2018 Alternate MLB Season (Tigers' Trade Deadline)

I have recently purchase the new Out of the Park 19, I have updated the rosters, to the current through July 24th, I probably should have waited for the other trades to go down by July 31st, but I was anxious to take over the Detroit Tigers at that time.

I will update the other players to their new rosters come off-season, and they will be treated like free agents, so for now Zach Britton will be with the Blue Jays, in which the Orioles acquired outfielder Teoscar Hernandez & another prospect for him. Britton in real-life got traded from Baltimore to the New York Yankees.

I did get the Manny Machado trade in time, so the Dodgers have him for now, it'll be interesting to see how the market will be in the off-season, and the free agent frenzy that will take place for players like Machado and Bryce Harper.

I took over the Detroit Tigers on July 24th...

These were the transactions (by the Tigers) that took place prior to me taking over...

• Melky Cabrera was claimed off waivers from Cleveland.
• Aaron Hicks was claimed off waivers from New York (A).
• Purchased the contract of catcher Brayan Pena from Triple-A Toledo.
• Acquired OF Matt Joyce from Oakland in exchange for pitcher Francisco Liriano.
• Drafted SP Casey Mize as the #1 overall pick in the 2018 MLB Draft & called him up.

The moves that I made once I took over, are as follows...

• Acquired SP Patrick Corbin from Arizona in exchange for OF Melky Cabrera.
• Acquired 1B Jesus Aguilar, minor league OF Tristen Lutz & minor league SP Corbin Burnes from Milwaukee in exchange for OF Nicholas Castellanos, RP Shane Greene & minor league 3B Kody Clemens. 
• Acquired the following prospects from Toronto: OF Victor Victor Mesa, SP Adam Kloffenstein (2018 MLB Draft Pick / 3rd Rd - 88th overall), SS Logan Warmoth & C Danny Jansen in exchange for SP Michael Fulmer. 
• Released DH/1B Victor Martinez.

Patrick Corbin is at the moment, a half-season rental. The Diamondbacks came a calling with this trade offer and it seemed like a no-brainer... I pick up a possible starting pitcher (Corbin is a free agent) for next year's rotation, while trading away a player (Melky Cabrera) that the team picked up on waivers early in the season.

Tristan Lutz: One of the pieces acquired from Milwaukee.

When I took over the team, I already had Milwaukee's prospects Tristen Lutz (2016 MLB 1st Round Pick) and Corbin Burnes on my radar. I also knew that the Brewers were not utilizing Jesus Aguilar's power during the season, and felt he would fit in beautifully as my designated hitter. I felt it was a pretty even deal, while Milwaukee's management was a bit hesitant on pulling the trigger... in the long run, I believe Detroit wins out, but for Milwaukee's division & playoff push, I believe this trade does not hurt them; The Brewers also acquired reliever Chad Green and are using him as their primary closer, with Josh Hader as their 8th inning setup man.

Trading off Michael Fulmer may have been a bit gutsy, he was my #1 starter, while he profiles mostly as a #2 on most team's rosters. You want to build up your rotations, but with my team going nowhere fast, I felt if I could get a good handful of up-and-coming prospects in return, that would help get a jump start on things.

The trade actually manifested from something small, I was looking into their talented (yet raw) Cuban outfielder Victor Victor Mesa, who was playing well through 7 games (.381 BA / 933 OPS in 21 at-bats) for the Jays. Then while I was looking at their other prospects, I noticed shortstop Logan Warmoth (2017 MLB 1st Round Pick - #22 overall), catcher Danny Jansen & recently drafted Adam Koffenstein... one thing led to another & Fulmer found himself heading to Toronto.

I sent Casey Mize (0-3, 9.85) down to Triple-A Toledo, the computer drafted him & called him right away. I then took over, decided to keep him plugged into the rotation, which he had a strong debut (7 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 5 K & BB) in a 2-1 loss to Boston, but struggled the next 4 starts. Louis Coleman will currently pitch in the 5th slot, while we have prospects Beau Burrows and Artie Lewicki on deck, if he fails.

I am really excited about the future for the team in this project, with prospects SP Franklin Perez, SP Matt Manning, SP Corbin Burnes, SP Beau Burrows, 3B Isaac Paredes, RF Tristan Lutz, C Danny Jansen, SS Logan Warmoth, RP Gerson Moreno, OF Christian Stewart, SP Alex Faedo & many more on the rise.

I released Victor Martinez, I really felt that the real-life Tigers should have cut ties with him prior to this MLB season, but I am not the GM... oh wait, what do you know... in this fantasy world I am.

In this alternate reality, Miguel Cabrera [pictured right] is having a good (and relatively healthy) season (.310, 12 HR & 64 RBI / .877 OPS, playing in 96 of 118 games) through August 13th. Cabrera leads in all three triple crown categories for all Detroit players. 

That being said, I do love Miggy, but looking at the team's payroll and seeing that $30 million annual price tag just makes you sick to your stomach. So I decided, I will place him on waivers and see if I can get some team to bite... it doesn't hurt to try.

The Tigers sit in 4th place at 51-67, 19.5 games back & will likely keep dropping games at such a rate, and should have a legit chance at a Top 5 overall pick in next season's MLB Draft. I will keep you posted on how the remainder of this season goes while we approach the off-season.