Detroit Tigers Trade Rumors: Separating Reality From Fiction at Deadline
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If there is any team in baseball that has truly been utterly disappointing, it is the Detroit Tigers, who have at times looked impossible to beat while other times have performed like little leaguers. Unfortunately, that has led them to a pretty murky spot at this trade deadline.
Ultimately, the Tigers aren't far enough out of it going into Friday night's action that they can 100% be deemed as sellers, but a lot would have to go right for the front office to be willing to bet big on this ballclub when the weekend comes to a close.
However, they are still 4.5 games back from the final wild card spot and have seemingly been unable to climb out of the hole that they dug themselves in when they won a measly six games in May, which was low-lighted in Tarik Skubal's final start at Comerica Park as he left the mound in the 7th up 7-1, but the team lost the game.
That being said, the organization isn't willing to gamble away too much which means that Skubal will indeed be playing for a different team when he makes his next start, even though he was adamant about his desire to stay with the ballclub that ignited his career when they drafted him back in 2018.
So, while many were hoping that the Skubal rumor could eventually be deemed hearsay, that simply isn't the case. The return is too great for the back-to-back Cy Young winner, and the team could get some real players, specifically bullpen arms, and/or top prospects.
What Is Still Up in the Air
Since the Tigers are right on the cusp, there are still a few players who could be remaining with the ball club as the front office will be more willing to gamble as the loss isn't as great, one of whom is Kyle Finnegan.
Finnegan is one of the hottest relievers that is believed to be on the market this deadline, but if Detroit goes ahead and sweeps the Athletics, and other teams take some losses, they will be within spitting distance of the bottom wild card spot.
Unfortunately, Casey Mize is also one of the pitchers who could be on the chopping block, which was further enhanced when he was scratched from his scheduled start Friday afternoon, hinting that the organization wouldn't want to risk injury before potentially dealing him away.
This time of year is hard to gauge what a team is really planning to do as the decisions really aren't made until the final game of the weekend is played. A lot could happen between now and Monday. A lot of rumors could turn true by the end of it, while facts could start to blur.
Only time will tell who will be playing for Detroit next week, and all the guys can do is focus on the game, inning, pitch, and at-bat in front of them.
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Maddy Dickens resides in Loveland, Colorado. She grew up with two older brothers, where their lives revolved around sports. She earned a master's degree in business management from Tarleton State University while simultaneously playing basketball and competing in rodeo at the collegiate level. She successfully parlayed a reserve national championship into a professional rodeo career and now stays involved in upper-level athletics by writing for On SI on several different MLB teams' pages, along with some NCAA sites.