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That’s Al’s M.O., right? When he is comfortable and has leverage, he asks for way too much; and when he’s nervous and up against it, he’ll settle for almost nothing.

I don’t think Skubal’s leaving. I think Al will ask way more than anyone will give him for Skubal.

Not that it matters, because I don’t think Skubal is moving, anyway.

Didn't Chafin want to come to Detroit because it was close to his family's farm in Ohio? That might be the most important thing to him, especially since his career is on the down slope.

If the trade is to help someone else's future, rather than their present, I would think it's going to be something like ... I don't know ... maybe Skubal for Kyle Lewis, straight up. Or maybe a contender with good starting pitching already might take Skubal today for a down-the-list numbered position player prospect who's on the brink, but who's either stalled or blocked.

Al doesn't have to be desperate this time around. JV and JD were gone for nothing at the end of their years, so it was trade-em-or-lose-em. We already have Chafin signed for next year; and Jimenez as a first-year arb reliever won't cost us much even if we keep him. I do agree there is pressure on Al to look busy, meaning, even if trading no one is the right move, and it is one of them, he may trade for trading's sake anyway.

If a team is going to make a trade with the Tigers, they’re going to want to pick up someone reliable who will help them contend now. Who on the Tigers fills that bill? Skubal is a guy with more of a future than a present. He’s also less-than-reliable at the moment, so I don’t see how a team needing a reliable starter will believe they can get anything other than up-and-down starts out of him for the rest of this year. Plus, from our perspective, why trade one guy with more of a future than present for another guy with nothing but future across more or less the same timeframe of control? So I think Skubal stays put. I see no one on the position player side to deal, and besides, aren’t we the team that needs good position players, anyway? So hobbling our current lineup now for merely a chance at an equivalent return for the future is something even Al can’t be so dumb as to do. (I hope?) So don’t worry about us trading Riley, and no one is going to want any of the underperforming everybody else. We have no starting pitching outside of Skubal to deal. That leaves the relief corps. Who among the relievers are candidates who can reliably help a contending team now? Forget any of the young guns like Alex Lange or Will Vest, since they also have more future than present, and teams want present. And no one is going to want MLB-level lottery tickets like Angel de Jesus (#23 Tigers prospect on Pipeline), or recently-gimpy guys like Cisneros or Alexander. Teams are going to be looking for healthy, reliable guys who can help them now, and we’ll be looking to deal from a list of guys who don’t have any real future with us. That leaves these guys as the list of candidates who fill that bill: Andrew Chafin; Joe Jimenez; Michael Fulmer. I think Gregory Soto, who technically has a future since he doesn’t even reach arb until next year, might still be made available during phone conversations, but Al will ask too high a price. So I think Soto stays put. I also don’t think Fulmer is a very attractive piece right now, since he walks too many guys and doesn’t strike out enough guys, his fast pitches are down a tick or two from last year, and worst of all, he is having a poor July. Recency bias and all. So, my guess is that we end up trading Chafin and Jimenez to either one or two teams, and our return will include one overachieving position player we can put into the lineup right now; one stalled minor league position player who was once a numbered prospect but is topped out in the high minors at the moment; and at least two pitching lottery tickets.

Well, that’s pretty much it, isn’t it?

This post, by the way, was predicated on the idea that Soto was done for the night.

Well, that was something even worse I hadn’t even considered.

Soto better not walk a run home here

Now that was bad luck. Soto got his soft contact and Javy couldn’t make the tough throw to first.

How baseball is it that Mr Swing At Everything strikes out looking to end the inning?

Put a feather in your cap, Riley Greene!

I am amazed by Robbie Grossman’s platoon split and I wonder how it ranks among qualified batters in history.

Have teams always been so fascist about that kind of thing?

Soto really helped his own trade value today.

I have wondered since the beginning whether Alito leaked it on purpose, whether of his own accord or under strong advisement from his contacts in the party.

Reported incompetence of their armed forces notwithstanding, I believe an adventurous Putin armed with nukes is always a worry.

OK

Probably. Maybe they wanted to highlight the idea that numerous doctors are simpatico with a full abortion ban. I don't know how true or not that is.

Scouting reports indicate he could probably use one.

I don't know, I'm thinking we might need to see a little more out of the Reese Olson before we chalk this up in the win column for Al. I'll stick with just the Cubs as preferred trade partners. 😏

Well, gee, if they succeed in trading "just about everyone" away, then don't they also have to let Al go, or at least relieve him of executive general responsibility as general manager, since he was the architect behind this entire mess? They can't seriously expect, believe, or even hope that Al can build a winner out of blowing it all up a second time in less than five years on his watch, can they? That would be beyond asinine.

One week to go meaning what? All of them traded? I'm thinking Chafin might be the only one to go. Unless you think the other three will be DFA'ed, in which case, I'm not sure I agree.