Tigers’ Decisions at MLB Trade Deadline Could Limit Upside in October

Despite being the best team in the American League for the first half of the season, there is some reason to be concerned about the Detroit Tigers.

While they got off to an amazing start to the year, the Tigers have been rather pedestrian of late. Throughout a long season, some bumps in the road are going to happen, but for Detroit, there is reason to be concerned.

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With the team limping a bit going into the trade deadline, the Tigers figured to be a team that was going to make a splash or two. Detroit features one of the best farm systems in baseball and had plenty of ammo to improve.

However, while they were active, they didn’t make a big splash that had a chance to change the outlook of the team.

While the Tigers did make a lot of moves, it will be interesting to see if it ends up being enough to get them to where they want to be in October.

Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report recently wrote about the Tigers having a lackluster trade deadline and potentially not doing enough to be a World Series contender.

“But if you weren't already sold on the Tigers as a serious World Series contender before the deadline, those moves almost certainly didn't do anything to help you buy in.”

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It is certainly easy to be critical of the decisions made by Detroit at the trade deadline. Even though this has been a good team with a strong record, it doesn’t feel like they added anyone at the deadline who is going to be a significant contributor in October.

In their starting rotation, both Charlie Morton and Chris Paddack will provide depth to a unit that needs it, but either starting in a playoff game won’t excite people.

Furthermore, the bullpen was arguably the top need for the team to improve, and they saw pitchers like David Bednar and Ryan Helsley head to other teams, while they acquired Kyle Finnegan.

Even though the lineup has been strong, pursuing a player like Eugenio Suarez would have given them an All-Star slugger in the middle of the order and could have taken the unit to the next level.

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While it would have been unrealistic to add multiple stars, getting one of the aforementioned players would have helped and changed the narrative of their deadline.

Now, everyone will likely point back to the moves made this summer if Detroit falls short in October. Even though they made a number of moves, it feels like it wasn't enough for the Tigers.

For more Tigers news, head over to Tigers On SI.