He saw no reason to mention it Saturday during a press briefing, but Al Avila understands he will be trading players. He needs fundamentally to ease Detroit’s $200-million-plus payroll, a one-year surge that can’t be sustained. The Tigers simultaneously want to build a younger roster that has more all-around baseball skill than the current group offers.
It might not happen ahead of the Aug. 1 (non-waiver) trade deadline, but dealing will be done. It will begin this week if a team delirious with playoff fever makes the Tigers an offer that can’t in good conscience be turned down.