Tigers Second Base Trade Targets

By Sean Gagnier
@SeanGagnier 

It's safe to say that the Tigers struggle a little bit at second base right now, with Baseball America projecting the 2015 starting second baseman to be Ramon Santiago there is a problem. Either the Tigers give Danny Worth the at-bats he requires to see if he could be their option or they move uber-prospect Nick Castellanos to second from third in the minors to develop him, which may be the way they ultimately go; but what does Detroit do at the trade deadline?

There are a couple of players that could be on the Tigers radar, they are solid players, nothing worthy of a blockbuster, but good players that could bring a bit of consistency to the line up. One Tigers fans have seen for years and is a Michigan native, the other isn't as familiar to Detroit fans but they will get a chance to see him soon.

Neil Walker - Pittsburgh Pirates

2011 - .273 BA  .334 OBP  .408 SLG  
2012 (34 games) - .269 BA  .321 OBP  .336 SLG
Career - .279 BA  .336 OBP  .415 SLG

Walker plays both second and third base, but is primarily a second baseman. A native Pennsylvanian, he stands 6'3" and weighs 210 lbs.

The 26 year-old was drafted 11th overall in the first round of the 2004 MLB Draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates and debuted in the majors on Sept. 1, 2009. Walker was pre-arbitration eligible this season and is being paid $500K, he is eligible for arbitration in 2013 and stands to make a bit more money at that time. Under contract until 2017, Walker could be the bridge the Tigers need to get them from their current state to one where Castellanos has made the transition to second base.

Pittsburgh is once again out of the race early and will surely be sellers at the deadline, but Walker is seen to be a promising young player and may take a few pieces of eight (see what I did there?) to pry away from the Pirates. Detroit has a stable of young arms in the minors that may be just tempting enough to persuade the Pirates to part ways with Walker.

Would only take mid-level talent to get Walker; Jacob Turner and Castellanos will not be remotely considered in the deal. Could be a Casey Crosby or Adam Wilk type player or two to land Walker.

Chris Getz - Kansas City Royals

2011 - .255 BA  .313 OBP  .287 SLG
2012 (26 games) - .282 BA  .333 OBP  .408 SLG
Career - .255 BA  .316 OBP  .314 SLG

Getz is a prototypical second baseman, standing 5'11" and weighing 185 lbs. the Michigan native and University of Michigan alum could be a cheap get from the Royals.

Despite preseason hype, the Royals are once again near the bottom of the American League Central. Their rookies are not producing as they had hoped and their pitching is just as bad. The Royals will once again be sellers at the trade deadline, their big name players will be untouchable, but players like Getz could be an easy...get.

The 28 year-old was drafted in the fourth round of the 2005 MLB Draft by the Chicago White Sox and played with Chicago in 2008 before heading to Kansas City in 2009. Getz was eligible for first-year arbitration in 2012 and is earning $968K this year. He is eligible for full arbitration in 2013 and is under contract until 2015.

A trade for Getz may be very similar to the one it took for Detroit to acquire Wilson Betemit last season. Now stop and think, who did the Tigers give up in order to get Betemit; and don't cheat and look it up. Exactly, you have no idea. Detroit gave up two Class-A minor-league prospects Antonio Cruz and Julio Rodriguez in that deal.

While a trade for Getz may take just a bit more than what it took for Betemit, it wouldn't take much more. So if Dombrowski can find a few minor leaguers that the Royals are interested in Getz could be coming home.




 

Ryan Raburn Needs the Inge Treatment; He Needs To Be Gone

By Sean Gagnier
@SeanGagnier 

Let's face it, there is no earthly reason why Ryan Raburn consistently suits up and takes the field as the Detroit Tigers starting second baseman; there just isn't. Statistically, he is one of the worst second basemen, if not the worst in the entire league.

The offense is the problem for the Tigers right now, they are not getting the clutch hits and they are leaving runners on base. Detroit's starting pitchers have a sub-2 ERA over their last seven starts but only have three wins to show from it. The offense is not picking up their pitchers and Raburn is a major offender.

Raburn has played in 23 games for Detroit so far this season, mainly at second but occasionally being shifted to left or right field for defensive purposes late in game. In those 23 games Raburn has had 71 at-bats and in those at-bats he has only nine hits, just three of which were for extra bases.

His terrible at-bats has pushed his batting average all the way down to Brandon Inge territory at .127 and an on-base percentage of just .192. But another stat that shows just how poorly Raburn is playing is his on-base percentage plus slugging or OPS. A mediocre OPS is between .700 and .800. Anything over .800 is a mark of a solid every day starter, if a batter has a 1.000 OPS he is elite in the league. With that in mind, Raburn's OPS is a mind blowing .361.

When a player has a .361 OPS they better be giving the team the defensive skills of a Hall of Famer or be sitting in the Super 8 motel because they aren't playing. There is no excuse for a player with numbers this bad should ever see the field.

Raburn can't get on base in any fashion; he can't hit the ball and he can't draw walks. In his 71 at-bats Raburn has drawn just four walks, compared to his 19 strike-outs, he is by far the worst second baseman in the league.

Delving into sabermetrics on Raburn gives better insight on his mediocrity. In 2012, Raburn's WAR, or wins above replacement, is at -0.9, meaning that he costs the Tigers about one win per season. His dWAR, or defensive wins above replacement, is also negative at -0.3 meaning that once again Raburn isn't helping the Tigers, he's hurting them.

Raburn isn't making much money, just about $2 million, so he isn't commanding a whole lot of the Tigers pocket book, meaning that they need to give him the Inge treatment and get him out of town as soon as the wheels touch the tarmac in Detroit. Give Danny Worth 100 at-bats and see what he can do and if that doesn't work, throw some players the quality of the Wilson Betemit trade the Royals way and get Michigan-native Chris Getz to take over at second for Detroit.

 

Could Patterson Be The Answer At 2B?

By Sean Gagnier
@SeanGagnier 

Second base is one of the most glaring areas of need for the Detroit Tigers right now, all three of their options in the majors, Ryan Raburn, Danny Worth and Ramon Santiago are all hitting under .200. While Raburn typically has a slow start to the season, things are reaching a breaking point for the Tigers.

Manager Jim Leyland has said that he is trying to get Raburn going but if things don't go his way soon, there will have to be changes made. Perhaps the answer is Worth, who only has eight at-bats this season but has only recorded one hit in that time.

With Worth hitting .125 and Santiago also hitting under .200 there don't seem to be many options for the Tigers at second right now. Either they stick with Raburn and hope to ride it out or they give Worth every day playing time and hope more at-bats could lead to an increased batting average.

Or they could dip back into their reserves in Toledo. Eric Patterson is lighting the International League on fire this past week and the rest of his season has shown that he could be ready for a call-up.

In 28 games with Toledo this season Patterson, 29, is hitting .286/.433/.327. Those numbers are impressive, but when you look at how he had performed over the past 10 games things get really good looking. In the past 10 games Patterson is batting .323/.475/.387 with nine walks and two stolen bases.

Those numbers are solid and he brings another left-handed bat to the Tigers lineup, and one can never have too many lefties in the batting order. While Patterson hasn't fared that well in his past big league time, he could be a good stop-gap for General Manager Dave Dombrowski while he looks into the trade market for a more permanent solution such as Pittsburgh's Neil Walker or Kansas City's Chris Getz.