This was definitely a different kind of trade deadline for the Detroit Tigers and their of fans. The organization has been a big player at the deadline in recent years, often coming away with top-notch talent. Aside from last year, when the Tigers traded away David Price and Yoenis Cespedes for a stable of young arms, that talent was always brought to town with the idea that it would help the Tigers win right away. In 2014, it was David Price who was brought in to solidify the rotation for a playoff run. In 2013, the team got their shortstop of the future and human highlight reel in the field, Jose Iglesias. In other years past it was Doug Fister or Max Scherzer. No one can ever accuse former Tigers GM, Dave Dombrowski of being complacent or cautious at the trade deadline, but there’s a new sheriff in town.

Avila, with his former boss and Tigers’ GM, Dave Dombrowski, and for manager, Jim Leyland.

First year GM, Al Avila, worked under Dave Dombrowski for years and he learned a lot from the opportunity to work with such a successful baseball architect. But he also realizes that years of wheeling and dealing at the deadline has left the organization and its farm system bereft of young talent. The Tigers have sent away talented prospects in droves over the last decade or so, and because of that, they didn’t have a single top-100 prospect in their system this season. Their top three youngsters are Michael Fulmer, Daniel Norris and Matt Boyd. All three of them have played in the majors this year, and have been impressive enough to warrant keeping them out of any potential deals with other teams.

Michael Fulmer has been the brightest spot on the Tigers roster all season long. He is currently rocking a 9-2 record with a 2.50 ERA and 1.09 WHIP, and is a legit candidate for AL Rookie of the Year. As one of those young arms that was brought to town at the deadline last year, Al Avila realizes that Fulmer and guys like him are the future of the team. And it’s for that reason that the Detroit Tigers made the correct move by standing idle at the trade deadline. There were plenty of discussions with other teams, but the team is determined to build a winner from within and you can’t do that by trading away your most talented young pitchers. They probably could have gotten a king’s ransom for Fulmer but they weren’t willing to part with someone who has been so impressive in their rookie season.

Michael Fulmer: The Future.

The decision to stand pat is probably the best thing that could happen to this team right now. Coming on the heels of two straight series sweeps against the Red Sox and Astros, many people thought that the Tigers would be buyers at the trade deadline and try to add another starter to the rotation. I’m glad that cooler heads prevailed because even though Fulmer was deemed untouchable by management, trading away Norris, Boyd or both, would have put the future of the team and the farm system in jeopardy all the same.

The team is finally clicking this season and because of that they have probably saved Brad Ausmus’ job. I don’t really like the idea of having to deal with Ausmus for another year, but as a true fan I can’t help but hope for my boys to win as much as possible. They are sitting four games behind the Indians in the division and one and a half games out of the second wild card spot. That’s a whole lot better than I thought they would be is you had asked me about them in early June. It seems like they have finally figured it out. The bats are alive and the arms are throwing some fire. With everything clicking, why risk breaking up the chemistry by trading away important pieces to try something new.

Better to wait until the offseason to further improve the roster and ride it out with these guys. The farm system and the organization as a whole will be better for it in the end. Al Avila seems to know that and it’s because of that fact that I believe that while it may have been a quiet trade deadline for the Detroit Tigers, it was also a successful one.

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