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Last December, the Detroit Tigers sent Rick Porcello to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for Yoenis Cespedes, Alex Wilson and Gabe Speier. At the time, the deal was met with a bit of a mixed reaction from Tigers fans. After all, Porcello was one of the Tigers’ own, being a member of the organization since he was drafted in the first round back in 2007, and he was quite arguably coming off of his best year.
Up to this point, however, the move has been working out quite well for the Tigers. As of right now, Cespedes is hitting .291/.327/.489 with six home runs and 27 RBIs. Porcello, on the other hand, has gone only 4-4 with a 5.37 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP over 10 starts with the Red Sox this year. Moreover, not only has Cespedes been doing a fine job for the Tigers, but the less heralded Wilson has proven to be a difference-maker as well.
Although he did not begin the season with the Tigers, he was recalled from Triple-A Toledo on Apr. 23 and has since been an enormous part of the Tigers’ vastly improved bullpen. Sure, he was given the loss in the Tigers’ unsightly 10-8 defeat at the hands of the Houston Astros on Sunday, but he has been a very pleasant surprise overall.
On Wednesday, Wilson was actually called upon to make a spot start against the Oakland Athletics after Alfredo Simon was placed on the bereavement list. He would go three innings, allowing zero hits, zero runs and only one walk in the Tigers’ 3-2 victory. While Wilson did not pick up the win, he now has a sparkling 1.99 ERA and a 0.71 WHIP on the season.
Of course, it is still far too early to declare a winner of the Porcello-Cespedes trade. Porcello is bound to throw more than a few good games over the course of his new four-year, $82.5 million extension, Cespedes may not even be a Tiger next year, and Speier is still only in Single-A West Michigan and likely a ways off from contributing at the big league level.
At this particular point in time, however, it is safe to say that Cespedes and Wilson have been great additions to the 2015 Tigers.
Brad Faber is a Senior Writer and Sabermetrics Columnist for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @Brad_Faber, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on LinkedIn or Google.
