The Tigers are on the hunt for pitching next week. They really need a starter and they are willing to pay the price to get a good one. James Shields, Jeremy Guthrie, Brett Myers, Hiroki Kuroda, Ted Lilly and Wandy Rodriguez are the top tier available on the trade market. The second tier is where the Tigers could find a nugget though with Doug Fister, Aaron Harang, Bruce Chen, Jason Vargas, Erik Bedard or Chris Capuano being available. With the Mariners really desperate for position players that can hit, I think a deal for Fister, Vargas or Bedard make sense with outfielder Casper Wells being the bait. The Tigers also are looking for righty relievers. Frank Francisco, Octavio Dotel, Jon Rauch, Jason Frasor, Koji Uehara, Brad Ziegler, Michael Wuertz, Grant Balfour, Matt Lindstrom and Matt Guerrier make the most sense as they are looking for a solid 7th inning guy. The Tigers have a good hitting team but they need reinforcements pitching wise to hold off the Indians, White Sox and Twins in the A.L. Central.

The Tigers are leading the A.L. Central by 1/2 a game over the Twins with a 44-37 record. The Tigers have one big hole on the roster and they are going to try to fill it by July 31st. Reports have the Tigers chasing Stephen Drew of the D-Backs but he’s not the only option on the trade market. Alex Gonzalez, Cesar Izturis, Miguel Tejada, Jhonny Peralta, Yuniesky Betancourt, Jack Wilson, Christian Guzman and Ryan Theriot are likely all on the Tigers’ radar. The Tigers also need bench help. With that in mind guys like John McDonald, Julio Lugo, Adam Kennedy, Craig Counsell, Mike Fontenot, Jeff Keppinger, Ronny Cedeno and Bobby Crosby make sense among the backup infielders. In the outfield, Corey Patterson, Austin Kearns, Rajai Davis, Jim Edmonds, Jason Michaels and Ryan Church all make sense. Besides getting a starting shortstop in the trade market I don’t see any other major trades involving the Tigers this month.

The Tigers need a legit everyday 2B if they are going to compete with the Twins. If they are really going to go for it Ty Wigginton of the Orioles would be the best guy to target. He’s going to cost you a player you don’t want to give up like a Max Scherzer or a Daniel Schlereth. If the Tigers want to aim quite a bit lower they should try to buy low on Akinori Iwamura of the Pirates. The Pirates would probably take Ryan Raburn straight up for him. If that price is too high they could always call the Marlins about Emilio Bonifacio who would only likely cost the Tigers a C-type prospect. I like the idea of going after Iwamura the best of this bunch because you would be getting him at a huge discount as he is a solid player even though the people of Pittsburgh have not seen it yet.