Detroit Tigers rumors: Still in the market for a left-handed reliever?

Detroit Tigers’ general manager Dave Dombrowski might want to check his phone: what if he has a missed call from the Philadelphia Phillies or Arizona Diamondbacks that fell through the cracks during his furious 11th hour efforts to acquire David Price from the Tampa Bay Rays.

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In addition to landing the biggest trade of the day, the Tigers were famously in the business of trying to add a left-handed relief pitcher. They were supposedly close to a deal for Andrew Miller, now of the Baltimore Orioles, before it fell through. Could they have pushed for Antonio Bastardo of the Phillies or Oliver Perez of the Diamondbacks?

It’s too late now, and maybe they did make a push and simply weren’t able to execute a deal. Whatever the case, the Tigers will reportedly continue to pursue options for a left-handed reliever, even if said options might be limited because guys now have to clear waivers.

From Jason Beck of MLB.com:

"Though the Tigers could pull off a trade in August, they’d have to pass a player through waivers to do it. Unless a player has a large long-term contract — and no lefty relievers do — most players get claimed. Even D-backs lefty Oliver Perez’s two-year, $4.25 million contract, while lucrative, isn’t backbreaking for most clubs."

The Tigers have been rolling along with a patched-together bullpen for a while now, and they will continue to do so with Phil Coke and Blaine Hardy serving primarily as the lefty relievers.

Thankfully for the Tigers, you can hide a spotty bullpen pretty darn well when you have that kind of lineup and starting rotation.

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