One of the topics of discussion in last night's GameThread (especially while it looked like the Tigers might be on their way to another loss) was whether or not Detroit should - or could - dump some of their older, high-salaried players at the trade deadline. SI.com's Jon Heyman broached the same line of thinking in his Monday column; here's his bullet point on the matter:
Insiders are speculating that the Tigers might start trading pieces before the deadline. But their pitchers have been awful, and many of their every-day players are stars who recently signed big contracts and are underachieving. To sum up, I'm not sure where they'd begin a fire sale.
That was brought up in the GameThread, as well. Who could the Tigers trade? What teams would take those salaries?
Lynn Henning has mentioned Magglio Ordonez as a trade candidate a couple of times recently in the Detroit News, citing production that another team might be interested in, despite the possible $48 million still remaining on his contract. FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal also cited Maggs as the type of player the Dodgers might pursue if they were to deal Matt Kemp.
A few paragraphs later, however, Rosenthal acknowledges that the Tigers aren't likely to give up on the season. Not with the payroll they've assembled, and the relative mediocrity of the AL Central. Maybe I'm delusional (if for no other reason than blogging would become a slog for the next four months), but I find it difficult to believe that this organization will send up the white flag because of the message it would send to the players and fans.
Of course, this season could reach a point where exploring what sort of return could be yielded for their veteran talent might be the smart thing to do. But I still think this team was built for a two-year window, not just for a 2008 run at the World Series.
So let's continue the discussion that was cut off yesterday once the Tigers began to mount their comeback. Could this team make some deals? Is that what you would prefer as a fan, or do you want to see these guys fight it out? Who would seem to be the most viable trade chip? Bring it on.