UPDATE:
Tigers GM Al Avila tells Detroit reporters that they are out of Cespedes and Alex Gordon talks. #Tigers
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) December 7, 2015
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The Detroit Tigers were the first MLB team to sign a big name free agent when they inked Jordan Zimmermann to a five-year, $110 million contract. The latest rumors now find the team is interested in one of the top available outfielders.
Such speculation is perhaps a bit odd because the Tigers already traded for Cameron Maybin and seemingly have a full outfield with Maybin, J.D. Martinez, Anthony Gose and Tyler Collins.
But that apparently isn't stopping general manager Al Avila from exploring his options.
"The Tigers are looking at free agent outfielders Yoenis Cespedes and Alex Gordon, according to sources," writes Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.
"What has so far been a quiet outfield market could heat up soon at the Winter Meetings."
Heyman first went to Twitter earlier today with the speculation.
Previous rumors indicated Cespedes would be open to a return to Detroit after the club dealt him to the New York Mets at the trade deadline. As for Gordon, it's unknown what his status is since the Royals are still reportedly open to re-signing him. However, a number of big market teams are looking at Gordon, who is regarded as the best defensive left fielder in the MLB.
While the Tigers are said to be open with spending more money and could very well be interested in Cespedes and Gordon, Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press says there's "not much there at the moment" regarding Cespedes and the team probably won't sign him or Gordon.
Signing either of those outfielders doesn't really match up right now, but such big transactions usually go down when least expected. A number of other teams could be looking for cheaper outfielders, so perhaps the Tigers decide to put Gose, Collins, Martinez (probably not though) or prospect Steven Moya on the trade block to see what kind of offers they can get.
After all, the Tigers' window to win a World Series has already begun to close, so owner Mike Illitch may look to spend as much as he can to put the best possible team on the field for 2016 and beyond.
