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Trading for V-Mart?


I don't know that I'm advocating the idea that follows, but I think it would make for interesting discussion. Somewhere in the middle of these comments the idea was brought up of trading for V-Mart next offseason to take advantage of the Tigers' surplus of DH/1B. It made me wonder if it would be completely outrageous for AF to inquire about V-Mart now? Yes, I know he won't play this year, but look at this whole scenario from a Dave Dombrowski point of view. The Tigers have another four years until Cabrera is a free agent, so in essence they are looking at that window as their best chance to win a World Series. Adding some pieces for this year and possibly the three that follow (if they add one of the Rays cost controlled pitchers) will only help to take advantage of that window. Additionally this proactively takes care of the Tigers' DH/1B logjam for 2013 and 2014.

Admittedly the idea seems way out there and doesn't maximize the value of Davis/Niemann for 2012. But if the Rays were considering trading one of them for prospects that are not MLB ready that is a moot point anyway. I just can't help but think of the extra leverage the Rays could obtain by executing such a trade now. The Tigers would certainly be willing to eat all of this year's salary and perhaps they might eat up to 50% of the remainder of the deal for one of our excess pitchers and perhaps another small piece or two. To borrow something from this conversation, I agree that Fuld may find himself as an odd-man out strictly based upon his handedness and I think this would be an opportunity to maximize his value as a bench piece, especially if the Tigers are going to play Delmon Young and his glove of stone in left field everyday this year. Say what you will about Turner and the Tiger's full rotation, but having six starters is something most competitive teams should have in this day and age. Holding Turner as an ace in the hole in case of injury or poor performance from one of their mid-rotation pieces would, I think, be advisable. As for the Tigers replacing V-Mart's bat in 2013 and 2014, I think they proved today that they can afford to go get someone when the time comes.

So I guess the question is, are two years of V-Mart as a DH or 1B (and at a deep discount) worth both Davis and Fuld, just Davis alone, or perhaps some other comparable package? With the assumption that all of V-Mart's 2012 salary is covered by the Tigers I would imagine that another advantage to this deal would be that a few million dollars for the 2012 payroll would be freed up.

This post was written by a member of the DRaysBay community and does not necessarily express the views or opinions of DRaysBay staff.

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