Several relievers should interest the Tigers, and a few lower-key bats could help, too.
We’re a few weeks away from the MLB Trade Deadline of July 31 and the Detroit Tigers are in pole position with the best record in the American League. Finishing in the top 2 in the league earns the Tigers a bye, skipping the 3 game AL Wild Card series and heading straight to the AL Division Series. Passing over the randomness associated with the Wild Card is a large advantage. To keep their lead, the Tigers will need some reinforcements.
Over the last few weeks, cracks have started to show in Detroit’s roster. The bullpen looks a little overused and short on strikeouts, the back of the rotation is in flux – although Reese Olson’s return should stabilize things – and neither Parker Meadows nor Matt Vierling have looked good since coming off the Injured List. Despite leading a roster neck and neck with the LA Dodgers for the best record in all of baseball, there are plenty of ways for Scott Harris to improve this team. As currently constructed, this team absolutely should make the playoffs; with a little help, they can really maximize their chances once they get there.
MLB Trade Rumors annually publishes a ranking of players based on their likelihood to be traded and their impact upon doing so; you can find it here . Today, I’ll walk through the players on that list most likely, in my estimation, to interest the Tigers and why. I’ll group like amongst like because a lot of these players are pretty interchangeable, it would just be a matter of agreeing on the cost with their current team.
Note that none of these players have actually been connected to Detroit; it’s all just my ideas for how they could improve.
Leverage Relievers
In any given playoff series, a team needs 13 pitchers they trust. Right now, I count approximately 8 of those on the Tigers, up to 10 or 11 depending on how you feel about Brant Hurter or Jack Flaherty. They’ll need pitching reinforcements, and the biggest upgrade would come from adding someone in the back of the bullpen to force out a Bailey Horn or a Carlos Hernandez. Options include David Bednar (RHP, PIT), Pete Fairbanks (RHP, TB), and Jake Bird (LHP, COL).
Bednar is likely the most appealing of the bunch. His 34.7% strikeout rate would lead the Tigers’ bullpen rather easily (Will Vest is the current leader at 28.3%), a welcome addition come October. He also has an additional year of arbitration control, which should increase his price but also do a little bit of offseason work in advance. The only reason to be concerned is he was awful in 2024, so buying high is a little scary.
Fairbanks is a flamethrowing closer whose strikeouts have dropped precipitously over the last few years, but his stuff looks intact and the Chris Fetter effect feels very real. He also has an affordable club option for 2026, so again, he’d help the team for two playoff runs if everything breaks right. Tampa Bay might not sell this close to first place in the AL East, but then again, it’s Tampa Bay.
Bird is the most unique option here, as he’s arbitration controlled through the end of 2028. The lefty has hugely broken out this year with a 28.6% K rate and would give Detroit a second high-caliber lefty in their bullpen.
Interesting Middle Relievers
If prices for the arms above are a little too rich for Harris’ blood, or he decides to go and get 2 good relievers – my preference – there’s a variety of medium to high leverage relievers who should be appealing. They might not have the same name value, but with Hinch and Fetter, they might be just as impactful when used optimally. Here, we find arms like Dennis Santana (RHP, PIT) and Seranthony Domonguez (RHP, BAL).
Santana is an arm who would be right at home in Detroit’s current bullpen: a journeyman arm claimed off the waiver wire getting great results without strikeout-heavy stuff. However, his strikeouts had a huge surge in late 2024, and if he gets back to that form, look out. He also has a cheap year of arbitration control after this.
Dominguez is a fairly typical scattershot reliever, with a huge 32.4% strikeout to match a huge 14.4% walk rate. He’s also a free agent after 2025, so he’d be very cheap to acquire and take a chance on. It won’t always be pretty, but his career 3.53 ERA suggests he usually gets the job done.
Maybe Helpful Bench Bats
If Detroit wanted to upgrade their offense, there aren’t many places to do so. Assuming Baez and McKinstry are the main shortstops, the starting nine really only has holes at third base and center field right now. It’s really easy to see Vierling and Meadows getting healthy and turning things around there, especially since either Baez or McKinstry can move off of shortstop to cover if one of those positions stays bad.
That said, there are some players available who could help fill a bench role and cover for those spots, if Harris was so inclined.
Ramon Laureano (OF, BAL) is a righty who can handle center field but is best suited for right, has reasonably notable platoon splits for his career, and a club option for 2026. His OPS is all the way up to .868 this year; it’d be easy to see him coming off the bench or starting against a lefty like Max Fried in October.
Michael Tauchman (OF, CHW) is another righty outfielder. His offensive value is driven by a great eye at the plate and an aversion to swinging. He’s played center in the past but isn’t great out there, so his role is pretty similar to Jahmai Jones. This would feel like a fairly lateral move, but bench depth is always appreciated.
Probably this is not going to be part of the Tigers’ thinking. They need to focus on pitching, and unless they’re getting a really good position player as an upgrade somewhere, spending even lower tier prospects on a hitter isn’t in the plans.
There’s No Way, Right?
This category is reserved for the players everyone says could be available, but realistically probably don’t get moved. Superstars under long term contract just aren’t traded at the deadline, and if they are, it’s usually for franchise-altering prospect hauls. That being said, the Tigers have a deep farm system and if they felt the urge to make a splash, certainly have the ammunition to go and get just about anyone.
Sandy Alcantara (RHP, MIA) is likely the most talented arm on the trade block. Ordinarily, his $19M in guarantees for 2026 and his $21M club option for 2027 would be bargains, but he’s really struggled since coming back from Tommy John surgery. The velocity is still there and he’s looked better lately with a 3.95 ERA and a 3.49 FIP in June, so it’s easy to dream on a return to form. The strikeouts aren’t back, though, and it might be hard to match his salary, his performance, and his ceiling to a trade cost.
Luis Robert Jr (CF, CHW) is in a very similar boat to Alcantara. He was stellar in 2023, horrible in 2024, injured and horrible in 2025, and has some expensive club options for 2026 and 2027. That being said, he was top-15 in the AL MVP race for 2023, his defense is still excellent in center field, and Chicago is willing to pay some salary. A team confident they could fix him could reap the rewards of buying low, or it could blow up in their face.
Jarren Duran (OF, BOS) is probably not being traded. If he were, though, it would be expensive. He’s a capable CF whose down year is still a .721 OPS and whose ceiling is an .830 OPS with 25-30 stolen bases. He’s arbitration eligible through 2028, so whatever it takes to get him will hurt a lot.
Oneil Cruz (CF, PIT) is also probably not being traded. If he were, though, it would also be expensive. His tools are off the charts – he’s on pace to have the least talked about 30/60 season ever – while improving in center field. He strikes out a lot, hits the ball harder than basically anyone when he does connect, walks over 13% of the time, and makes Parker Meadows look like a normal sized human being. Cruz is also arbitration controlled through the end of 2028, so start an offer with Max Clark and keep adding.
Ultimately, this last category is just for fun. Realistically, the Tigers are going to add a couple of relievers – maybe one mentioned here, maybe not – without sacrificing their enviable prospect depth. However they choose to handle the deadline, options abound for Detroit to upgrade. They’re in the very fortunate position of being really good already, so anchoring the bullpen is really all they need to improve their odds come October. That being said, adding top end talent makes the biggest impact, and there’s always some available this time of year for the bold.