With the weekend just around the corner and the trade deadline looming, the rumors and reports will start to heat up and the big names will be dealt sooner than later it appears.
Tigers lefty reliever Justin Wilson is arguably the best bullpen arm available in the eyes of many. Virtually every team is vying for his services, regardless of whether or not they are contending in 2017. Given his outstanding success this season and being controllable through next season, his value is very high.
The latest news seems to be that a division rival is joining the fray for Wilson.
Add the #Indians to the list of teams with interest in Justin Wilson. They've reached out to the #Tigers about the coveted lefty reliever.
— Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) July 27, 2017
Crasnick points out how the Indians, who have the best bullpen in all of Major League Baseball in terms of ERA, are doing their due diligence due to an injury at the back end of their pen.
#Indians are looking to strengthen pen with Boone Logan on the DL. An Andrew Miller-Cody Allen-Wilson trio would be formidable
— Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) July 27, 2017
He also mentions that the Indians were reportedly making a late push for J.D. Martinez before the Tigers dealt him to the Diamondbacks last week. Word is that the Tribe are also in search of a veteran utility player, which could mean seeing Andrew Romine’s name surface in the coming days.
Going back to Wilson though, he appears to have a long list of suitors lined up trying to pry him away from Detroit. Among the bigger reports lately have the 29-year-old southpaw connected to the Astros, Brewers and Rockies. Also more recently, the Yankees and Red Sox have also been named as potential buyers for Wilson.
It’d certainly be a tough pill to swallow for fans if the Tigers were to deal away arguably their best trade chip to the first-place Cleveland Indians. But should they present the best deal to general manager Al Avila, he’d be hard-pressed not to pull the trigger.
Avila has been adamant that they won’t trade Wilson or any other controllable asset just for the sake of shedding payroll. Given Wilson’s contract situation, they are more than happy to keep him moving forward if they aren’t liking what other teams are offering.
