Tigers Trade To Tank By Dumping J.D. Martinez To Diamondbacks

Many Tigers fans woke in a terrible mood after Detroit traded J.D. Martinez to the Diamondbacks for three prospects.

Martinez was batting over .300, with 16 home runs and 39 RBI's.  If you're keeping track, JD was leading the Tigers in two of the three major offensive stats.  He has become one of the top tier right handed hitters in the league, and is only 29 years old.

So why did they trade him?  The same answer as always most likely, money.

JD was in the last year of his contract, and was going to get paid next year.  Detroit decided to try and trade him now for some value rather than get nothing when he took a huge contract from someone else next year.

The problem is that they didn't receive much in return for one of their star players.  Three prospects that aren't even rated in the top 100 prospects right now.

There are plenty of rumors that the trade was tough for the Tigers to pull off because of the emotional ties that JD has to Detroit.

Could the Tigers have competed for a playoff spot with JD this season?  Absolutely, the division is awful, and Detroit is actually playing well right now.

Can they compete without JD for the rest of the season? Probably not, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

The players that came to Detroit in the trade are Dawel Lugo, Sergio Alcantara, and Jose King.  Those names don't sound familiar?  Don't worry, odds are good you won't see them in a Tigers uniform any time soon.