In the end, there was no blockbuster. A trade market that once looked intriguing for the Detroit Tigers grew saturated, other names took precedence, and, by the time 4 p.m. struck at Comerica Park, only one locker was cleaned out.
That locker belonged to Leonys Martin, the center fielder the Tigers took a chance on this winter. At the time, Detroit viewed Martin as a strong defensive option who could post a comeback year offensively, and, under the right circumstances, be a midseason trade candidate. Sure enough, he developed into not only a competent leadoff hitter but also a big clubhouse presence. Ultimately, he developed into a trade chip, too — one the Cleveland Indians acquired (along with minor-league righty Kyle Dowdy) at the cost of shortstop prospect Willi Castro.
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The teams began exchanging medicals last night, but the deal wore on through the morning, and the Tigers finally came away with Castro — a prospect general manager Al Avila said they had tried to acquire last year, too.
From the Tigers’ view, Castro has a chance to be an everyday shortstop who will hit and field well. If he becomes that, it will be easy to understand Avila’s ultimate assessment: “This is a good day for the Tigers.” Martin was a player they signed with this kind of outcome in mind, and they got a guy they liked in return.
From that standpoint, Detroit earns some plaudits. It’s hard to ignore, though, that this was their only deal of the day — and while Avila certainly can’t just conjure trades out of thin air, it still was a relatively uneventful day for a team that appeared to have more pieces to deal.
It is not the Tigers’ fault that the market flooded with good players. And in the case of Mike Fiers, it may be better to stand pat than to cave on a lesser deal for a player who still has a year of team control — especially when the waiver trade deadline is a month away. Francisco Liriano staying put is tougher, considering he will be a free agent after this season, but his past couple months also didn’t do his market any favors.
Avila said he anticipated a saturated market going into the season, just because of the sheer number of rebuilding teams. The way the season played out only validated that view.
“You had that general feel already of, ‘This could be that kind of year,’” Avila said. “And as the season developed, and teams that kind of fell lower and lower into the standings, per se, or struggled, I would say picked up speed. From early on I think you could see it coming, and just kind of built up from there.”
The natural question is whether there was anything more Detroit could have done to overcome that saturation.
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“You can’t force the issue,” Avila said. “In order to make a trade, there’s gotta be a team willing that wants a player that you’re willing to move. They have to be willing to trade you a player that you like. It’s not like, ‘I want to make this trade,’ and that’s the team I want to make it with, and that’s the player I want and all of the sudden it just drops into your hands. That’s not the way it works.
“As a matter of fact, quite opposite. In order to make a good trade, usually a lot of things have to come together. Organizational needs from opposing teams, your needs, and if what you have to offer fits them and if what they have to offer back fits you. That’s not always easy to find when you’re dealing with 29 other teams.”
Avila noted that everyone has different evaluations of their own players, as well as of the players on other teams. Certainly, that comes into play when trying to play matchmaker from afar — let alone in the thick of it, when real jobs are on the line.
The Tigers GM seemed to feel good about the move he made, and he wasn’t surprised by the lack of action. He also might not be done. Last year, the Tigers’ biggest move came at the end of August, when they shipped out Justin Verlander and got back three top prospects.
Could Detroit revisit talks about Fiers with Milwaukee or Oakland, both of which expressed what Avila called “mild interest” before the deadline? Sure they could — though, Avila cautioned, that process has its own challenges. Every team will now start putting players through waivers, he said, and some players on reasonable contracts will be claimed, blocking a trade. He also said teams don’t necessarily stay in as close touch as they do before the July deadline.
There’s also the winter for potential trade talks, or, for some players, beyond that — Avila harked back to Justin Wilson as an example, recalling how the team discussed Wilson trades in July 2016, then again in the winter, before finally flipping him and Alex Avila to Chicago for Jeimer Candelario and prospect Isaac Paredes last summer.
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That trade is shaping up as one of Avila’s best moves as GM, so it makes sense he’d point to it.
As for what Tuesday’s results mean going forward, there are probably three main areas to assess:
The major-league club
Perhaps the biggest surprise isn’t that the day was uneventful, but that Detroit’s entire pitching staff stayed intact. Between Liriano, Fiers and closer Shane Greene, there were plenty of names floating around, even before getting into controllable young starters Michael Fulmer and Matt Boyd.
The Tigers look poised to proceed with the same group they started with. That means no open rotation spots, and potentially even a bit of a cluster when Fulmer gets healthy, depending on how they choose to handle the versatile Blaine Hardy.
That may show up more in September than at any time else, as no new spots on the 40-man roster opened up for late-season call-ups. (Castro is on the 40-man, so he replaces Martin one-for-one.)
Notably, José Iglesias was not moved. He should hold down shortstop for the rest of the season, but his impending free agency is something to watch.
Mike Gerber got the call-up to Detroit, which positions him to show more than he did in his brief stint earlier this year — when he went 0-for-2 in three games. Gerber, 26, is having a tough year in Toledo, hitting .214, but perhaps the call-up can coax a surge out of him. Regardless, it’s a crucial opportunity to see a young(ish) player in action at the highest level. That’s the most important aspect of the remaining season.
The farm system
Assuming Castro stays at the Double-A level, he will join two of the team’s other top middle-infield prospects, Paredes and Sergio Alcantara. MLB.com has Castro rated as the highest among the three, but Paredes’ season to date suggests he may ultimately be the higher ceiling player.
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Castro, 21, has hit .245 with a .653 OPS so far in Double-A, while Paredes was at .259 and .753 at 19 years old in the Florida State League (High-A), a tough league to hit in. Since his call-up to Double-A, Paredes is batting .364 with an OPS over .900.
Still, Paredes’ frame ultimately means he may not stick at short, so the two may not really be in competition. Avila said he plans to rotate all three players between second, third and short, so the team should get good looks at how they all fit around an infield. Avila said Alcantara might be the closest to Toledo — which makes sense since, at 22, he’s the oldest — but didn’t want to speculate on who the next player moved would be.
Middle infield — and shortstop, specifically — has looked like the team’s biggest area needing improvement in the minors, so a trade addressing that is a good sign. Whether Castro is a long-term answer there is less important than the fact that he gives the organization another player with a real shot. You need kicks at the can.
How he develops will certainly be something to watch.
Future trade opportunities
We’ll see what happens in August, before the waiver deadline, but it’s shaping up to be another interesting offseason for the Tigers’ hot stove, with players like Greene, Fulmer, Boyd and Nicholas Castellanos all realistic candidates who could bring meaningful returns.
Could the Tigers decide to build around one or more of those players? Of course, though their plans will probably depend on a number of factors — just like Tuesday’s deals and non-deals. Among those factors could be exactly how close the Tigers feel they are to their next competitive roster. We projected out how the team is shaping up for 2022 last week, which could serve as a way to gauge direction.
The Tigers whose names floated around this July were a reminder that the team may not be done “tearing down” just yet.
But that didn’t result in a flurry of deadline action Tuesday — for better or worse.
(Top photo of Leonys Martin: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports)
