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Gio Gonzalez sounds good for the Tigers, but...
The winter meetings are baseball's version of a trip to the mall at Christmas time. Some teams buy on impulse (this year it is the Marlins), most teams shop around carefully before buying because they have a limited budget and others just window shop because, well, they are the type that have pretty much what they need.
The Tigers are in the latter category. They don't have to purchase any big ticket items this off season, and will still go into next season as the favorite to win the American League Central.
They solidified their starting rotation by acquiring Doug Fister at the trade deadline last season. The core of their team is in the prime years of their careers, 27-to-33 years old, or younger. That includes two potential Hall of Famers, Justin Verlander and Miguel Cabrera.
The Tigers did dump a lot of salary after last off season, but it''s made up by raises due in current contracts.
There is one prize that admittedly is tough to resist. That's Gio Gonzalez, the Oakland A's left-hander. The A's always look to dump somebody when they become arbitration eligible, even a pitcher as gifted as Gonzalez. He'd fit the Tigers perfectly, although a word of caution here: His ERA was nearly a run higher on the road than at home in a pitcher's park in 2011.
The issue is cost. Do you give up Rick Porcello and Brennan Boesch for him? That would be the starting price, but would undoubtedly rise. Do you dare part with Jacob Turner? Do you throw in their best position player prospect in the minor leagues, third baseman Nick Castellanos, after they traded third baseman Francisco Martinez to acquire Fister?
The Tigers need a lefty, true. But they don't need to shake up the deck to do so. They need wiggle room - seeing where they stand on the field next year and tweaking their roster at the trade deadline. It worked to perfection last year, didn't it? The Tigers don't have that deep of a farm system after already moving top prospects last summer. They should keep a chip or two available for when they need them at trade deadline this summer.
The Tigers are in the latter category. They don't have to purchase any big ticket items this off season, and will still go into next season as the favorite to win the American League Central.
They solidified their starting rotation by acquiring Doug Fister at the trade deadline last season. The core of their team is in the prime years of their careers, 27-to-33 years old, or younger. That includes two potential Hall of Famers, Justin Verlander and Miguel Cabrera.
The Tigers did dump a lot of salary after last off season, but it''s made up by raises due in current contracts.
There is one prize that admittedly is tough to resist. That's Gio Gonzalez, the Oakland A's left-hander. The A's always look to dump somebody when they become arbitration eligible, even a pitcher as gifted as Gonzalez. He'd fit the Tigers perfectly, although a word of caution here: His ERA was nearly a run higher on the road than at home in a pitcher's park in 2011.
The issue is cost. Do you give up Rick Porcello and Brennan Boesch for him? That would be the starting price, but would undoubtedly rise. Do you dare part with Jacob Turner? Do you throw in their best position player prospect in the minor leagues, third baseman Nick Castellanos, after they traded third baseman Francisco Martinez to acquire Fister?
The Tigers need a lefty, true. But they don't need to shake up the deck to do so. They need wiggle room - seeing where they stand on the field next year and tweaking their roster at the trade deadline. It worked to perfection last year, didn't it? The Tigers don't have that deep of a farm system after already moving top prospects last summer. They should keep a chip or two available for when they need them at trade deadline this summer.
Labels: Tigers Gio Gonzalez Pat Caputo
posted by Pat Caputo at
11:49 AM
4 Comments:
Pat they were asking too much. I do believe Turner will be traded unless he throws light out at AAA or with the Tigers. Tigers need to find out if all of the platoons are working or not or if the injury bug hit the team. Tigers are in an excellent position. I not all that thrill with GG even though he has a great arm but the plate is so small for him.
Gio is a #3. Higher WHIP and ERA than Fister.
Much better to focus on being the "third team".
How about this:
1. Yankees get Gio and D. Young (aggressive right handed hitter to complement patient lefties they have...plus Yankee Stadium Left field is 1/2 the size of Comerica)
2. Tigers get Brett Gardner
3. As get top Yankees prospect and not-quite-top-but-still good Tigers prospect (Oliver?)
We need a solid no. 3 hitter. Young, Peralta and Avilla all hit lights out - will they do it again this year? They didn't in the playoffs and it cost us big - esp. the latter two. Young seems injury prone.
Boesch would be a great fit for the A's...look at their roster of OFs after losing DeJesus, Crisp, and Willingham. they need some pop in their lineup...so Boesch would be desirable from their perspective. Delmon would probably be too expensive for them. Don't think Beane could be sold on Dirks.
Tigers don't have enough OF depth at this point to trade Boesch. That's the dealbreaker. If they sign the Cuban refugee OF, then they could deal from that depth.
Pardon the pun, but something fishy is going on in Miami. All the money they're tossing at free agents and the SEC sniffing around the financing of their new stadium. Curious.
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