I’ve stayed patient and quiet long enough. For the love of everything holy, it’s July 30, 2019, and the MLB trade deadline is looming.
Time is ticking, I hear the "60 Minutes" clock beating in my head – tick, tick, tick tick…
Given the state of this Tigers’ rebuild -- combined with the notion that Matthew Boyd, Nicholas Castellanos, and Shane Greene’s value will never be this high -- if Al Avila and company don’t get something done by 4 p.m. Wednesday, it’s a black eye on the organization and an unforgiveable lapse.
Naysayers obviously have their reasons: “We can build around Boyd!” “Don’t settle for a lousy deal just to make a trade; at some point we need to hold onto pieces for the future…” Yada yada yada - they’re all wrong!
If you in your right mind think this Tigers team is a year or two away from competing, I feel bad for you. I say this not to be mean, not to be a jerk, and not to come across as someone who thinks I know it all. I want more than anything for baseball in Detroit to mean something. I want more than anything to tune in every single night the way I did growing up during the glory days of this franchise, but we’re so far away from that. And keeping Boyd, Greene, and Castellanos is a great way to move further and further from relevancy.
Unfortunately, it’s becoming more apparent that Avila will not be making a single move and the three trade pieces will be staying put. I hope I’m wrong on this - but I’ve read the reports and it seems extremely likely Detroit’s roster will still include Boyd, Castellanos and Greene at 4:01 pm on Wednesday.
Here’s to watching the prime of Matthew Boyd’s potentially brilliant pitching career rot away in meaningless baseball games for the next three to five years.
Here’s to watching a disgruntled Nicholas Castellanos gripe and complain about being in Detroit and playing at Comerica Park.
Here’s to watching Shane Greene pitch every 10th day when there’s actually a save situation for him (Every 10th day is being optimistic, it’s probably more like once every two weeks).
I’m fully aware of the lack of return this organization has received in trades past, but that doesn’t mean you give up on the concept all together. I respect one’s pessimism about the front office’s inability to do anything useful and therefore erring on the side of caution, but the risk of receiving worthless prospects is worth assuming in comparison to holding onto these trade assets for nothing. At least with any kind of trade, the Tigers organization can claim they’re trying on this whole rebuild thing. Otherwise, it’s inevitably clear there is zero direction and no plan whatsoever.
As the deadline looms, it’s also worth noting that 2019 is the first year of baseball’s new trade deadline rules. MLB employed a singular trade deadline and abolished the August 31 “waiver deadline,” meaning the July 31 deadline is just that - - a DEADLINE! Forget about a late-night August 31st trade of Justin Verlander like we saw in 2017. It’s now or never.
Maybe we don’t get Gleyber Torres from the Yankees like Avila reportedly asked for, but Lord have mercy: Please, please make a deal in the next 24-hours.