The Detroit Tigers’ loss this past Thursday night was emblematic of where the franchise stands. They built a 7-1 lead in the third inning but wound up falling 8-7 to the Pirates at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.
Much of the blame for the loss fell on one of the Tigers’ many young players. Rookie left-hander Nick Ramirez came on to start the fifth inning with a 7-3 lead and was tagged for five runs in 1 1/3 innings.
Starling Marte hit a two-run home run in the fifth and Bryan Reynolds had a three-run blast an inning later to cap the comeback. This came after Ramirez had allowed just three home runs and posted a 3.00 ERA in the first 27 innings of his career.
Such are the growing pains of a team in a deep rebuild. The Tigers are 26-46. Just two other teams in the major leagues – the Kansas City Royals (26-51) and Baltimore Orioles (22-55) – have worse records. It has been such a frustrating season that affable manager Ron Gardenhire was ejected for the sixth time Saturday during a 2-0 loss to the Indians at Cleveland.
Thursday’s loss also illustrated how difficult – some would say impossible – it would be for general manager Alex Avila to trade some of his veteran players for prospects as the July 31 trading deadline begins to appear on the horizon.
Right-hander Jordan Zimmermann was able to make through just four innings in his first start coming off the injured list. He had been out since April 25 because of a strained ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.
Miguel Cabrera pinch hit with two outs in the ninth inning and grounded out on the first pitch to end the game. Cabrera was relegated to pinch-hitting duties because of knee problems that prohibit him from playing first base on consecutive days and have caused him to become basically full-time designated hitter.
Zimmermann is in the third season of a five-year, $110-million contract and he will have $25-million salaries in both 2020 and 2021. The Tigers haven’t gotten much value from the 33-year-old as he is 15-25 with a 5.44 ERA in 61 starts since leaving the Washington Nationals to come to Detroit.
Cabrera’s contract could prove to be an even bigger millstone as he hasn’t quite yet reached the midpoint of his eight-year, $240-million deal. Injuries and age have eroded the 36-year-old’s power and he has hit just 23 home runs in 236 games since the beginning of the 2017 season.
The Tigers will still have $124 million tied up in Cabrera over the next four seasons, paying him $30 million in both 2020 and 2021 and $32 million in 2022 and 2023.
Making the situation bleaker is that few of the young players on the Tigers’ major-league roster appear to be long-term fixtures. Rookie right-hander Spencer Turnbull has been impressive at times but most of the organization’s top young talent is still at the Double-A level, a group that includes righties Casey Mize and Matt Manning as well as shortstop Isaac Paredes.
In the meantime, things are ugly at the major-league level. Not that the Tigers entertained the faintest hope of contending this season, but they are 22 games behind the first-place Minnesota Twins in the American League Central. Those four consecutive division titles the Tigers won from 2012-15 seem like a distant memory.
The Tigers, though, do have a couple of pitchers who could generate interest at the trade deadline. Left-hander Matthew Boyd would seemingly fit into nearly any team’s rotation and closer Shane Greene is having a dominant season, converting 21 of 22 save opportunities with a 0.93 ERA in 29 games.
Adding to their attractiveness is that Greene is under club contractual control through 2020 and Boyd through 2022.
While would it be difficult to part with Boyd and Greene, the Tigers could cash them in for some young talent. That would make sense because it’s all about the future rather than the present in Detroit.
