Henning: Porcello and Peralta to Orioles for J.J. Hardy?

Tigers starter Rick Porcello has garnered his fair share of trade interest the past couple of weeks, especially after the signing of Anibal Sanchez. Most of that interest has come from the National League as the Pirates, Padres and Cubs have all expressed interest in the still very young Porcello.

The Pirates seemed to be dangling reliever Joel Hanrahan for Porcello however the Tigers were reluctant to give up the 23-year-old starter straight up for a bullpen guy.

#Pirates are interested in Porcello, but Tigers don’t want straight-up swap for Hanrahan

— Rob Biertempfel (@BiertempfelTrib) December 19, 2012

However in recent days some American League teams have reportedly expressed interested in acquiring Porcello.

According to Jon Morosi of FOX Sports, the Orioles and Mariners have most recently inquired on Porcello among the handful of other teams.

Sources: #Tigers have spoken with multiple teams about Rick Porcello. #Orioles and #Mariners among those involved. @mlbonfox

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) December 20, 2012

Seattle may be looking for a guy to replace the recently dealt Jason Vargas while the Baltimore scenario may be a little more intriguing considering what may be involved.

According to Lynn Henning of the Detroit News, the Tigers may look into dealing Rick Porcello along with shortstop Jhonny Peralta to Baltimore for shortstop J.J. Hardy.

Mulling possibilities for Tigers: Porcello/Peralta to O’s: Peralta goes to 3B, Machado moves to SS. Orioles kill 2 birds. Tigers get a SS.

— Lynn G. Henning (@Lynn_Henning) December 21, 2012

Hardy doesn’t provide much at the plate sporting a .238 batting average last season in 713 plate appearances. Hardy does however provide some pop with his 22 home runs and 68 RBIs. He would also be a defensive upgrade in terms of his range and the .992 fielding percentage in 2012.

It’s an interesting idea but you’d have to wonder if anything else would be coming the Tigers’ way from Baltimore.

• According to Jayson Stark of ESPN, the Marlins reportedly contacted the Tigers about infield/outfield prospect Nick Castellanos before they ended up signing former Tiger Placido Polanco.
• In addition to selling the contract of LHP Adam Wilk to a team in the Korean League, the Tigers also outrighted the contract of pitcher Matt Hoffman to Triple-A Toledo.

h/t: Detroit News, FOX Sports, ESPN

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