clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Detroit Tigers News: This Mets-Mariners trade is bananas and we don’t know what to make of it

Also, with the non-tender deadline looming, we look at who might not be a Tiger at the end of Friday night.

Texas Rangers v Seattle Mariners Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images

It’s not much, but it’s something.

That’s probably the best description of the most recent action on the free agent and trade markets as we arrive at the non-tender deadline to close out this final week of November. Thursday saw a few signings around baseball, not to mention some rumblings about potential big deals, potential stupid deals, and some smaller scale done deals.

Do any of these involve the Detroit Tigers? Of course not. After you make a big splash like signing Matt Moore, it’s always smart to lay low for a bit and see what everyone else is doing. Let’s see what the rest of baseball has been up to.

Cano way do the Mets know what they’re doing

As the day progressed on Thursday, what started as faint rumblings about a possible deal that would send Seattle Mariners second baseman Robinson Cano and closer Edwin Diaz to the New York Mets grew to a big perplexing crescendo. As I am writing this on Thursday evening, we don’t yet have a finalized deal, but word around the campfire is that it could be finalized as early as Friday morning.

This is one of those deals that, as it has grown throughout the day, has left many a casual baseball fan wondering what in the f*** the Mets are doing.

That’s a great question. Here is what is currently on the table.

Goodbye, Garrett Richards

After signing Matt Moore, the Tigers were upfront about the fact that they aren’t quite done on the pitching front. Namely, the organization is still looking for another starting pitcher. Garrett Richards was one guy at least a few people hoped the Tigers might be able to scoop up, just not for 2019, as he is currently recovering from Tommy John surgery. Many believe he would still be worth stashing for the potential 2020 benefits.

Well, the San Diego Padres had the same thought and signed him to a two-year deal worth $15 million, plus incentives. On to the next one, I suppose.

It’s tender time

The Tigers did some good work last season scooping up some non-tendered players that they turned into prospects at the deadline in Mike Fiers and Leonys Martin. The team is reportedly looking to repeat that good fortune in 2019. Keep your eyes peeled in the coming week or so for the organization to possibly take a chance on one or two candidates likely to be non-tendered on Friday evening.

The last of McCann?

Speaking of non-tender candidates, the most likely player to suffer that fate for Detroit remains James McCann. Many folks have been saying it’s a distinct possibility, and Lynn Henning of The Detroit News joins that chorus. While the team continues to give lip service to what a difficult decision it is, I’m not sure that’s really the case. My money is on the team going with a cheap stop-gap option for the next year or two until one of the younger fellas on the farm are ready to step in full time.

Who might they look to, you ask? Some of us around here seem to be rather keen on Matt Wieters. We’ll have more to come in the next few days.

No more Kluber?

How would you like to see less of Corey Kluber? Get in line. While it hasn’t developed into anything close to definite, reports are that the Indians have had discussions with the Los Angeles Dodgers about a deal that would involve Kluber and outfielder Yasiel Puig.

Schoop him up

Jumping back on the non-tender train, there was a brief flurry of activity on Thursday around the news that the Milwaukee Brewers are likely to part ways with second baseman Jonathan Schoop. If only I could think of a team who might need one of those...

Schoop had a bit of a rough go of things during his short stint in The Good Land, but considering he was an All-Star in 2017, he could be worth a shot. Not that I think Detroit takes that shot, but it would be interesting if they did.

Flourishing in the Fall League

In some promising notes of good local news, prospects Daz Cameron and Danny Woodrow apparently represented themselves quite well in the Arizona Fall League. If you read through the weird imagining of the future Tigers team taking the field in the first handful of paragraphs, you’ll get to the info on both players who impressed the big club with their recent fall performances.

Around the horn

Portland is ready for baseball with their new stadium plan. Speaking of stadium plans, take a look at what the Oakland Athletics are looking to do. Will Oklahoma quarterback (and A’s draft pick) Kyler Murray choose baseball or football as his future career? The super expensive cost of a ticket to watch MLB play in Britain this summer.