A return of the 36-year-old right-hander would make sense for Detroit. Can the Tigers make it happen?
Wait, why did the Tigers let Joaquin Benoit walk again? Maybe they'll make up for that mistake. USA Today's Bob Nightengale reports the Padres are going to make the reliever available and Benoit's former team is one of the most interested ones.
The #Padres are letting teams know that Benoit is available and #Tigers are among teams quite interested.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) July 2, 2014WHY THIS MAKES SENSE
Benoit pitched in 66 games for the Tigers in 2013 and 205 for his Detroit career. He finished 43 games last year. He had an ERA of 2.01 and a WHIP of 1.03.
In 2014 with San Diego Benoit has a 1.30 ERA and 0.721 WHIP. He has 39 strikeouts in 35 innings, along with seven walks. So he's still pretty good.
The bullpen is Detroit's big issue right now, with Joe Nathan inconsistent and a handful of ineffective arms and injuries leaving Detroit with no one but right-hander Joba Chamberlain to trust. (And maybe Phil Coke? Maybe? Jury's still out!)
The Tigers need help. Benoit can help.
WHY THIS DOESN'T MAKE SENSE
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Why might it not happen? Benoit is a quarter way through a two-year, $15.5 million deal. That's not cheap but it's not pricey either. (Compare that to Joe Nathan's $20 million.) He's really proven. He's good. So other teams will want him, too. The only knock is that he's spent most of his time, excluding the second half of last year, as a setup man. So if teams don't see him as a closer, the price may scare them off. Which would actually be a good thing for Detroit, right? Let's hope for that.
LIKELIHOOD: 7/10
It would be great if it happens. It would make sense to happen. But there's just no guarantees in these sorts of things.