Monday open thread: What is a good trade return for Matthew Boyd?

We don’t know how aggressively the Detroit Tigers are shopping Matthew Boyd this summer, but according to MLB.com’s Jon Morosi, Boyd is available for trade. One imagines the price is rather high, and understandably so; Boyd has been one of the best pitchers in baseball this year, with peripherals that rival those of former Tigers Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer, among others.

There are arguments to be made on both sides for either trading or keeping Boyd. Some believe that, given his age and current value, Boyd might be better used as a trade piece to net more prospects to further help the Tigers’ rebuild. Others scoff at the idea of trading a potential ace in his prime, since odds are the prospects received in return will not become as good as Boyd is right now.

Keeping Boyd doesn’t make for great #content, though, so we’re asking you to put your GM hat on for today’s Question of the Day.

What is a good trade return for Matthew Boyd?

My answer: If we are using the Jose Quintana trade as a framework for a return on Boyd, as many have suggested, there are several teams who could field competitive trade offers. Quintana netted outfielder Eloy Jimenez and righthander Dylan Cease from the Chicago Cubs, along with two other prospects who were never projected to be impact players (both are already playing in independent ball this year). Jimenez was a borderline top-10 prospect in all of baseball at the time, while Cease was toward the back end of most top 100 lists coming out of short-season ball the year prior.

I’ll focus on the Atlanta Braves here, but there are several different directions to go in. The Braves could be a possible target for Boyd both because of history — GM Alex Anthopolous was a frequent trade partner with the Tigers during his time in Toronto, including the trade that brought Boyd to Detroit in the first place — and financial situation — Atlanta’s ownership group isn’t normally one to spend freely, so Boyd’s cost-controlled salary would be of particular value. One of outfielders Cristian Pache or Drew Waters would be a nice headliner, with someone in the Bryse Wilson-Luiz Gohara-Kolby Allard region a nice secondary piece. Righthander Touki Toussaint may also be available if Atlanta’s brass has soured on his recent work out of the Braves bullpen.

Braves fans will almost certainly disagree — please leave your counter-offers below! — as will fans of any other club that find their way into our comments today.

What do you think?