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Detroit Tigers (44-52). I left my TV on ESPN after the game ended last night, muted, and at one point they had a lower third referencing the trade deadline under a bunch of Tarik Skubal clips. This seems like a pretty bad case of not updating your priors. Since a miserable 6-22 May, the Tigers are 22-14, 6 1/2 games out in a super-soft AL Central and 3 1/2 out of the last wild-card slot. The Tigers, by third-order record, are actually the best team in the Central so far. We know that rentals, even great ones, just don’t bring back a lot in trade. While Detroit could lose seven of eight or nine of 12 coming out of the break to change this, right now they look a lot more like a buyer than a seller. They play just one series against a team above .500 between now and the deadline.
Scott Harris needs to find a couple of bats, even if it means shoving aside Spencer Torkelson in the process. Unusually for a POBO in this position, Harris doesn’t really need starters; the Tigers have five posting at least 1.4 bWAR this year and might get Jackson Jobe back in August or September. Harris could use some relief help, because while the Tigers’ pen has been about average over the last 30 days, Kenley Jansen looks done and there’s just not enough power back there. Not a single Tigers reliever averages 97 with his fastball.
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You can subscribe to the newsletter for one year for $79.95
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