We're surely going to be hearing plenty of this for the next 10-12 days, as baseball approaches the July 31 trade deadline and the Tigers ponder filling a few holes on their roster. ESPN Rumor Central reports that Detroit has talked to the Chicago Cubs about pitcher Ted Lilly.
The Tigers have "inquired" about Cubs pitcher Ted Lilly, according to a source familiar with those discussions. But the clubs haven't reached the "let's-get-moving" stage, the source said.
Buster Olney confirmed the lack of urgency thus far, reporting that a different source told him the Tigers and Cubs haven't talked about Lilly for more than a week.
This season with the Cubs, Lilly is 3-8 with a 4.07 ERA. He's also being paid $12 million this year, which makes you wonder if the Tigers might try to get the Cubs to eat the remaining $6 million. As a flyball pitcher, however, Lilly might find Comerica Park a bit more friendly than Wrigley Field.
Other trade rumblings involving the Tigers?
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Detroit had scouts looking at Oakland reliever Michael Wuertz (2-1, 5.30) over the weekend (and earlier in the month). The Tigers have shown interest in Wuertz before, but this season, he's walked 10 batters in 18.1 innings, which is a big red flag.
Craig Breslow (4-2, 3.16) is another A's reliever the Tigers are interested in. He's a left-hander with 43 strikeouts in 42.2 innings. That might make Oakland want to keep him.
Fanhouse's Jeff Fletcher mentioned on Twitter that the Tigers had scouts in Oakland on Monday. He wonders if that means Detroit is looking at Ben Sheets.
And we still have to keep an eye on those Dan Haren rumors. CBSSports.com's Scott Miller says the Tigers seemed to be the only team with a scout dispatched solely to watch Haren. Miller also said Detroit was looking at Sheets. (via MLive.com)