As Major League Baseball teams look to shore up their pitching for a playoff push, Detroit Tigers starter Eduardo Rodriguez might be an attractive trade piece. Would Michigan sports betting odds move accordingly for any team that acquired him?
The Tigers are not in the hunt for a wild card sport – they’re 39-50 coming out of the All-Star break – and they might be willing to part with Rodriguez for some promising minor leaguers. Detroit seeks to build its farm system around all their high draft picks.
So it seems Rodriguez has been rumored as a guy that could get moved at the trade deadline since the 2023 season started. Rodriguez had been one of the better pitchers in the American League in the first half before he went on the IL with a finger injury.
BetMichigan.com, where you can find the best Michigan sports betting promos, dug into the trade rumor mill and developed hypothetical odds of where Eduardo Rodriguez will land for the rest of the MLB season.
Eduardo Rodriguez Next Team Odds
Eduardo Rodriguez Stats
The Tigers signed Rodriguez, a left-handed starter, to a 5-year $77 million deal after he went 64-39 with the Boston Red Sox over six seasons. Rodriguez will have three years left on the deal after this one, at around $15 million per year. For the 2018 and 2019 Rodriguez, who made 61 starts for Boston and went 32-11 with a 3.81 ERA, that would be a steal.
But Rodriguez didn’t pitch in 2020, then he averaged only five innings per start in 2021, as his ERA ballooned to 4.74. He has been hurt in both his seasons with the Tigers. Last year he threw 91 innings in 17 starts and went 5-5.
This year he has thrown 71 innings in 12 starts and has gone 4-5 for a mediocre team, with backers at Michigan sportsbook apps not often being rewarded – though his ERA this season has been a terrific 2.64. The flip side to that is that he didn’t pitch at all in June and in his first start back on July 5, he gave up five earned runs in four innings in a 12-3 loss.
Normally a pitcher with Rodriguez’s past class, with three team friendly years on his contract, could command a decent haul at the trade deadline. But are teams that need pitching going to give up top-level prospects, who might really help the Tigers down the road, for a starter has thrown more than 160 innings in a season only once – and that was in 2019?
Even in a dreadful American League Central, the Tigers have +3000 odds at Caesars Sportsbook Michigan to win the division.
Rodriguez Contract Status A Factor
Rodriguez’s other big negative is that he has a contract opt-out after next season. So if he rebounds and is healthy, his new team might lose him.
Going through the mill of trade rumors, BetMichigan put together hypothetical odds for teams who might be interested in Rodriguez, especially if he shows he has some gas in the tank over his next few starts before July 31.
The Baltimore Orioles, Arizona Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers have all overachieved based on predictions. All three might think that another decent starter could give them a good shot at the playoffs, but it’s hard to see any of those teams parting with a top-tier prospect when their fan bases are starting to get excited about the future. The Phillies would love a healthy Rodriguez, but do they have a package of young players who would excite the Tigers? As for the Astros, given the success Justin Verlander had in Houston, the Tigers might refuse to trade them Rodriguez just on principle.
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