Detroit Tigers Have Officially Won the Yoenis Cespedes/Rick Porcello Trade

It’s official folks. Dave Dombrowski has won yet another trade. While not the as one-sided as the Miguel Cabrera fleecing, the Tigers general manager has made another team look foolish. That team would be the Boston Red Sox.

The Tigers acquired Yoenis Cespedes (#VoteCespedes!) from the Red Sox along with reliever Alex Wilson and prospect Gabe Speier. At first, the trade left the Tigers lacking in the starting pitching department. And while this is still somewhat of an issue, you can’t argue with the return Detroit has received.

Cespedes has provided the Tigers with a more than satisfactory replacement for Torii Hunter. Since arriving in Motown, all Cespedes has done is mash. He has 10 home runs to go along with 42 RBI and a stellar .294 batting average that is well above his usual displays. He’s certainly playing at an All-Star level and can always be counted on to make an outstanding/jaw dropping/awe inducing defensive play in the outfield, whether it be robbing a home run or throwing a baserunner out at the plate.

In addition to his defensive heroics, Cespedes also helped the Tigers offense when Victor Martinez went down for an extended amount of time. The outfielder moved up in the batting order to hit behind Miguel Cabrera and made sure there was no shortage of power in the middle of the Detroit order.

While Cespedes is the name that stands out in the transaction, the most import player in the transaction may be Wilson. Most probably viewed the reliever as a throw in not likely to amount to much, but Wilson has impressed. Over 26 appearances, he has a miniscule ERA of 1.26. The former Red Sox pitcher has worked his way into manager Brad Ausmus’ preferred grouping of relievers when the Tigers have the lead and are looking to bridge the gap to Joakim Soria. Moving forward, Wilson and Bruce Rondon will likely be the front runners for pitching the eighth inning.

At worst, the Tigers have found in Wilson a pitcher who is a shutdown reliever in the seventh or eighth inning. Thanks Boston!

Throw in a prospect who could be a contributor at some point down the road and the Tigers got a pretty screaming deal for trading Porcello. What did the Red Sox receive for an All-Star outfielder, a shutdown reliever and a prospect? Rick Porcello, the proud owner of a 5.54 ERA, eight losses (in 15 starts) and a hefty new contract.

Dave Dombrowski 1, Red Sox 0.

For more Tigers, click here. For more baseball, click here.

Follow Know Hitter on Twitter by clicking here. 

You May Also Like

More From Author

2 comments

Cespedes can opt out at the end of the year. Meaning if he leaves the tigers they don,t get a draft choice.

Comments are closed.