Tigers Should Trade Matt Boyd to Aid Rebuild as Soon as Possible
By Brendan Azoff
In what has been a miserable 2019 for the Tigers, one of the few bright spots has been left-hander Matt Boyd, who has pitched extremely well for the struggling ball club.
Boyd's success this season will make him a hot commodity for contending teams who would like to bolster their starting pitching depth, but if the Tigers wait too long to pull the trigger on Boyd, his value might diminish.
If Matt Boyd keeps pitching like this, the Tigers will have no choice but to trade him. He’s done nothing but eat up innings and strike guys out so far. He’s been fantastic.
— Chris Castellani (@Castellani2014) May 4, 2019
After holding the Orioles to no runs over six innings while striking out eight on Tuesday, Boyd lowered his ERA to 2.85, improving on what has already been an amazing breakout year. But, if the Tigers hold on to the lefty, and he starts to struggle or gets injured, his value will all but be lost. If Detroit intends to move him, the earlier may be better.
Matt Boyd is having a great season, so obviously he's trade bait for a contender later this summer by shamelessly rebuilding Tigers, so says Ken Rosenthal in the Athletic. It used to be that playing well was the best way to stay here. Now it seems to mean a ticket out of Detroit pic.twitter.com/oceGQHRDNU
— Eli Zaret (@EliZaret) May 7, 2019
The Tigers rebuild has a really long road ahead of it, but a Boyd trade could land them a couple of key prospects in speeding up that process. By pressing the market for a Boyd trade now, you elongate the trading window, giving the front office a longer time to evaluate trades.
Plenty of contenders such as the upstart Minnesota Twins, Atlanta Braves, Yankees and Red Sox, all of whom have strong systems and talent to offer in a trade, could come calling. Boyd will likely be dealt this year, and the sooner a deal happens the better it will work out for both parties.