UPDATE: The Armando Galarraga trade is official, reports Jason Beck. The Tigers get Kevin Eichhorn and lefty reliever Ryan Robowski. The Diamondbacks are responsible for all of Galarraga’s salry.
12:28 PM: The Galarraga-to-Arizona trade has gone from talks to “likely” to “on the verge” of happening according to Steve Gilbert of MLB.com. The trade could be done today. The Tigers will get 20-year-old right-hander Kevin Eichhorn and “another player” in return, according to Gilbert’s source.
9:49 AM, Sunday: Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski told Jason Beck of MLB.com on Saturday that right-hander Armando Galarraga, who was recently designated for assignment, was “likely” going to be traded within the next several days. Now a suitor has been identified.
According to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic, the Diamondbacks are making a “strong push” to land Galarraga and have discussed a trade involving 20-year-old righty Kevin Eichhorn.
Galarraga, like most pitchers, would probably do well in a move from the American League to the National League, and the Diamondbacks would have no trouble squeezing him into the back end of their rotation. He’s not a dominant starting pitcher, but he has been highly effective for stretches of his career and a change of scenery might do him some good.
Eichhorn, the prospect who could be headed to the Tigers, is a 20-year-old third-round selection from the 2008 MLB Amateur Draft. He hasn’t made it out of Single-A yet and has an unremarkable 4.80 ERA and 1.31 WHIP over 105 minor league innings. His strikeout rates have been nice, but the righty is a long way from prospect leaderboards and even further from the major leagues.