The Detroit Tigers traded away Mike Maroth Friday for that infamous “player to be named later.” It reportedly will be a minor leaguer from the St. Louis Cardinals system.
I am sure that Tiger president Dave Dombrowski got what he thought was the best possible deal for Maroth, but I don’t like this trade for a couple of reasons.
First of all, the Tigers were not dealing from a position of strength. Everyone knew that the Kenny Rogers was coming off the disabled list tonight and Detroit had to make some kind of move.
Secondly, the health of Rogers and Nate Robertson (who should come off the DL soon) are not certain. I would have held on to Maroth for a little while to see how those two look when they return to the rotation.
My plan would have been to shift Chad Durbin to the bullpen to make room for Rogers in the rotation, then send Andrew Miller back to the minors when Robertston returns.
As the trade deadline gets closer, a lot of teams will be looking for starting pitching. Maroth might have commanded a higher price in a few weeks.