The All Star game is being us and the trade deadline is looming. The biggest question in the city of Detroit, and one frequently asked all throughout baseball is, are the Tigers going to be buyers or sellers at the deadline. Let me give you my two cents.
I want to preface this with I have zero inside knowledge of the situation I am just a sports fan that is blessed that I have an outlet for my opinions. That being said, as I always like to do, let’s take a 1000-foot view of things. Starting with the AL Central, the division isn’t a group of juggernauts. As I write this, the Tigers are 46-53 on the season. Not great by any means but they are one of two teams in the division with a positive run differential, the other being the division leading Chicago White Sox. They are 6.5 games back of first place. As far as the Wild Card, they are 4.5 games back. That doesn’t sound too awesome either but if you look at the teams they are behind, none of them are running away with anything. I really feel like neither options are out of the question.
How is the team doing right now? Well, they are 7-3 in their last 10 games. They are doing this behind very good pitching and some of their everyday starters not really producing. Spencer Torkelson is one of the streakiest hitters in the league and that is being very nice. His overall production has been extremely disappointing. Others like Riley Greene have been amazing. Sprinkle in some of the magic that Kevin McGonigal has produced and this team is better than their record might suggest. The entire squad has been plagued with injuries and luckily some of those guys have returned from the injured list and a few more are slated to come back very soon. With some offensive help, this team could really make some noise.
I think it is time we address the elephant in the room, Tarik Skubal’s future. There are some folks that insist that he be traded at or before the deadline. After this season he is slated to become a free agent. These folks would argue that getting something for him is better than nothing. He has stated publicly that be wants to remain a Tiger and not be traded. If the Tigers keep him, they have one of the best starting pitchers in the game so they would be pushing all of their chips to the middle if they did.
This is one of the more polarizing situations in baseball. Decide to sell and trade not only Skubal but any other expiring contract and reload the farm system. Or keep him, trade for a bat and make a run. I am leaning towards the latter. The Tigers have one of the easiest schedules remaining. All they need to do is get the final Wild Card spot and have Skubal lead the charge. The thing that separates this team from last seasons is that they have pitching past Skubal. The pressure that they have to win when he starts is lessened because of their pitching depth. Add to that what McGonigal is doing, I’m talking about things that haven’t been done since Ty Cobb, he is something special. The entire American League is horrible this year. Stick to your guns, bring in a bat, and push your chips to the center of the table. Let the future figure itself out. Win today.
***Until next time, checkout The Turbo and 2ks show at youtube.com/turboand2ks.
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