Detroit Tigers News: Justin Wilson, Alex Avila traded to Cubs

The Detroit Tigers took a series from one of the best teams in baseball over the weekend. Normally, that’s something we might spend a little time talking about the links if there weren’t other things to discuss, but there are more important things happening in the Tigers universe at the moment.

While most of us were watching Daenerys Targaryen try to tell Jon Snow how things in the seven kingdoms were going to go, the trade market for some of Detroit’s most discussed trade pieces was hotter than those three gigantic dragons homegirl uses to let folks know she means business.

Twitter was super chatty about Justin Wilson and Alex Avila for a good chunk of the evening. Rather than try to put it out there myself [Ed.: Sorry for the spoiler, but Justin Wilson and Alex Avila were traded to the Cubs] I’m going to jump in sometime late Sunday night and allow Twitter to tell you a somewhat evolving tale.

We begin with Sean Sears, who I am told by Twitter is a beat writer for the Chicago Cubs and White Sox.

But wait, is that Anthony Fenech’s music?

Joel Sherman of the New York Post jumps in with a bit of a sleeper.

The ever trustworthy Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports chimed in with some words that indicate something is certainly going to happen with the Cubbies.

Back to Fenech.

And then it was pretty much a done deal.

We wrote this in real time, but it appears that Wilson and Avila are Cubs. The return — a solid if unspectaular one, says Rob — involves third baseman Jeimer Candelario, shortstop Isaac Paredes, and a player to be named later.

As hot as the trade talk got at times around Avila and Wilson, it seems to have cooled off drastically for Justin Verlander. MLB Trade Rumors had a quick piece on why it’s more likely than not that Verlander remains in Detroit.

Accentuate the positive

The Tigers aren’t playing their best baseball this year. If you aren’t a longtime fan you probably aren’t familiar with what that feels like. Mike Isenberg wrote something for the Detroit Free Press this week where he asked the Tigers broadcasting crew about what it’s like to call games in this subpar season. It’s an interesting read. While they talk with Mario Impemba and Dan Dickerson, there are no quotes from Rod Allen or Jim Price, so it’s a pretty catchphrase free article, much to my disappointment.

Presley to the DL

If you remember, I pointed to Alex Presley as a guy who was putting up great numbers in limited action last week. Well, it seems he is going to have to wait to continue his good work as he was placed on the disabled list with a lower oblique strain on Friday. That cleared the way for the return of our savior, Jim Adduci. Once again, the Deuce is loose in Detroit.

Rondon’t go breaking my heart

After a troubling week where many thought Bruce Rondon decided to circumvent the parliamentary procedure of the unwritten rules committee and draft some sort of new unwritten rule about how it’s totally cool to bean a dude because you’re frustrated with your inability to make outs and the other team has the audacity to exploit that weakness by continuing to score, Rondon held a Q&A before Saturday’s game. He says he was just trying to pitch inside to Mike Moustakas. He says a lot of other things too. I’ll let you read it for yourself.

Pudge is a Hall of Famer

While the Tigers were thumping the Houston Astros on Sunday afternoon, Ivan Rodriguez was getting his official induction into Cooperstown. I know he went in a Texas Ranger, but he came to Detroit at a time when nobody wanted to and for that he’ll always be a Tiger to me. Pudge went in about how you would expect him to.

For your free time

Take some time for a nice little two-part interview (video) Jonah Keri did with Tim Raines. If Bud Selig is a hall of famer so are Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens. Ben Badler on the new CBA and how it targets international signing violations. Major League Baseball has a cocaine problem.

Baseball is awesome

Adrian Beltre became the 31st player to reach the 3,000 hit mark over the weekend. That deserves a congratulatory pat on the head.