The Trades That Saved This Year

 

Recognize those guys? All really good players; all were going to be free agents at the end of the 2015 season. The Tigers knew they weren't going to be able to keep all three and maybe none. So Dave Dombrowski made the - unpopular - decision to trade them at the Trade Deadline. 

 

How about these guys? These three are the return for Price, Cespedes, and Soria. These three are probably the future of our starting rotation. These three are a big reason we are where we are.

Matt Boyd has impressed and in his last start he made a big improvement to pitch 7 innings, whereas before, he'd only gone 5. He joined the rotation filling in for an injured starter (maybe Zimmermann?) and is giving us solid starts every five days.

Michael Fulmer. If you call yourself a Tigers fan and don't know that name..... He won the fifth starter job out of Spring Training, in large part, because Norris got injured. He has put up historic numbers (that I won't bore you with here), but suffice it to say, this kid is good! Just yesterday, he pitched a complete game shutout and only used 112 pitches. He's 23 years old in his first season in the pros and he threw a complete game shutout! 

Daniel Norris pitched for us last year and was very good. He was the favorite to win the fifth starter's job this season, but was injured. Now he's back, filling in for Pelfrey. Norris is a great pitcher who just needs to stay healthy himself. 

I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that these guys have saved our rotation. The Tigers radio announcers always say how it starts with pitching. Well, our pitching would be a nightmare without these three and we wouldn't have them if not for the trade last year. We could have played out last year's disastrous season with Price, Cespedes, and Soria and then lost them to free agency with nothing to show for it. But Dombrowski made the trade and all of Tigers Nation should be sending heartfelt thanks his way. We are in contention because of these pitchers. If not for them, we very well may have been exactly where we were last year.  The only trade that might top the Price/Cespedes/Soria deal  - and it's probably a tie - was the trade for Ian Kinsler. Enough said. 

How much do the Tigers value this trio? Al Avila - the general manager - refused to discuss them in any trade negotiations this year. And everyone was asking about them. It's almost a confirmation of what you have and how good these guys are when every team that was willing to talk trades wanted some combination of Boyd/Fulmer/Norris in return. 

Remember these names because these three may very well be the future of our rotation. They've got the talent and they don't seem to be going anywhere. Zimmermann and Pelfrey may be out of a job :)