After tomorrow, the Tigers will have played eight games in seven days, and one of those games took 14 innings to complete. It's no secret the bullpen is getting overworked, not helped by the slumping starters (I'm looking at you Galarraga, Bonderman, Oliver, and Porcello). Throw in the recent loss of Joel Zumaya and the question mark of Ryan Perry, the Tigers couldn't go wrong in adding a reliable bullpen arm not named Casey Fien at the deadline. Jon Morosi confirms the Tigers are looking:
Manager Jim Leyland has been outspoken in his desire to add a reliever, and the search for one presses on. The Tigers have kept tabs on David Aardsma and Brandon League in Seattle. They will also get a firsthand look at Toronto's late-inning passel — Scott Downs, Jason Frasor, Casey Janssen — when the Blue Jays visit Detroit this weekend.
As I said in my recent feature on replacing Brandon Inge, teams that have more than one asset to offer the Tigers might be the best trading partners, so that a package deal can be had (although the price in return undoubtedly goes up). Bless You Boys weighed in with their thoughts regarding a couple more relievers from Oakland. While there isn't a clear idea who the Tigers will aggressively go after, signs are pointing to them trading for a reliever before the deadline.