Detroit Tigers Rumors: James Shields Now On the Market?

This one might be a stretch, but according to MLB Trade Rumors Tampa Bay Rays righty James Shields is available "for the right price." This report stems from a Buster Olney tweet reporting that the Rays were scouting minor leaguers in the Cincinnati Reds' system earlier this week.

Shields has an unimpressive 8-8 record in 2011, but as we all know, wins and losses don't tell the whole story. In just under 150 innings this year (which already tells you something about his durability), Shields has a 2.60 ERA and 1.002 WHIP. He has an FIP of 3.17 and an xFIP of 2.91, so while he might be a candidate for some regression, he's not going to fall off the charts a la Jarrod Washburn.

Looking deeper into the stats archive (a.k.a. Fangraphs), Shields is leaving almost 80% of runners on base, a fair bit higher than his career average of 72%. His ground ball rate and home run/fly ball ratio are both in line with his career averages.

If you're looking for an "innings eater," you won't do much better than Shields. He's pitched an incredible seven complete games this season, explaining why he's already racked up 150 innings this year. He has thrown at least 215 innings in each of the past four seasons and is on pace to shatter that mark in 2011.

This is the last guaranteed year of Shields' contract, but he has team options for each of the next three seasons. They aren't as cheap as Ubaldo Jimenez's absurd contract numbers, but a $12M option in 2014 is pennies on the dollar for the type of money that Shields could command on the open market (not to mention cheaper than Derek Lowe's deal next season).

Like Ubaldo Jimenez, Shields is probably going to command a king's ransom of prospects in return. If the Tigers are interested in making a serious offer, you would have to expect that this begins with Jacob Turner. One thing the club has going for them is that the Rays are highly unlikely to trade Shields within the division, taking the Yankees and Red Sox out of the running.