MLB Rumors: Detroit Tigers won’t make any more deals this season
By Hayden Kane
The Detroit Tigers lost to the Minnesota Twins by two touchdowns by Friday night: 20-6. If that’s not a sign that things are sinking fast, then nothing will be.
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With that, a perennial division leader and favorite in the American League the last few seasons is staring down an unfortunate reality. As things stand now, the Tigers are 2.5 games back of the Kansas City Royals in the American League Central and are 0.5 games back of the Seattle Mariners for the second wild card spot.
Detroit is dealing with health issues, but as much as anything else, this losing stretch can be attributed to poor play. Perhaps most surprising has been the decline of their offense, which has combined with some crooked numbers from opposing lineups to put the Tigers in a tough spot in the standings.
There is still a little more than one week for teams to pull the trigger on waiver trades to have players eligible for the post-season. Would uber-aggressive general manager Dave Dombrowski consider making another deal? Possibly, but on Friday he made it sound like such a trade is unlikely.
"“Our guys have to hit better,” Dombrowski said Friday afternoon from Target Field ahead of the Tigers’ series opener against the Twins. “You can’t keep going and getting players all the time. After a point, they’ve got to hit. They’ve got to do what they need to do.“It’s hard to score runs right now. We’ve faced some good pitching, but sometimes your other guys have to rise to the occasion too.”"
The Tigers notably traded Austin Jackson as part of the deal that landed them David Price at the trade deadline. Nobody is going to suggest that dealing Jackson has been this offense’s undoing, but they certainly miss his bat in a lineup that has lacked punch in recent weeks.
One would think that a lineup with Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez in the middle of it would generally avoid cold streaks. If the Tigers want a chance to meet their lofty potential, they better hope things get turned around in a hurry, and they will have to do so without the potential shot in the arm of a trade.