Last off-season, nearing the height of Michael Fulmer’s fruitless trade market heading into the winter meetings, one veteran executive told me his cardinal rule in player movement: “The best time to trade a player is yesterday.”
Those words have not escaped the mind during a nightmarish season for Fulmer, the Detroit Tigers and his trade value, a season which is likely over after Monday’s diagnosis of meniscus damage in his left knee.
At the time, Fulmer’s value had already taken a hit after right elbow nerve transposition surgery in August. Any lucrative offers the Tigers talked about midsummer and wished to field in the winter did not materialize — the team wanted an elite, high-impact offensive prospect — and instead forced them into hoping Fulmer could rebuild that value before this season’s July 31 trade deadline.