Trade season in baseball is upon us, and the Tigers are ready to dive right in.
As the Tigers search for suitors, their motivation won't be to shed salary, as it has been in the recent past. Rather, general manager Al Avila will be pursuing trades with an eye toward strengthening the roster in 2021 and beyond, which is when the team's rebuild should be coming to fruition.
Boyd, 28, represents both Detroit's best asset and most difficult decision. There isn't an obvious reason to trade him. He's in the midst of a breakout year and he's under team control through 2022. But he could bring back the biggest haul of the three players, by far.
Per Morosi, "the Tigers would need to be overwhelmed in order to trade Boyd, but that possibility could exist, due to the expected shortage of top-end starting pitchers on the midsummer trade market." He mentions both the Rangers and the Yankees as possible suitors.
In the case of both Greene and Castellanos, trades are likely.
Castellanos, 27, will be a free agent after the season and an extension is unlikely.
Of note: there's no longer a waiver trade deadline in August, so the Tigers must make their deals before the July 31 deadline.