Detroit Tigers Rumors: New York Yankees interested in Michael Fulmer?
By Brad Faber
Trade rumors regarding members of the Detroit Tigers are likely to heat up in the coming month. Starting pitcher Michael Fulmer could reportedly be a target of the New York Yankees.
Despite playing pretty good baseball through the first three months of the season, the Detroit Tigers are beginning to fall in the standings. It is looking like they could become sellers once again at the trade deadline. The Tigers could find themselves in a particularly interesting situation with ace Michael Fulmer.
Fulmer, who is still only 25 years old, is now in his third season in the big leagues. His name has come up in trade speculation before, both last summer and over this past offseason. In a recent interview with Jason Beck of MLB.com, Tigers General Manager Al Avila wasn’t ready to commit to saying whether or not Fulmer would factor into the Tigers’ long-term plans.
Fulmer, the 2016 American League Rookie of the Year, has been having a bit of an up-and-down season in 2018. He is currently 3-7 with a 4.20 ERA, and a 1.25 WHIP through 16 starts this season.
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Still, based on what he accomplished during the first two years of his career, there are probably still quite a few teams that would like to have him in their starting rotation.
According to Mike Mazzeo of the New York Daily News, one of those teams might be the New York Yankees. Per Mazzeo, the New York Yankees had a scout in attendance for Fulmer’s start against the Oakland Athletics on Thursday afternoon.
It was an outing in which Fulmer lasted eight innings, allowing nine hits, four earned runs and struck out five, taking the loss.
In addition to Fulmer, there have also been a few whispers surrounding other Tigers’ starting pitchers such as Matthew Boyd and Francisco Liriano.
Another intriguing trade candidate could be Mike Fiers. That said, Fulmer is the one will likely generate the most excitement, and perhaps bring back the most return in a trade.
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Michael Fulmer is controllable through the 2022 season. The Detroit Tigers will need to decide whether they want to build around him for the future, or if trading him will lead to a more efficient rebuild.