Tigers’ Matthew Boyd should be untouchable at trade deadline, MLB.com says

Is there any player on the Detroit Tigers who should be “untouchable” at the trade deadline?

It’s tough to imagine. The Tigers are 28-59 and entering play Sunday had lost 20 of their last 23 games. They’ve plummeted to the bottom of the AL Central and nearly have the worst record in all of MLB.

Nevertheless, Will Leitch of MLB.com believes the Tigers should hang onto left-handed starter Matthew Boyd.

“Yes, you’ve heard his name in trade rumors, so he might seem like an odd fit, but he’s having a breakout year and under team control through 2022,” Leitch says. “Teams usually don’t trade guys like that.”

Boyd himself was a trade deadline acquisition for the Tigers. He arrived from the Blue Jays with Daniel Norris and Jairo Labourt for David Price in 2015.

Boyd, 28, is having his best MLB season, with a 6-7 record, 3.95 ERA and 1.14 WHIP. He has 152 strikeouts (fifth in the American League) against 24 walks.

Leitch picked one “untouchable” player for every team but excluded prospects; he considered only players on 40-man rosters.