Tigers and Red Wings owner Mike Ilitch said today during Kris Draper’s press conference that he expects the Tigers to add a fifth starter before the MLB non-waiver trade deadline.
Could newly called up reliever Chance Ruffin be part of any deal for one of those starters?
Matthew Mowery of the Oakland Press believes that the Ruffin call-up very well could have been the Tigers showcasing the young reliever for a possible trade in the very near future. This could especially be the case since the Tigers already have a nice contingent of late inning relievers in Al Albuquerque, Joaquin Benoit and Jose Valverde.
Unfortunately for the Tigers Ruffin may have hurt his cause since he gave up two runs and three hits (two of them home runs) in 1 2/3 innings during Monday night’s loss to the Chicago White Sox.
Source: Oakland Press, Mlive.com