:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/35320416/20140605_ajl_ac5_164.JPG.0.jpg)
Relievers Joakim Soria and Jason Frasor of the Rangers both remain on the Tigers' radar as Detroit seeks to shore up its bullpen issues, Jon Paul Morosi of Fox Sports reports. This comes after a report the Tigers were "quite interested" in Benoit.
A former closer with the Royals and current closer for the Rangers, Soria is enjoying a success year in Texas, despite what his 1-3 record might make you think. Soria's 2.83 ERA is eclipsed by his 0.74 Fielding Independent Pitching stat and 0.80 WHIP. Soria's strikeouts-to-walks ratio of 10 (40 Ks, 4 walks) in 29 innings is an amazing figure. Soria is owed about $2.75 million for the rest of this season, with a $7 million club option ($500,000 buyout) covering 2015. In other words, he's looking pretty club friendly at this point. That's worth a a little bit more than Joaquin Benoit is to the Padres. Benoit is owed $11 million over the next two years with a 2016 club option.
Frasor, too, has looked decent this season in relief. The 36-year-old right-hander has a 2.86 ERA, 3.00 FIP and 1.34 WHIP. So, he's not really in Soria territory for success, though he'd still fit nicely into the Tigers pen. He has a 29:13 strikeout-to-walks ratio in 28 innings. Frasor is owed the remainder of a $1.75 million, one-year deal.
Soria seems a far-fetched but intriguing idea. Frasor seems the more likely of the two. The walks worry. My column in the News this week, by the way: Benoit may be the best bet for Tigers.