DETROIT – The Detroit Tigers own one of the best records in all of baseball, and for the first time in nearly a decade, they’re buyers at the trade deadline.
While it’s not team president Scott Harris’ style to make big waves on the trade front, he is trying to find ways to upgrade a roster that recently lost 12 of 13 games due to offensive and bullpen struggles.
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Here’s a list of all the trades the Tigers have made so far this deadline.
Tigers acquire Kyle Finnegan from Washington
- Full trade: Tigers trade prospects to Nationals for Kyle Finnegan
The Tigers have been linked to Nationals closer Kyle Finnegan for months, and that match became official on Thursday.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports the Tigers have acquired Finnegan hours before the deadline.
He has a 4.38 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, and 32 strikeouts in 39 innings this season. Finnegan has a solid ground ball rate and limits hard contact, but he isn’t dominant in terms of swing-and-miss.
Tigers acquire Paul Sewald from Cleveland
- Full trade: Tigers trade player to be named later (or cash) to Guardians for Paul Sewald.
The Tigers made their second trade this week with an AL Central opponent, adding some swing-and-miss to the back end of the bullpen.
Sewald has only pitched 15.1 innings this season and owns a 4.70 ERA, but he’s struck out 18 batters compared to only four walks. He has a 3.56 expected ERA and strong quality-of-contact metrics, so the Tigers likely think he can be better down the stretch.
He’s currently on the injured list, but he should be able to rejoin the bullpen for the stretch run.
Tigers acquire Rafael Montero from Atlanta
- Full trade: Tigers trade infield prospect Jim Jarvis to Braves for Rafael Montero
Montero is a veteran reliever who recently won a World Series with the Houston Astros in 2022. His numbers haven’t been very good this season -- a 5.40 ERA and 1.38 WHIP across 38.1 innings in Houston and Atlanta.
But Montero has excellent whiff and chase rates, which means he can get swing-and-miss late in games. His walk rate is way too high, but he can get out of jams with ground balls.
His 3.61 xERA suggests Montero has been a quite a bit better than his surface numbers suggest. The walk rate definitely needs to come down, though.
Tigers acquire Chris Paddack from Minnesota
- Full trade: Tigers trade Enrique Jiménez to Twins for Chris Paddack
This trade seemed to come out of nowhere, but it makes more sense after the Tigers announced that Reese Olson will miss at least the rest of the regular season.
Paddack hasn’t been very effective since a stud rookie season in 2019, but the Tigers hope he can help them eat some innings and be a decent back-end starter.
He’s off to a nice start in the Old English D, tossing six one-run innings with five strikeouts and only three hits allowed.
Paddack, 29, made 21 starts for the Twins this season, striking out 83 batters in 111 innings and posting a 4.95 ERA and 1.28 WHIP.