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Most of the offseason’s biggest trades come prior to the flipping of the calendar, but there could still be a blockbuster or two in the works as the MLB offseason continues on through January.

Despite the calm associated with the holidays, there are still a few MLB trade rumors to analyze. The rumor mill is done churning out bit after bit like it did during the winter meetings. That said, the buzz that comes out now can still have an impact.

Take the recent string of rumors, for example. They can have a major impact on the rest of the league if they come to fruition. Find out more about them below.

David Price

Acquired at last year’s trade deadline to aid the playoff push of the Detroit Tigers, left-handed ace David Price shouldn’t get too comfortable in the Motor City this winter.

Tweets from Fox Sports’ Jon Morosi on Sunday evening suggest that Price could be dealt yet again in order for the team to re-sign free agent Max Scherzer:

A free agent after the season, Price was just OK for the Tigers. He was 4-4 in 11 starts with a 3.59 ERA, though his 2.44 FIP suggests that he was actually a bit better, per Baseball-Reference.com. Price also lost his only start of the playoffs, although it was a successful outing (two earned runs in eight innings against the Baltimore Orioles).

It seems strange that the Tigers would consider trading Price so quickly, but it makes a lot of sense when you consider that he is only under contract for another season. Moving him now to re-sign Scherzer would guarantee that the team at least gets to keep one of its starters.

Detroit can’t afford to let Scherzer walk and then risk Price walking as well at the end of the season. The team needs at least one of them in the fold to be successful, especially if Justin Verlander doesn’t bounce back in 2015.

In an ideal world, the Tigers would be able to both re-sign Scherzer and keep Price next season. By not giving Price an extension now, that would free up the necessary funds to ink the right-hander.

Scherzer‘s market has been slow to develop, despite him being head-and-shoulders the best pitcher left on the market. It could take a major move for the dominoes to start falling.

Trading Price qualifies as a major move.

Not that many teams would have the necessary prospects to get something done. The Boston Red Sox, Miami Marlins and Chicago Cubs do, so they would likely be players.

Of course, we know that Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski generally seeks major leaguers in trades who can help immediately. Even fewer teams can supply enough of that talent to pique his interest.

Detroit is completely in the driver’s seat with Price. There’s no immediate need to deal the ace. Locking him up to a long-term extension comes down to a matter of preference—it’s Scherzer or Price.

Toronto Blue Jays

In the midst of a busy offseason that has seen the Toronto Blue Jays acquire Josh Donaldson, Russell Martin and Michael Saunders to boost the lineup, CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman tweets that the organization will now shift all of its attention to the vacancy at the back end of the bullpen:

Casey Janssen closed games last year, saving 25 of 30 ballgames. He’s a free agent, though.

It makes sense that the Blue Jays could look to pass on him given the value of other relievers like Andrew Miller and David Robertson. They locked down massive contracts. Janssen would likely fetch half their value, but that’s still a lot for a reliever who is merely average.

That’s why it makes sense to approach other organizations with a wealth of relievers. Two teams come to mind immediately—the Kansas City Royals and Washington Nationals.

The 2014 postseason proved to the nation that the Royals have a plethora of incredible arms finishing off games. The unit was headlined by Greg Holland, who has been one of the best closers in baseball the past three seasons.

Despite K.C.’s success with the current formula, Fox Sports’ CJ Nitkowski thinks the team must trade its closer this offseason:

One of those players who should be on the move is closer Greg Holland. Holland has been magnificent in his Royals career, particularly in the last two seasons. In those 144 games, post season included, Holland has posted a 1.28 ERA, earned 100 saves, and struck out 208 batters in 140 innings. Incredible numbers.

[…]

In a a trade, the return of a well-regarded prospect or two is likely. He has an incredible streak of 151 straight games of throwing one inning or less. The Royals aren’t a team that should pay $8 million for that kind of reliever.

Toronto has prospects that could pique Kansas City’s interest.

The Nationals are a more likely trade partner because the target, Tyler Clippard, won’t come with the value of a closer. He has the pedigree to possibly blossom into a shutdown closer, but the Nationals have yet to show the willingness to entrust him with the job.

He’ll likely pitch the eighth inning in Washington in 2015, but GM Mike Rizzo hasn’t ruled out trading him (or any of his players) just yet, via James Wagner of The Washington Post: “We’ll listen to any deal for any player we got. If it’s the right deal, increases productivity and helps the ballclub, we’re all in.”

Clippard is exactly the type of pitcher Toronto must target. He’s cheap given his lack of recent closing experience (just one save the past two seasons), and if he pans out, the team can look to re-sign him following the season.

Follow Kenny DeJohn on Twitter: @kennydejohn

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And we’re off.

The trade market for starting pitchers has already started establishing itself at the MLB winter meetings with the Oakland A’s continuing their busy offseason by trading Jeff Samardzija to the Chicago White Sox, a move reported by Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. Whether more moves come during the meetings or later, this is likely just the kicking off of big-name starters being traded over the next two months. 

Two arms less likely to be moved are also two of the best and most intriguing. Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Zack Greinke and Detroit Tigers lefty David Price have gotten the rumor mill churning because both could potentially be going into contract years. And any deal for them would be a major rotation upgrade for whatever team landed either pitcher.

Andrew Friedman has spoken with Zack Greinke but not about Greinke’s opt-out after 2015. Friedman willing to let year play out

— Eric Stephen (@truebluela) December 9, 2014

About trades, Dombrowski said he doesn’t anticipate the team trading a starting pitcher for a corner outfielder.

— anthony fenech (@anthonyfenech) December 5, 2014

Again, neither pitcher is anything close to a safe bet to be traded. The Dodgers are about winning a World Series, and they know Greinke is a major reason for those expectations. The Tigers are already losing out on Max Scherzer and need Price to be at the top of their rotation if they are going to fend off the Kansas City Royals and Chicago White Sox in their division.

Still, both teams would be willing to listen to offers. But with everything considered—current contract situations, cost in trade, age, etc.—which front-line pitcher would be the better target?

There are two reasons the Dodgers might consider trading Greinke, an idea first brought on by the team’s quest for free-agent pitcher Jon Lester and told to Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish.

The first is that Greinke has a clause in his six-year, $147 million contract that allows him to opt out and become a free agent at the end of next season, essentially making 2015 a contract year. Greinke will make $23 million next year and will be owed $71 million in the final three. If Greinke pitches as he has the last two seasons—a 2.68 ERA over 60 starts—he can likely get more than a three-year, $71 million deal as a 32-year-old ace on the open market.

The second reason is that the Dodgers are still raking over the free-agent market to fill out their rotation, and they have already made a play for Lester. Even if they don’t land him, Scherzer and James Shields would be options. If they get Lester or Scherzer and Greinke does not opt out after next season, the team will have committed more than $400 million to Greinke, Clayton Kershaw and Lester or Scherzer.

“I think we definitely want to figure out how to add at least one more arm from the outside, whether that be via trade or free agency,” Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman told reporters at the winter meetings Monday (via Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times.)

If the Dodgers do entertain trade offers for Greinke after signing Lester or Scherzer—they likely would not want to trade Greinke if they sign Shields—the cost will be, and should be, astronomical for the buying team. Greinke would be a legitimate ace, and if he does not choose to opt out, he would cost less than market value at that point.

The obvious risk for the buying team is Greinke opting out. A trade for him would most likely have to come with an assurance that Greinke would play out his current contract. If the buying team gets that, the Dodgers would be justified in asking for the other organization’s top young talent.

Price wins this debate when it comes to immediate cost and age. He will turn 30 in August and will cost the Tigers, or another team, between $18-19 million. 

Price has not been as productive as Greinke the last two seasons, but he has proven to be durable and is still a top-of-the-rotation arm. He led the American League in innings pitched, strikeouts and starts in 2014.

The Tigers are already losing a huge piece of their rotation in Scherzer, so they clearly don’t want to lose another in Price. That is why teams asking about his availability are likely to be handed a huge price tag, especially since the Tigers’ farm system is among the worst in baseball.

So far, that hasn’t scared teams from at least asking.

Sources: #Tigers drawing strong interest in Price, Porcello. Both entering FA years, as are Zimmermann, Samardzija, etc. All still in play.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 4, 2014

As of the middle of October, the Tigers had not discussed a contract extension with Price, but it is assumed they will at some point before next season. If the club gets the indication that Price will definitely test free agency, a trade becomes more likely. But Price could elect to stick it out in Detroit since the free-agent market for starters next season could be ripe with the likes of Jordan Zimmerman, Doug Fister and Johnny Cueto among others.

Based on impact, Greinke is a better play on the trade market. He is also slightly less of a risk since Price is in a definite contract year and Greinke has the choice to play out his current deal, which would give a team four years of his services. Greinke has also pitched in the American League, the better offensive league, so that would not be a concern for an AL club looking to acquire him.

Both teams will probably hang onto each pitcher, but that knowledge won’t stop teams from peppering the Dodgers and Tigers with inquiries at these winter meetings.

Anthony Witrado covers Major League Baseball for Bleacher Report. He spent the previous three seasons as the national baseball columnist at Sporting News and four years before that as the Brewers beat writer for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Follow Anthony on Twitter @awitrado and talk baseball here.

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The Detroit Tigers have all but relegated themselves to playing next season without last season’s ace, Max Scherzer. 

In fact, they pretty much did so in March when Scherzer turned down a six-year, $144 million extension offer. Once that happened, general manager Dave Dombrowski was pretty much free to start allocating the extra savings elsewhere.

Now here the Tigers are, eight months later. Scherzer’s free-agent market has not developed a month into the offseason, which was expected, and the Tigers have all but discounted him as an option for next season.

“Back then only we could have signed him,” Dombrowski said at the GM meetings earlier this month via Joel Sherman of the New York Post. “Now, 29 other teams could sign him. As you see, the odds don’t improve.”

Dombrowski must now figure out how to dole out the money the Tigers will save assuming they lose Scherzer along with right fielder Torii Hunter. Just based on last season’s salaries, that is a savings of nearly $30 million for 2015 between those players, and the Tigers have needs.

They can do without re-signing Scherzer or someone comparable like Jon Lester, which is why they are not in the rumor mix for either guy. David Price, Justin Verlander, Anibal Sanchez and Rick Porcello make up the rotation for next season. Whoever the Tigers stick in the fifth spot will round out a formidable fivesome that is still good enough to compete for the American League Central title.

This is of course assuming the Tigers have no desire to trade Price or Porcello, who each have one year remaining before they can become free agents and possibly walk away from the Tigers as Scherzer is expected to do. Knowing the Tigers are in danger of losing those guys for nothing but a compensation draft pick, the Miami Marlins and Boston Red Sox have poked around about acquiring one or both of those pitchers. Even Sanchez has been a topic of conversation.

Trading from that pile would leave the Tigers searching for pitching, but as of now they don’t have a pressing need there. Most of the team’s immediate uncertainty is in the bullpen. That unit was among the worst in the majors—27th in ERA (4.29)—and closer Joe Nathan was second in the league with seven blown saves.

Regardless of last season’s ugliness, Dombrowski has said he is comfortable with his reliever situation. Part of the reason is because the Tigers picked up Joakim Soria’s $7 million option after trading for him during last season, and they expect to have Bruce Rondon ready for spring training after he missed last season because of Tommy John surgery.

Even still, the bullpen can’t be called reliable until it performs as such, and with the money the team is saving on Scherzer, adding a quality, dominant free-agent reliever like Andrew Miller seems like the easy play. Miller, who was drafted by the Tigers in the first round in 2006, had a 2.02 ERA and 0.802 WHIP in 62.1 relief innings last season between the Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles. The Tigers even witnessed his dominance firsthand in October when Miller pitched 3.1 scoreless innings against them in the American League Division Series.

However, the Tigers seem to have zero interest in Miller. While the bullpen needs more help than just one arm, if Dombrowski truly is comfortable with his current guys, adding someone like Miller should make him ecstatic. This is a guy capable of pitching in any inning, including the ninth, and averaged 14.9 strikeouts per nine innings while pitching better than his ERA (1.51 FIP).

Those numbers could push Miller’s average annual value beyond $10 million. But even with that money, the Tigers have their infield, catcher and one of their outfield positions locked in, so splurging in the bullpen seems reasonable.

“I think he’s the perfect fit for the Tigers,” Sports Illustrated baseball writer Tom Verducci said on MLB Network on Monday.

Alas, the Tigers are likely to pass on Miller. If they find themselves in another bullpen mess come next July, they could be greatly regretting that decision.

Seeing reports that #Tigers are out on Andrew Miller. Can’t wait until they decide to trade prospects for him in July.

— Dan Hasty (@DanHasty34) November 25, 2014

The Tigers have this money, but how they will spend it seems to be a mystery. What is known is they are in a win-now mode and watching their window to contend for a World Series close as they rely on aging stars. So hoarding the money won’t do them any good, especially since they already chucked $68 million at Victor Martinez this offseason.

The Kansas City Royals are now a legitimate threat to the top of the division, and if the Tigers can’t find a way to effectively allocate the money they are saving on Scherzer, the Tigers could lose that crown for the first time in five years.

Anthony Witrado covers Major League Baseball for Bleacher Report. He spent the previous three seasons as the national baseball columnist at Sporting News, and four years before that as the Brewers beat writer for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Follow Anthony on Twitter @awitrado and talk baseball here.

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With their most important bit of offseason business (re-signing Victor Martinez) wrapped up, the Detroit Tigers can now turn their attention to other needs. These needs used to include adding an outfielder, but Anthony Gose’s acquisition seems to have satisfied that. Re-signing the rehabbing Joel Hanrahan will help strengthen the bullpen, which was and still is another need, if the former Pittsburgh closer is healthy. Still, more bullpen additions can be expected.

If the team does sign free agents to fill the need, or goes after trade targets to achieve the same purpose, it wouldn’t come as a shock to anyone. But history tells us that the Tigers general manager makes transactions that shock just about anyone—generally making deals to acquire premium players at positions where an upgrade isn’t necessary. Past examples include signing Ivan Rodriguez and dealing for Miguel Cabrera and David Price.

After re-signing Victor Martinez and handing out arbitration raises to standout performers like Price and J.D. Martinez, the Tigers will have little wiggle room financially. This shouldn’t dissuade any thoughts of Detroit making a big move.

In December of 2009, Dombrowski sent Curtis Granderson and Edwin Jackson packing in a three-team trade with the Yankees and Diamondbacks to avoid giving them hefty raises and to alleviate pressure on the salary cap. The deal allowed the Tigers the room to sign lockdown closer Jose Valverde. The trade also brought Austin Jackson and Max Scherzer to Motown. The moral of the story is that Dave Dombrowski knows how to make impact moves on a tight budget.

Detroit’s general manager is already helped by the fact that the collective salaries of Torii Hunter, Don Kelly, Phil Coke and Joba Chamberlain have come off the books, thus giving him some wiggle room. While a percentage of that money was likely allocated to Victor Martinez and saved for arbitration rises, it still creates cash.

Dombrowski knows how to make his team younger, with the Granderson/Scherzer deal serving as a chief example. He has already acquired a young, controllable player with considerable upside in Gose and may not be done dealing.

Already, rumors are swirling about potential Tigers moves. The latest involves listening to trade offers for catcher Alex Avila. Dealing Avila would seem unconventional for a couple of reasons, one being the fact that Avila works well with Detroit’s starting pitchers. A second is that defensively the catcher grades out positively, while bringing power to the lineup as a left-handed hitter. Thirdly, the next catchers in line for the Tigers are backup Bryan Holaday and prospect James McCann.

Dealing Avila would mean that Detroit either has another deal lined up/in the works for a cheaper catcher they feel is an upgrade or that they feel McCann is ready to take the next step and start full-time.

Despite all the potential negatives, sending Avila to another team comes with benefits. The first would be wiping his salary from the books—Avila will make $5.4 million next season. The second would mean that the team could move on from a player who has been seriously affected by injuries.

Avila is still a starting catcher in the major leagues and certainly brings positive attributes to the table, but he isn’t what he once was. His finest hour came in 2011, when he posted an .895 OPS and drove in 82 runs. Injures soon ran rampant on Avila’s offensive production. Starting with the 2011 postseason, where he hit .063 against New York in and .080 against Texas.  The catcher has hit a combined .235 since 2011.

With surprise moves becoming the norm this offseason, (thanks to the Jason Heyward/Shelby Miller trade and the Mets signing of Michael Cuddyer), it wouldn’t be a shock to see the baseball landscape rocked by an unlikely Dombrowski trade. He’s turned potential salary cap burdens into, among others, a Cy Young winner (Max Scherzer) and a player used to acquire yet another player with a Cy Young on his resume (David Price).

It’s unknown if Alex Avila’s name will appear in the transactions logs due to a trade, but it wouldn’t be surprising. Neither would be a conceivable, cost-cutting trade of a player like Rajai Davis. The bottom line is that Dave Dombrowski and the Tigers front office know what they are doing, and with the offseason in full swing (pun!), the ball is in their court.

All stats courtesy of http://www.baseball-reference.com/ unless otherwise noted. 

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The Detroit Tigers made a statement when they acquired David Price from the Tampa Bay Rays at the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline.

With a starting rotation that already featured a pair of Cy Young Award winners in Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander as well as Anibal Sanchez and Rick Porcello, adding Price gave the Tigers arguably the top staff in the American League—a unit built for the postseason.

“Simply put, Price makes the Tigers’ rotation the envy of the bulk of the baseball world,” wrote Grantland’s Jonah Keri in the wake of the trade. “While Detroit was going to make the postseason with or without Price, he’ll give them an undeniable edge in October.”

Naturally, one would think that being traded to a playoff contender, let alone a preseason favorite to win the World Series such as the Tigers, would come with a tremendous amount of pressure.

But for Price, a four-time All-Star and winner of the 2012 AL Cy Young Award, being expected to help his team reach the postseason is nothing new.

“I really haven’t felt any pressure with the Tigers,” Price told Bleacher Report. “The only thing that’s really changed is that I have new teammates and a new home crowd, but it’s still the same game I’ve played my entire life and I know I just need to go out there and have fun.”

However, while Price was strong down the stretch for the Tigers and helped them clinch the AL Central with a scoreless outing on the final day of the season, his journey to the postseason with his new club was anything but smooth.

And with an underwhelming postseason resume, it’s safe to say that the 29-year-old left-hander has plenty to prove this October.

Price performed as advertised in his first four starts with Detroit, as he picked up his third complete game of the season, pitched to a 2.35 ERA and held opposing hitters to a miserable .157/.202/.306 batting line. He worked at least eight innings in three of the four outings, striking out 32 batters in 30.2 innings.

Then came Price’s home start on Aug. 27 against the New York Yankees, when he allowed a career-worst eight runs on 12 hits and departed the game after only two innings.

The loss dropped the Tigers to 2.5 games behind the surging Kansas City Royals in the division and brought concerns about the team’s second-half struggles to a head.

Though the overall 3.59 ERA and 82 strikeouts in 77.2 innings appear solid at first glance, it was a very mixed bag of results in 11 Tigers starts for Price. He surrendered 22 runs over four poor starts, yet just nine in his other seven.

“Staying consistent is the biggest thing, just going out there every fifth day and giving the team a chance to win,” Price explained when asked about his late-season struggles.

“It’s something I haven’t done as well with the Tigers as I have in the past, but it’s a long process and my work is never done. I look for ways to get better every day and I know the results will come.”

And as a pitcher supported by Tampa Bay’s No. 27-ranked offense just two months ago, he’s simply enjoyed being part of his new team, on which he’s just one of numerous perennial All-Stars.

“You know, it’s kind of surreal being around these guys,” he said.

“Our team is stacked with superstars and really good veterans like Torii Hunter, Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez, who show the younger guys how to go about their business. To me, I think that’s been the coolest part.”

As for his Cy Young Award-winning rotation mates Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer, the three of them already seem to be clicking. 

“We sit there during the game and discuss a bunch of different stuff. For example, Verlander and I were talking about how Scherzer started throwing a cutter last night. There’s always some type of pitching conversation taking place.”

Unfortunately, both hurlers failed to tell him their secrets for getting to the field, an external pressure the left-hander didn’t see coming.

“It’s a new city and I’m just trying to make sure I don’t get lost going to and from the field,” he said while laughing.

“I think the first five times I got lost even while using my GPS, but I’ve been getting more comfortable with my surroundings and it’s gotten better as time has gone on.”

But with a must-win ALDS Game 3 matchup with the Orioles on the horizon, Price now will have to answer questions about his prior struggles in the postseason. The Tigers’ season depends on it.

“Detroit’s drastic change of direction since landing Price has shifted its needs,” wrote Bleacher Report’s Anthony Witrado back in late August. “Now the Tigers are asking something historic of their newest marquee member, one they initially acquired to make a deep team even deeper instead of out of necessity.”

Price’s first taste of the postseason came as a rookie in 2008, when he emerged as a late-inning weapon out of the Rays bullpen and helped the team reach the World Series. He pitched to a 1.59 ERA over five outings spanning 5.2 innings.

But the left-hander’s last three trips to the postseason have been a different story.

Price has yet to record a victory in the postseason as a starter, as he notched both his win and save in 2008 in relief.

His October struggles also played a role in the Rays’ failure to beat Texas in back-to-back division series (2010-11), while his lone 2013 ALDS start in Game 2 against the Red Sox was by far the worst of his postseason career.

With Boston already leading the best-of-five series, 1-0, Price was shelled for seven runs on nine hits, including six extra-base hits with a pair of home runs by David Ortiz, over seven shaky innings. The Rays ultimately dropped the contest, 7-4, and were eliminated from the playoffs in four games.

Price acknowledged that his pitch execution, which he referred to as the “name of the game,” in his previous playoffs outings has been disappointing.

“Executing pitches was something I didn’t do in a couple starts,” he conceded. “But other than a few innings I still feel like I’ve thrown the ball well and haven’t worried about the results.”

Luckily, Price will have an opportunity to rewrite his own postseason narrative when he takes the mound for the Tigers in Game 3 of the ALDS against Baltimore on Sunday.

“My goal obviously is to pitch deep into the game, because the longer I stay in there, there’s a good chance we’re going to put up some runs and win a ballgame.”

David Price has become one of baseball’s more decorated pitchers since breaking into the major leagues back in 2008, but there’s still one thing missing from his mantle:

“I just want to win a World Series.”

Well it’s going to take a big reversal of October fortunes for the Tigers and from Price himself to help make that happen, as they now face elimination down 0-2 to the Baltimore Orioles.

That path to redemption starts Sunday, and the Tigers had better hope that Price is up for the challenge.

David Price spoke to Bleacher Report as part of the new Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare video game campaign. It will be available in stores on Nov. 4 for all gamers looking to get involved.

For those wondering about Price’s gaming style, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that he’s anything but a camper.

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From the historic dominance of Clayton Kershaw to the epic collapses of the Milwaukee Brewers and the Atlanta Braves, it’s been a memorable 2014 MLB regular season.

Simply put, there have been major winners and serious losers from all around the league. Jon Lester falls onto the right side of that equation thanks to a brilliant second half, which has set him up for a winter payday. 

There’s even room on the list for an ace and an executive who could still end up in either the winner’s or loser’s camp. 

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Justin Verlander has struggled this year.  Actually, that’s a bit generous. 

Sugarcoating aside, he has been terrible.  His current 4.54 ERA is the second-highest of his career, and his strikeout total is at its lowest since 2006, his first full season in the big leagues.  His 1.40 WHIP is tied for the highest in his career, and he just hasn’t been the dominant ace he once was.

However, maybe that ace is starting to come back as the games become more important.  He pitched a gem two starts ago against the Royals, the Tigers’ biggest AL Central competitors, and outdueled White Sox ace Chris Sale on Wednesday.

In that start against Chicago, he was masterful.  He allowed seven hits, struck out six and did not walk a batter while pitching eight innings for only the second time all season.

Verlander’s recent performance is almost a carbon copy of last year’s.  He was not quite as bad in 2013 as he has been so far this year, but it seems that he is once again flipping a switch as October nears.

In last year’s postseason, Verlander took the team on his back, leading the Tigers past the Athletics with two stellar outings in the ALDS.  He started Games 2 and 5, and his two fantastic outings in those games brought back memories from his Cy Young-winning 2012 season. 

In Game 2, he struck out 11 in seven scoreless innings of work, but the Tigers couldn’t muster any offense and lost 1-0.  Then, with the season on the line in a winner-take-all Game 5, Verlander prolonged the season with 10 more strikeouts in eight scoreless innings, catapulting Detroit into the next round.

He turned in a similar effort in Game 3 of the ALCS, but the one run he gave up in eight innings was enough to get him the loss as the Tigers once again came out on the short side of a 1-0 game.

2014 has been eerily similar.  He started the season strong but ran into a wall in the second month of the season.  He pitched poorly in May, June and July, amassing ERAs of 5.54, 6.82 and 4.78, respectively.

He started pitching better in August, but then a debacle against the Pirates saw him pitch only one inning, give up five runs and then injure himself running to first after a sacrifice bunt.  That fluke injury forced him to miss some time, and it seemed like he and his team had both hit rock bottom.

Even after acquiring David Price from the Rays in a stunning trade minutes before the trade deadline, the Tigers were out of first place and in danger of missing the playoffs altogether.  The bullpen was so bad that some speculated about the Tigers inserting Verlander into the closer’s role for the postseason.

The Tigers decided to stick with Verlander in the rotation, and he has made good on that trust.  The Tigers are 6-1 in Verlander’s seven starts since returning to the rotation, and he has gotten the victory in five of those.

Detroit’s magic number is now three, meaning if a combination of Tigers wins and Royals losses reaches three, the Tigers clinch the division and avoid the treacherous one-off Wild Card Game.

If Verlander is right, which I think he is now, the Tigers are going to be scary over the course of a five- or seven-game playoff series.

An overpowering pitching rotation of Max Scherzer, David Price, Verlander and Rick Porcello will be very tough for any opponent, and the offense is pretty good as well.

Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez are two of the best hitters in the entire MLB, and the additions of Ian Kinsler and Rajai Davis give the lineup a dynamic it didn’t have last year.  For example, when Davis stole his 35th base of the season in Wednesday’s win against the White Sox, it matched the number of steals the Tigers stole as a team in 2013.

In last year’s playoff run that ended in the ALCS against the Red Sox, the offense did not have anything even resembling a running threat, forcing the Tigers to play base-to-base baseball, basically waiting for an extra-base hit or a string of hits to score runs.

Now, though, they have Davis, who has over 300 stolen bases in his career.  He has been one of the league’s most prolific base stealers over the past six years; he has averaged 42 steals over those years.  You can guarantee that if the Tigers are locked in a close game, Brad Ausmus will have the confidence to give Davis the green light to get into scoring position.

Back to pitching, the bullpen has been disastrous for most of the season.  The Tigers signed Joe Nathan in the offseason, but his ERA has been around five all year.  They acquired Joakim Soria at the deadline for some late-inning help, and Anibal Sanchez has returned from the disabled list as a reliever as well.

However, Verlander might be the X-factor.  Which one will show up: the terrific Verlander or the one with a 4.50 ERA?

If last year is any indication, Verlander will turn it on and be an ace.  If he can pitch at the same level he did in last year’s postseason, the Tigers have to be dark-horse candidates to advance all the way to the World Series.

The American League is loaded with the likes of the Angels, Orioles, and A’s, but with Verlander at his best, the Tigers have three Cy Young-caliber pitchers to go along with one of the best offenses in the league. 

It’s going to come down to Verlander, and if he is up to the task, watch out for the Detroit Tigers.

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When David Price takes the mound Tuesday against the Chicago White Sox, he’ll have a lot riding on his left arm, namely the postseason hopes of the Detroit Tigers, whose trade for the former Cy Young winner initially looked like a coup that would put the organization over the top down the stretch and in the playoffs.

But a funny thing happened on the way to October. Instead of soaring, the Tigers stumbled immediately, going 10-12 in the 22 games following the move.

That allowed the Kansas City Royals to climb from four games back in the AL Central to three up. Entering play Tuesday, Detroit (86-70) is just one game ahead of the Royals (85-71), who haven’t made it to the playoffs since 1985.

Just as unexpected, Price, who was acquired to be part of the World Series solution for a club that has advanced to two AL Championship Series sandwiched around their 2012 trip to the Fall Classic, wound up becoming part of the problem.

Price’s overall numbers with Detroit, including a 4.09 ERA and 1.22 WHIP, aren’t as good as they were with the Tampa Bay Rays. On top of that, the left-hander has been especially bad the past five times out.

Since Aug. 27, the 29-year-old has allowed 20 runs on a whopping 45 hits for a 5.81 ERA and 1.68 WHIP in 31.0 innings. Detroit has lost three of those games.

Among those outings was the unmitigated disaster against the New York Yankees, in which Price was treated like a pinata while permitting—count ’em—nine straight hits and registering nary a swing and miss during an eight-run third inning.

Price called it “probably the worst game I’ve ever had in my life,” according to Bryan Hoch of MLB.com.

And just last Wednesday, Sept. 17, Price caved again, surrendering five runs on eight hits and three walks over 5.2 frames against the lowly Minnesota Twins, only the last-place team in the Central. Not to mention, he lost the lead not once but twice in the game.

“I’m a better pitcher than this,” Price told Patrick Donnelly of MLB.com following that 8-4 loss.

Not exactly how this was supposed to play out when Detroit obtained Price at the July 31 trade deadline in a blockbuster three-team deal that sent left-hander Drew Smyly and infield prospect Willy Adames from the Tigers to the Tampa Bay Rays, center fielder Austin Jackson to the Seattle Mariners and infielder Nick Franklin to the Rays.

As if to make Price’s subpar performance so far sting even more, Smyly pitched wonderfully in seven starts for his new club, posting a 1.70 ERA and 0.76 WHIP before being shut down in early September with the Rays out of contention and looking toward 2015.

It seemed silly at the time of the trade and still does somewhat given Price’s pedigree and history, but it’s fair to at least raise the possibility that the Tigers might have been better off to now if they’d simply stuck with Smyly all along.

Quite possibly, with Smyly starting instead of Price, Detroit would have a larger lead on the Royals right now because the 25-year-old unquestionably has been better than Price since the swap, leading him in ERA, WHIP and Baseball Reference’s version of wins above replacement (WAR)—and not by small margins, either.

Then again, Price’s 2.68 fielding independent pitching (FIP) actually is better than Smyly‘s 3.07 within the same time frame. That speaks to the 2012 Cy Young winner’s poor luck with balls in play (.328 BABIP) and leaving runners stranded (67.7 left-on-base percentage).

All of which is to say that while Price’s performance has left something to be desired, he’s actually not pitching as poorly as some of the surface statistics indicate. He’s also under team control through the 2015 season, so the risk that comes with a two-month rental doesn’t apply.

Plus, Price does have postseason and big-game experience, having thrown 32 October innings across nine games (four starts) since 2008.

On one hand, Price’s 5.06 ERA in the playoffs doesn’t instill much confidence. On the other hand, well, there’s his win-or-go-home Game 163 gem last year:

As for Smyly? The third-year hurler has seven frames on his postseason resume but no starts. In all likelihood, he once again would have been relegated to the bullpen in the playoffs.

If the Tigers ultimately make it to October for the fourth straight season—and they still control their fate—then Price has a chance to wipe the slate clean and make up for his mediocre showing to date.

With a shutdown start or two in a big spot, Price would put all of his early struggles with the Tigers behind him.

And that’s a good possibility, considering this is a pitcher who not only has been among the best in baseball for a handful of seasons now but also has had his share of success in big spots.

“We’re hoping that with the importance of the next couple of starts that [Price] has, the adrenaline helps and he’s like he was earlier,” manager Brad Ausmus told Donnelly after Price’s latest disappointing turn against Minnesota last time out.

Of course, the flip side is Price pitches poorly yet again Tuesday, the Tigers fail to solidify a postseason spot even heading into the final day of the regular season—and you-know-who is lined up to start that game against the Twins in the middle of one of the worst stretches of his seven-year career.

That would be quite the scenario, and not at all the kind the Tigers thought they would have to get through when they landed Price.

Statistics are accurate through Sept. 22 and are courtesy of MLB.com, Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs, unless otherwise noted.

To talk baseball or fantasy baseball, check in with me on Twitter: @JayCat11

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There’s less than a week left in the regular season, but there are still plenty of 2014 MLB playoff spots up for grabs.

The Detroit Tigers and the underwhelming David Price have lots of work to do before they can take home the American League Central title, while the St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers have also yet to lock up their respective divisions. 

In the AL wild-card chase, the Seattle Mariners are on the verge of being left out of the picture, and over in the NL, the Pittsburgh Pirates and San Francisco Giants are battling for the top spot.

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Detroit Tigers pitcher David Price is the first hurler to reach the 200-strikeout mark this season, having hit the milestone with his first punchout in a six-K performance during Sunday’s 6-5 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays.

Price hardly turned in his best outing in a game that would ultimately last 19 innings, as he surrendered three runs over six frames in his second appearance since being traded by the Tampa Bay Rays.

While the six strikeouts would represent a nice total for nearly any other pitcher, the big lefty has only failed to reach that mark in two of his 25 outings this season. He fanned 10 batters in his Tigers debut last week, marking his 10th double-digit strikeout game of the season.

Though Price was long positioned to win the race to 200 punchouts, the competition this season was unusually stiff. Heading into Tuesday’s slate of game, Seattle Mariners ace Felix Hernandez sits at 194 strikeouts after a strong outing Monday against the Blue Jays, followed by Corey Kluber (187), Stephen Strasburg (186), Max Scherzer (182), Yu Darvish and Johnny Cueto (181).

Darvish, who leads all qualified starters with a 11.35 K/9, has been held back by the fact that he’s only made 22 appearances. Notably absent from the top of the list is All-World Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw, who ranks second with a 10.76 K/9, but has only started 19 games because of an April injury.

Price’s 9.96 K/9 is good for seventh in the majors, trailing Strasburg‘s 10.71, Jake Odorizzi’s 10.20, Chris Sale’s 10.18 and Scherzer‘s 10.17, in addition to the league-leading marks posted by Kershaw and Darvish.

Price, who previously reached the 200-strikeout mark in 2011 (218) and 2012 (205), has already matched the second-highest total of his career, and will soon enough set a personal best.

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