Fox Sports Predicts Tigers Will Trade For Brewers Catcher Jonathan Lucroy
DETROIT (CBS Detroit) -- The Detroit Tigers may very well be buyers at this summer's trade deadline.
The team sits six and a half games behind the Cleveland Indians and three games out of the final Wild Card spot, but is still clearly chasing a playoff berth.
The organization has few valuable trade assets left -- unless it's willing to part with minor league sensation Joe Jimenez -- so it would have to likely give away MLB-ready talent in order to get anything worthwhile in return.
Fox Sports senior writer Dieter Kurtenbach thinks that the Tigers could be looking to improve one of their most under-performing positions this season.
"It's time to go all-in and replace the team's biggest position of need —€” catcher. Jarrod Saltalamacchia and James McCann have been poor at best, and neither has the ability to be a two-way guy anymore. Lucroy might be the best all-around catcher in the game today. The Tigers really need to focus on adding to the pitching staff, but seeing as almost every playoff contender is interested in doing just that and prices are through the roof, they might be best served to give up the team's final few tradable prospects to get Lucroy."
McCann and Saltalamacchia have been pretty terrible this season, teaming for a .202 batting average, 14 home runs and 50 RBIs in 105 combined games.
[MORE: Should Tigers Trade For A Catcher? (And Who?)]
Lucroy has been the talk of trade rumors for a few seasons now. Kurtenbach is right -- Lucroy is one of the best catchers in baseball. The 30-year-old, two-time All-Star is batting .303 with 12 home runs this year.
The Tigers need pitching help in the worst way, but adding an All-Star catcher instead of overpaying on the trade market for an average pitcher could be a better course of action.