Inside the Article:
With just over 28 hours left in the MLB’s trade deadline, rumors and reports are flying everywhere. The Detroit Tigers are sellers and their two top pieces, Michael Lorenzen and Eduardo Rodriguez are seeing suitors. According to MLB Insider, a Twitter (X?) account that broke previous big news, the Los Angeles Dodgers are making an aggressive push for one of the two Tiger assets.
Why it matters
Scott Harris has played this deadline as close to the chest as possible. Whether it’s his approach to the poker-like atmosphere of a trade deadline or the Tigers’ assets have been devalued by names like Max Scherzer or Justin Verlander’s availability is yet to be seen. However, the Dodgers can make a push for the Tigers starters, potentially a bullpen piece too, and offer a good MLB-ready bat in the meantime.
What does a package for Lorenzen or Rodriguez look like?
The Dodgers are in need of pitching and have already made one deal for Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly of the White Sox. It’s hard to not ask for the moon at this point and test really how badly the Dodgers are interested in these two. Could Scott Harris ask for two of their top three prospects? Maybe not, but landing at least one of them, preferably Diego Cartaya would fit the direction of the team. The peripheral additional prospects, which may or may not be added, wouldn’t matter if Cartaya is the get. He’s a 21-year-old catcher, who is projected to be in the bigs by 2024.
The question is, how aggressive are the Dodgers willing to be? If Scott Harris is letting the market drive up the price, this isn’t and out of the ordinary ask. Especially when there have been reports of at least eight teams looking for arms, and not a ton of available assets on the market.
The bottom line
If the Dodgers are really willing to be aggressive and offer one of their top three prospects, the Tigers will walk away pretty happy with the return. These next 28 hours are going to be action-packed and will move quick, here’s to hoping Scott’s a pretty good poker player and keeps the pressure on the buyers.
