It was a pretty busy 24 hours leading up to the trade deadline with players such as Mark Teixeira, Eric Gagne, Octavio Dotel, Rob Mackowiak, Wilson Betemit, Luis Castillo, Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Matt Morris changing uniforms. Even Will Ledezma was traded for the second time this summer. The Tigers were not involved in any of the action however. They looked hard for a reliever inquiring about names such as Gagne, Dotel, Chad Cordero, Jon Rauch, Salamone Torres and others. In the end, Dave Dombrowski decided that teams were asking for too much and was not able to complete a deal.
As it turned out, the hottest Tigers trade rumors of the day involved a shortstop rather than a pitcher. There were some rumblings about the Tigers acquiring Jack Wilson from the Pirates. Some of the Wilson rumors also involved Pirates relievers such as Torres and Damaso Marte. I am happy that the Tigers did not get Wilson because he is a terrible hitter and only a decent (not great) fielder and has two years left on his contract. This year he would have just been a backup infielder but, considering his pretty hefty contract, I was concerned that they would try to turn him into a starter in the future and that was not a pleasant thought.
There is still the possibility of a waiver deal but that's hard to do as quality players don't usually pass through waivers. So, for now, they will wait for the returns of Fernando Rodney and Joel Zumaya to solidy their bullpen. There is no guarantee they will come back at full strength but, if they do, it will be a big boost. Probably a bigger boost than they realistically could have gotten from a deadline deal.
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