Familiar names, but no Tigers, on top 50 prospects list

Baseball America's Midseason Top 50 Prospects list is without Tigers, but that's not necessarily the worst news in the world if you're hoping Detroit can swing a deal for help at the trade deadline.

Two players the Tigers traded away at the deadline last season — Willy Adames and Jake Thompson — are on the list, released Tuesday, and were key pieces in helping the Tigers acquire help in win their fourth straight American League Central Division title.

Adames, a shortstop in the Rays system, is No. 44 on the list, while Thompson, a right-hander in the Rangers system, checks in at No. 49. Neither were on the publication's midseason top 50 list last season when they were traded.

Adames was included in a three-way trade with Tampa Bay and Seattle that brought left-hander David Price to Detroit. Price went 4-4 with a 3.59 ERA with the Tigers, slotting in as a second ace behind Max Scherzer, and has been the Tigers' top starter this season (8-2, 2.54) with Scherzer in Washington and Justin Verlander slow to recover from injuries.

Price was selected for his fifth All-Star Game next week in Cincinnati.

That trade was a little more than a week after the Tigers acquired Joakim Soria from Texas for Thompson and relief prospect Corey Knebel. Thompson, 21, is 6-5 with a 4.11 ERA in Double A Frisco. His 72 strikeouts rank third in the Texas League.

After struggling with injury and sporadic use last season in Detroit, Soria (18 saves) has locked down the job as the Tigers' closer this season.

The Tigers had no one on Baseball America's Midseason Top 50 prospects last season, and weren't represented on Baseball America's Top 100 prospects entering this season.