News broke late the night before the trade deadline of the Detroit Tigers striking a deal with the Chicago Cubs. This deal sends Justin Wilson and Alex Avila to Chicago in return for minor league infielders Jeimer Candelario and Isaac Paredes. There will also be a player to be names later, or cash as a kicker. This essentially drained and already dry Cubs farm system.
The good news is that Candelario is a top 100 prospect according to MLB Pipeline. He ranks out at 92, giving the Tigers four players listed. The other part of this deal, Paredes, drops into the Tiger top 30 at number eight. A solid return for a rebuild. When adding in the big prospect from the J.D. Martinez deal, Dawel Lugo, General Manager Al Avila took some big strides in setting up a future.
An issue with these three new top prospects is that they all list at third base and shortstop, with Candelario also adding some first base. With young talent like Nicholas Castellanos, José Iglesias, and Dixon Machado already taking up these spots there will be some decisions to be made in the near future.
This trade does open the door for another prospect, Joe Jiménez, to take the closer reigns. He is the sole reason losing the reliability of Wilson was possible. Wilson secured a win for the Tigers in all but two appearances in 2017 while racking up 55 strikeouts. Unfortunately, with Wade Davis closing games for the Cubs, Wilson may be thrust out of his closer role because of his success.
Avila got traded by his own father. Some could see that as wrong. Other could see it as good parenting, as he sent his son off to a playoff contender. Either way, Avila was a smart move for the Cubs. He can bring experience to help the young Wilson Contreras. His left handed bat doesn’t hurt matters either. On the year, Avila is hitting .274 with 11 home runs.
In the end, this move made sense for both clubs. The contender bolsters their bullpen and adds a more than solid backup catcher, while the struggling team gets players to rebuild around. It does appear to banish the Tigers at the bottom of the American League Central for a few years while these players develop.
It would have been entirely possible to find a team interested in Wilson that could offer a young, MLB ready player to help lead the charge. The closest they have now is Candelario, who has limited time against major league pitching. The results put him with a batting average below .200. However, he is young and that is not telling of his career.
All in all, the Tigers have set themselves up nicely for the future. They already had solid pitching to build around, as three of their four top 100 are pitchers. Now, they have a great outlook for their infield. The foundations of a rebuild is there. They close to being a future contender, they just need one or two more pieces to contend with the future of their division.
