Tigers trade rumors: Tigers interested in Gregerson

JP Morosi tweets that the Tigers continue to show interest in the Padres set up man, Luke Gregerson.

By Patrick OKennedy@Tigerdog_1 Jul 25, 2013, 4:00pm EDT

Last Sunday, we reported that the Tigers might be interested in San Diego Padres' right handed set up man Luke Gregerson. Today, Jon Paul Morosi of Fox Sports has tweeted that the Tigers have continued interest in the San Diego reliever.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Tigers are showing continued interest in trading for Padres reliever Luke Gregerson, sources say. <a href="https://twitter.com/FOXSports1">@FOXSports1</a></p>— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) <a href="https://twitter.com/jonmorosi/statuses/359884276130525185">July 24, 2013</a></blockquote>
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Gregerson filled in as the Padres' closer for a couple of weeks recently when Huston Street was on the disabled list. and he notched three saves. In 42 innings this season, all in relief, Gregerson has an ERA of 2.79, an FIP of 2.97, and a WHIP of 0.98. He has struck out 7.7 batters per nine innings and walked 1.7 per nine, while allowing opponents to hit .209.

He has four blown saves to go with 13 holds for the year. For his career, he has an ERA of 2.90 and a WHIP of 1.09. His three year splits show that he has pitched marginally better at Petco park, with an ERA of 2.31 at home and 3.35 on the road. His splits also show that he does a bit better against right handed hitters than lefties, but not a great deal better.

Gregerson features a full repertoire of pitches, especially for a reliever. His pitch f/x data shows that he throws a slider, two and four seam fastballs, a curveball, a change up, and a cutter. Eno Sarris at fangraphs wrote last April about Gregerson's repertoire which he says includes three different sliders.

The 29 year old Gregerson earns a salary of $ 3.2 million this year, or about 1.1 million for the balance of the season, and is eligible for arbitration for the third and final time after this season. On the whole, I would give Gregerson a thumbs up.