Detroit Tigers News: Tigers call Oakland’s bluff in Mike Fiers trade

The Detroit Tigers traded Mike Fiers to the Oakland Athletics on Monday, finalizing a deal everyone thought was completed six days prior. We don’t know exactly who will be coming to Detroit in return for Fiers, but we know the Tigers will be receiving two players to be named later. While it’s possible cash could be involved, MLB Network’s Jon Morosi expects the prospects to come from either the Single or Double-A levels.

What interests me is the timing of this deal. The Tigers and A’s reportedly came to an agreement just minutes before the 48-hour deadline following Oakland’s initial claim on Fiers. Had the teams not agreed on a trade, Detroit could have either pulled Fiers back — exhausting his eligibility for revocable waivers this month — or let him go to Oakland. Option No. 1 was the more likely of the two, leading A’s head honcho (but not actually GM) Billy Beane to give up more than what the teams discussed last Tuesday.

This is the second consecutive year general manager Al Avila has played chicken with an opposing GM and won. It’s not something I’d recommend him doing on an annual basis, but it’s nice to see him come through in crunch time.

As for Fiers? I’m happy for him. He wants, above all else, to pitch in the postseason, and Oakland gives him a much better shot at that this year than he would have had in Detroit.

Here’s what other people are saying about the Fiers sale

Tigers GM Al Avila (via the Detroit News):

“At the time, we weren’t that comfortable with what the return was,” Avila said, explaining why they were able to work out a deal after the non-waiver deadline and not before. “This time around, there is a second player involved. It gives us two chances to get it right.

“Out of the short list we have agreed on, we feel like we will be happy with the return.”

The Freep’s Anthony Fenech:

It doesn’t matter much what the Tigers receive for these players signed last offseason, though shortstop prospect Willi Castro is considered a legitimate prospect and will soon rank among the team’s top 10. What matters is that Avila signed the kind of players that he was able to move in the summertime, even in another awful trade market...There wasn’t much optimism leading up to the trade deadline that the Tigers would make waves, but now, they have added three prospects, even if we don’t know whom two of them are.

Random people we definitely don’t know on Twitter:

Our friends at Athletics Nation:

This isn’t a splashy move but it was a smart idea. The A’s makeshift rotation has been a pleasant surprise and they just had an amazing weekend against the Tigers, but it would have been a gamble to expect those good times to continue unabated...Adding another reliable arm to the mix was the responsible thing to do, even if it was just another one of similar quality to what they already had. Depth can save a season.

I’m happy with the addition of Fiers, but it’s impossible to judge the trade itself without knowing what the A’s gave up.

Hey, remember this guy?

The pitcher called up to take Fiers’ place in the rotation is none other than righthander Jacob Turner, a former Tigers top prospect who was traded for Anibal Sanchez back in 2012. Turner’s career hasn’t worked out as expected yet, but he’s not as old as you think.

Turner will start for the Tigers on Tuesday against an Angels lineup possibly headlined by some guy named Mike Trout, who was drafted 16 spots after Turner in 2009.

Somebody had time for one last joke

Good luck, Mike.

You’ll need it.

Other baseball stuff

Grant Brisbee on the Oakland A’s. The rest of SB Nation’s MLB hub, a.k.a. basically just a bunch of stuff about the Red Sox. Is Juan Soto the best teenage hitter ever? Comerica Park was vandalized over the weekend.