With hours left before the trade deadline, the Detroit Tigers are still in the mix - and that means the next move matters a whole lot more than most people thought when Tarik Skubal was shipped to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday afternoon.
The easy read was that Detroit had waved off the season. But that picture doesn’t hold up after Sunday’s games around the American League. The Tigers are only 2.5 games out of the final wild card spot after pounding the Athletics this weekend, and that keeps the door open.
If the front office wants to push through it, the clearest path is simple: add a high-leverage arm to the bullpen. The name that fits best is San Diego Padres left-hander Adrian Morejon, who has become the most popular reliever on the market, per @BNightengale.
Morejon’s overall line is strong enough already. He’s 8-2 for a Padres team that has struggled, with a 3.00 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP.
But the real reason his stock has climbed is the way he’s pitched lately. In his last seven appearances, he hasn’t allowed a run and has struck out 11 batters in eight innings.
His season didn’t start that way, but over the last month, he’s been excellent.
For Detroit, the bullpen is the obvious problem that could decide everything. The Tigers have no dependable answer in the biggest moments, and that showed up again in Skubal’s final start with the club.
He left in the seventh inning with a 7-1 lead, and they still lost. Detroit has the most losses in either league when leading in the seventh inning or later.
That’s why the deadline decision is so delicate. If the Tigers are serious about salvaging this season, they can’t be shopping Casey Mize. With Skubal gone, Mize has to step into the No. 1 role alongside Troy Melton and Keider Montero.
The rotation still has enough to work with, and Framber Valdez and Jack Flaherty are sitting at the back end. The offense is also doing its part, smashing runs onto the board the way it did in the Athletics series, when Detroit put up 32 runs in three games after scoring 23 in the two games before that at Comerica Park.
But the late innings keep hanging over everything. In a wild AL race where .500 teams are hard to find, the Tigers are right near the top of the mess. If they want to make that chase count, the bullpen is where they have to strike.
In Other News...
Padres Deadline Rumors Hint At One Real Need And One Huge Swing
The Padres deadline search is already starting to look like a two-track operation, with A.J. Preller reportedly weighing both a rotation upgrade and a much bigger offensive swing. Joel Shermans reporting linked San Diego to Mets right-hander Kodai Senga, a name that makes sense if the club decides the pitching market is where it can do the most practical business, especially with New York in a sellers position.
There is also a far more ambitious idea in the mix, one that would take a lot more maneuvering to pull off. Sherman reported Preller has at least considered Rafael Devers as a target, but the combination of Devers contract and the awkwardness of dealing with a division rival makes that path look far less straightforward than the pitching pursuit, which is why the deadline could end up revealing whether the Padres want a fix or a headline. [Read more 🡒]
Padres Just Sent A Clear Message About Their Bullpen Plans
With the playoff chase tightening and injuries forcing the rotation to lean on the relief corps, the Padres are making it clear they are not looking to weaken the bullpen for help elsewhere. Adrian Morejon has become an important part of that group, and San Diegos decision to hold onto him says plenty about how it views its late-season formula.
The Yankees reportedly had interest in prying Morejon away in a deal for Will Warren, a controllable starter, but the Padres passed. For a club trying to stay in position for October, that kind of move would have tested whether immediate bullpen stability matters more than longer-term rotation depth, and San Diego has chosen the former for now. [Read more 🡒]
Padres Face A Trade Deadline Call On One Bullpen Arm
The Padres already had one of the busier buzz cycles around the bullpen market, and Adrian Morejon has become a name worth watching as the trade deadline approaches. San Diego and the Yankees reportedly explored a deal that would have brought right-hander Will Warren to the Padres, a reflection of how clubs are weighing pitching depth against bigger roster needs as the deadline clock keeps ticking.
Nothing has been finalized, and the two sides are still free to keep talking before the deadline. Even so, the fact that Morejon is at the center of the discussion adds a layer of intrigue for San Diego, where every bullpen decision feels tied to the bigger question of how aggressive the front office wants to be in reshaping the roster for the stretch run. [Read more 🡒]