Rumors: Tigers May Make David Price, Yoenis Cespedes Available

UPDATE (July 22, 11:45 a.m. PT): According to ESPN’s Jayson Stark, the Detroit Tigers are delaying their decision until after Sunday as to whether they’ll be open to trading David Price and others:

Hold that "seller" talk on the #Tigers. Teams talking to them say they won't make up their mind on Price, Cespedes, etc. until after Sunday

— Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) July 22, 2015

When Major League Baseball added the second Wild Card to the mix last season, they may not have realized the impact it would have on the trade deadline each year.

With more teams believing they have a chance to contend, there are less teams considered “sellers” at the trade deadline and more teams looking to “buy” or keep their team together to try and get that final playoff spot. Last season, the San Francisco Giants were a second Wild Card team and they defeated the Kansas City Royals, who were also a Wild Card. For teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers, the new format makes it tough for them to be “buyers” at this time because of the limited number of teams out of playoff contention.

One of those middling teams, the Detroit Tigers, could potentially help out teams like the Dodgers, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today Sports:

The Tigers, barring a veto from owner Mike Ilitch, are going to surrender and be sellers within the next 10 days at the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline.

The two biggest names the Tigers have to offer are outfielder Yoenis Cespedes and starting pitcher David Price.

While the Dodgers would seemingly have no interest in Cespedes, they could be interested in Price. The Dodgers have been in the market for at least one more starting pitcher, and Andrew Friedman is familiar with the left-hander from their days with the Tampa Bay Rays. Price is 9-3 with a 2.32 ERA with 127 strikeouts in 19 starts.

Price will be a free agent next season, meaning the Dodgers could get away with a slightly lesser package than they would offer for Cole Hamels and the Philadelphia Phillies. Hamels still has years on his contract.

Also, the Tigers could place reliever Joakim Soria on the trade block. Soria has 21 saves and a 3.19 ERA and could give the Dodgers a better bridge to closer Kenley Jansen.

There are still 10 days left until the trade deadline and the rumors are sure to ramp up in that time.