The Detroit Tigers know what they need to do at the trade deadline. But accomplishing is a whole different task. The Tigers need help in their bullpen; the problem is that the best deadline options are within their division. Luring one of their rivals to part with a leverage arm might take a big time offer.
Emmanuel Clase, Cade Smith and Griffin Jax are all solid options, yet they all reside in the division. The Tigers could look at this as a chance to use their farm system to flip one of those relievers, but they have to decide if that’s worth it. Their bullpen is their weakness, but even then, it might not be an immediate need.
They could probably get away with their current bullpen and rely on call-ups toward the end of the season for depth. It worked last year to an extent. Outside of Tarik Skubal, the Tigers relied heavily on their bullpen and it helped them reach the AL Division Series. Maybe they’ll have that same luck again in 2025, especially with an even stronger lineup.
If the Detroit Tigers can’t get who they want, who should they get instead?
ESPN’s Jeff Passan believes if the Tigers can’t get one of the top relievers within their division, they could benefit from going after Pittsburgh Pirates reliever, David Bednar. Bednar, a Pittsburgh native, has a lot of upside this season after a forgettable 2024 campaign.
While his win-loss record isn’t anything to gawk at, his 1.13 WHIP is reminiscent of his stretch from 2021-2023. His ERA is more than half of what it was in 2024 too. Bednar is an arm that could do wonders for the Tigers in the interim, assuming he continues to stay hot.
This comes down to how aggressive the Tigers want to be at the deadline. They don’t need much of anything else so they could feel that adding a top-end reliever as their only goal. If they do, the Pirates would love to find more prospects to fill out their many holes around the lineup. This also helps them avoid having to give up way too much to tempt the Cleveland Guardians or the Minnesota Twins to boost a division rival.
Let’s make this clear: The Tigers could stand pat at the trade deadline and it be perfectly fine. They could get aggressive and that would also be fine. They’re in win-now mode and whatever they feel keeps them atop the AL Central division is how they should play this.
In a dream scenario, they land one of the top relievers in the division. But in a realistic one, they could settle on Bednar and still end up having a productive deadline.