At the beginning of this month, Major League Baseball had their annual Winter Meetings. It's a time of year when you see some trades and free agent signings and is the first big splash event of the upcoming season. A little strange to be thinking about baseball when there's a foot of snow on the ground, but for those of us who absolutely love this sport above all others, it can be a fun time. There was plenty of speculation that the Detroit Tigers would be moving a few of their big name players in order to get 'leaner' as their GM Al Avila said. However, they did nothing. And they missed an opportunity.
In all the speculation of the Tigers being active players in the Winter Meetings, there were plenty of fans that were anxious as the weekend started. They weren't going to move players like Verlander or Cabrera (or were they?) but there were thoughts that some of their younger players would be on the move. Guys like JD Martinez and Ian Kinsler were talked about. And even Justin Wilson and Jose Iglesias names popped up. And then, just like that, the weekend was over. And nothing happened. For the Tigers anyway.
With them not doing anything, they missed an opportunity to get worse, but in the long run get better. I know that most everyone agrees that if the Tigers were able to win a handful of games against Cleveland this past season they would have made the playoffs, but to what end? What is the point of making the playoffs if you can't make a legitimate run at the World Series? With Cleveland making it to game seven of the World Series, I got to thinking. The Tigers need to let them have their fun in the sun in the division. Let Cleveland have a few divisional titles while you rebuild and restock the farm system that Dave Dombrowski gutted (I know it wasn't that great of a system to begin with). Kansas City is still up there and in the mix too. Let those two battle it out while you sit back and develop a team for the future.
With the talent they have on their current MLB team, it makes it very difficult to just throw the towel in and come to grips with reality. It seems like every year at the trade deadline the Tigers are either on the cusp of making the playoffs or clearly going to. With that kind of situation, upper management doesn't want to sell off the pieces for the future. Normally they want to buy at the trade deadline and make a push into the post season. Think of two years ago when the Tigers made those trades at the deadline. I know everyone came to the realization that the Tigers weren't going anywhere that year, but wasn't it exciting to get new young players? And look, one of them ended up being Rookie of the Year last year! Add to that that there are some people that think Fulmer isn't even the best of the young pitchers. There are many that make the argument that Daniel Norris has better stuff and over time could be the better pitcher. Isn't that exciting?!
With all of this in mind, the Tigers can still do something this season about getting younger and leaner. At the trade deadline in July, there are always teams that are looking for just one extra player to take them over the top. The Tigers have such players, and at the trade deadline the sellers hold the trump cards. The Tigers also need to be smart about what they ask for. They probably can't make the big splash with just one player, they need to piecemeal a team together. Get two on the verge of making it minor leaguers for one big leaguer.
