Danny Knobler thinks the Tigers need to make one of those trades that seems meaningless at the time (Greg Gohr for Damion Easley) that turn out to be incredibly fortunate for the Tigers. He’s not sure that Illitch has intentions of spending the money that they will save in expired contracts next year, so the Tigers better hope to get lucky.
Knobler also mentions the Willie Blair/Joey Eischen trade as an example. I think a more convincing one would be the Todd Jones/Mark Redman trade. Redman was damaged goods at the time, and Jones was a lame duck. I think that trade turned out a lot better than most fans expected. Especially if the Tigers get lucky with Knotts/Henkel/Robertson.
Maybe Bernero/Petrick will end up being that trade, or maybe there is another one out there.