The Jose Veras Deal:
The Tigers' biggest weakness this year has been their bullpen, so it was pretty obvious that Dombrowski would address that. Jose Veras was Houston's closer, saving 19 of 22 games. However, he'll serve as a setup man in the Tigers' bullpen and Joaquin Benoit will continue as the closer. Jim Leyland has already used him in that capacity, pitching a 1-2-3 8th inning in his Tiger debut on Tuesday. Some stats (including his 1 inning with the Tigers) and projections for Veras:
| Innings | ERA | WHIP | K/9 | BB/9 | FIP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2013
|
44
|
2.86
|
0.98
|
9.00
|
2.86
|
3.38
|
ZiPS (ROS)
|
22
|
4.03
|
1.41
|
8.90
|
4.13
|
3.94
|
Steamer (ROS)
|
19
|
3.66
|
1.33
|
8.91
|
4.01
|
3.92
|
Veras is enjoying the best season of his career as a 32-year old. He has always had good strikeout numbers, but the walks have always been issue before this year. This is partly why the projections has him having a high WHIP for the remainder of the season. If he has finally improved this area of his game, then he won't be as bad as the projections say. Even if he does exactly what the projections say, he's still an improvement over other options that the Tigers have had. Luke Putkonen was optioned to AAA and rookie Bruce Rondon won't have to be relied on in high leverage situations as much.
The prospect going to Houston, 19-year old Danry Vasquez, was rated as Detroit's #6 prospect by Baseball America. He was hitting .281/.333/.390 in 96 games in West Michigan. He has high upside, but there have been many in his caliber that have flamed out. It's a gamble worth taking on Houston's part given that the signed Veras for exactly this reason. The Tigers have many outfielder prospects (including Nick Castellanos and Daniel Fields), so they traded a position of strength for a position of weakness. This deal was a win/win for both teams.
Jose Veras also has a team option for $3.25 that will surely get picked up if he does well for the Tigers.
The Jose Iglesias Deal
This is a typical behind the scenes move by Dombrowski. No one anticipated this move until minutes before it was announced. With a possible suspension looming for Jhonny Peralta, Dombrowski felt it was worth getting a shortstop to fill in. This is also a long-term solution as Iglesias is only 23 years old. Some stats and projections for Iglesias:
| PA | AVG | OBP | SLG | BB% | K% | wRC+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2013
|
234
|
0.330
|
0.376
|
0.409
|
4.7%
|
12.8%
|
115
|
ZiPS (ROS)
|
152
|
0.273
|
0.318
|
0.330
|
4.9%
|
13.3%
|
76
|
Steamer (ROS)
|
184
|
0.262
|
0.307
|
0.341
|
5.3%
|
13.6%
|
74
|
Don't be fooled by his high batting average, which is inflated by a .376 BABIP. He is projected to be an all glove, no bat player. His offense consists of above average speed (13 infield hits this year) with no power (.076 career ISO) and poor plate discipline (4.7% career BB rate). However, his defense has been comparable to Ozzie Smith and Omar Vizquel. If he can hit just well enough, he'll be an important player for the Tigers based on defense alone.
Here's a highlight reel on Iglesias' defense (I prefer watching it on mute):
As for the player they gave up, Avisial Garcia, it's no secret that I'm not his biggest fan. My biggest criticism on him has always been the poor plate discipline, with a ML career 5.0% and a 5.1% in 88 PA in AAA this year. He also hits too many ground balls for an alleged power hitter (63% ML career ground ball rate). However, he was ranked as the Tigers' #2 prospect and #74 overall by Baseball America and was hitting for a .374 batting average in AAA. He does have tools, but those tools haven't yet fully translated in the stats and it's still questionable if they ever will. At best, he's an all-star player, at worst he's a 4th OF. In reality, I think he's somewhere in between, just an average 3rd OF that's probably most comparable to Delmon Young, with much better defense.
While Brayan Villarreal had a decent year for the Tigers in 2012 (2.63 ERA and a 2.98 FIP in over 54 innings), he struggled mightily in 7 games for the Tigers this year (but had a 3.15 ERA in AAA). Personally, I think he can stick as a middle reliever in the big leagues, but losing him is essentially inconsequential.
This was a timing trade for the Tigers, not just because of the Peralta suspension, but because of the lack of depth in free agency at the shortstop position. Again, the traded a position of strength for a position of weakness as they don't have to worry about acquiring a shortstop for awhile now.
Overall, I think Dombrowski did another solid job at the trade deadline that might look even better (or worse) a year from now depending on how Garcia and Iglesias progress. It'll take another 3 years to see how Vasquez will progress, but by then Castellanos will be in the Tigers OF and Tiger fans would've forgotten all about him.