside of the Colorado Rockies, are expected to sell at the deadline. If the Tigers could land Keller, the rotation would be in a much better spot than it currently is with Jobe, but not in it.
“Keller is the biggest name of the four. His yearly offseason videos of throwing 100 mph have never translated to high end strikeout numbers, yet alone a fastball over 96 mph, but he does have a very solid track record (low 4’s ERA, high 3’s FIP). Keller is a groundball pitcher, which we know Detroit values, and has a sweeper and slider that are very good pitches,” they wrote.
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Depending on what the Tigers would have to give up for the right-hander, this could be the type of trade that makes sense.
It’s also important to note that Keller doesn’t hit free agency until 2029, and is playing on a five-year, $77 million deal.
The Tigers have a farm system that can realistically facilitate a deal for nearly every player who will be available at the deadline.
However, that doesn’t mean the front office will want to move on from some of its top prospects for everyone.
Keller owns a 4.55 career ERA, but he’s managed to stay on the bump in recent years, throwing in at least 159.0 innings in each of the last three seasons.
That alone is valuable.
