If the Tigers opt to sell at the Aug. 2 trade deadline -- and it's not really clear what they'll opt to do -- their best asset figures to be closer Gregory Soto.
Soto just pitched in his second straight All-Star Game and has one of the best save percentages in the majors over the past two seasons. He makes close to the league minimum and doesn't hit free agency until 2026. He is a flame-throwing lefty with experience pitching in tight situations. He would elevate any bullpen in baseball.
And he would net the Tigers a sizable return.
"I don’t control that," Soto told MLB Network at the All-Star Game when asked about the possibility of being traded. "I want to stay in Detroit, but it’s out of my hands. I’m ready to do whatever they want. If they want me to stay in Detroit, I will, or if they want to trade me. But my focus is to stay in Detroit and pitch good, save as many games as I can."
Soto, 27, has been the leader of one of the best bullpens in the majors this season. He touts a 2.59 ERA and 18 saves in 20 chances. He's converted 36 of 39 save opportunities since last season, a 92.3 save percentage that trails only three-time NL Reliever of the Year Josh Hader. Over the same stretch, Aroldis Chapman checks in at 90.7 percent, Kenley Jansen at 87.0 percent and Liam Hendricks at 86.2 percent.
The best reliever dealt at last year's deadline was Craig Kimbrel, who netted the Cubs a pair of promising young big-leaguers from the White Sox in second baseman and former fourth overall pick Nick Madrigal and pitcher Codi Heuer. Soto, of course, doesn't have close to the same resume as Kimbrel, who was also enjoying maybe the best season of his career. He does have a younger arm with a cheaper price tag.
But the question isn't so much Soto's worth. It's whether or not the Tigers sell. They don't really want to in a season where they expected to turn the corner in their rebuild. Indeed, asked about the club's approach to the deadline earlier this month, GM Al Avila said, “We’re not a rebuilding team anymore."
"We want to be better than we are right now, but that doesn’t mean that we have to take a step backward," Avila said. "The step backward is already right now, the beginning of the season and the record we have. We’re going to try to make the team better as we move forward. Whatever that means, whoever we acquire and whatever it takes, we’ll have to consider every option that we have.”
But if Soto can net the Tigers a high-end prospect close to the majors or, better yet, a young position player already in the bigs, Avila would surely pull the trigger. Soto is a good reliever who has become an All-Star on a bad team; he is not a foundational piece of Detroit's future. His value to the Tigers might be higher on the trade market than in their bullpen.
It's on Avila to assess that in the week ahead, and then make the best decision for the Tigers' future. Soto would like to stay. But the franchise might be better off with him gone.
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