Tigers Acquire Jose Veras

Trader Dave Dombrowski struck again early this morning. News came out that the Tigers had traded Danry Vasquez, a 19-year-old outfielder, for Houston's Jose Veras. In signature Dombrowski style, I had no clue that anything was going to happen until I checked MLBTR and saw the deal. I promptly got really excited, which I always do when the Tigers add someone, then started mulling it over in my head.



This is a good move for the Tigers. Vasquez has real potential; most sites I've looked at put him in the top five Detroit prospects. However, he's a nineteen-year-old outfielder in West Michigan. At best, he will crack Houston's outfield in 2016. Besides, toolsy prospects that low rarely pan out. Anyone remember Gorkys Hernandez? How about Dan Fields? I think Vasquez has the ceiling of a poor man's Cameron Maybin, which doesn't seem like too much.

On top of that, Detroit picks up an excellent reliever. Veras is 0-4 (Jerry Green is sad) with 19 saves (Jerry Green is happy). On top of that, he carries an excellent 2.93 ERA, 3.39 FIP, 3.02 SIERA, 26% K rate, and 8.3% BB rate. For his last four years, Jose been a very solid pitcher, never posting a FIP higher that 3.64. He solidifies a Detroit bullpen that has been very liquid, often oozing all over the bullpen floor.

Speaking of which, where does he get placed in the pen? The front office was very smart and did not trade Garcia for a "proven closer," instead finding the best arm at the best price. Some might (and I'm sure MLive did) call this "Leyland proofing" the bullpen. I think just the opposite. This gives Leyland more solid options to maneuver the late innings after a quality start by Fister. Bourn and Kipnis up in the eighth? Go to Smyly. Butler and Perez to lead it off? Let Veras handle it. Giving more arms to the back end of the pen allows Leyland to mix and match roles. Hopefully, Benoit can then be refrained from coming in with six-run leads in the ninth.

The Tigers became a better team today at a minimal cost. It was a shrewd move by the front office, one that could pay dividends in the playoffs.

Besides, if he doesn't pan out, there's another former Houston closer by the name of Jose V. available.