Haven’t taken a deep dive into the Inbox in a while, so this week’s edition has a bevy questions heading into trading season:

Considering how many contenders look for bullpen depth on the trade market every summer, Shane Greene should logically have the widest interest heading into next month’s Trade Deadline. Greene drew little to no interest in past years, including two years ago when he was a versatile multi-inning setup man behind Justin Wilson, but given his numbers, that’s likely to change. Nearly every contender can use an extra reliever, and Greene’s career versatility plus extra season before free agency give him appeal for teams that could use depth beyond the closer/setup duo.

Matthew Boyd has the chance to draw the biggest return between his upward career trajectory, relatively young age (28) and the three years he has left before free agency. That gives him appeal not only to contenders looking to fill out their rotation, such as the Yankees, but to teams on the rise that could contend this year but are realistically looking to the next few years as their window. For that reason, it wouldn’t surprise me to see an unexpected team or two pop up with interest in July.

The Nicholas Castellanos market remains a puzzle, one that could take a sudden midseason opening such as an injury or suspension to solve. He’s essentially a rental for the rest of the season before he’s eligible for free agency this year, and his contract year has started out rather quietly at the plate. The best chance for the Tigers to swing a deal might be to package Castellanos with Boyd or Greene.

The problem with predicting destinations is that this year shapes up as a buyer’s market with so many more sellers than contenders. If a team on the fringe like Cleveland decides to trade its top players at the Deadline, the market gets tougher.

Clint Frazier’s name drew some buzz with Tigers interest during the Michael Fulmer trade rumors a couple years ago. At that point, Frazier was supposedly not a realistic option, even with Fulmer looking like a front-line starter with five seasons left before free agency. So, would the Yankees give him up now in a deal for Boyd? Frazier is two years older now, but he has no path to an everyday job while Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Hicks are all Yankees for the foreseeable future. He also has some defensive questions coming off his early-season stint with the Yankees, and he could arguably benefit from a new outlook with a new club. The expectation around baseball is that he’s a trading piece for the Yankees.

Probably the Tigers, whom some in the industry expect to seek multiple impact prospects in return for Boyd. That doesn’t mean they’ll get them, but given that he’s likely their last chance to draw that type of return in a deal, they’re expected to set a high asking price for giving up a player who has a chance to see the rebuild through. Maybe the Yankees say no, too, if they believe they can pry Greene in a package and keep him from going to another contender.

The Tigers would consider trading nearly anyone on their current roster in the right deal, given their situation. That said, I don’t believe the Tigers are motivated to trade Turnbull at this point, considering he has two more seasons after 2019 before he even becomes eligible for arbitration. He’s good enough to stick in the rotation after the top prospects arrive, or he has a strong enough arm to move to the bullpen if there’s too much depth for him to start.

If by keeping talents you mean signing guys to long-term contracts rather than trading them, it depends. The Tigers talked about having interest in a contract extension with Castellanos at one point, but at their price. They could do the same with Boyd, and if they’re going to, they’d be better off doing it sooner than later, setting him up as a veteran presence in a young rotation. General manager Al Avila has talked about spending more aggressively once Jordan Zimmermann’s contract comes off the books after next season, and that likely includes money spent on homegrown talent as well as the open market. But I think, too, the Tigers are cognizant of when their window to contend should be. There’s a hesitancy to spend aggressively and add big salaries in seasons when the Tigers aren’t expected to have playoff aspirations.

I’m sure we have great character on the current squad, but in the 118-year history of the club, this might be one of the worst season. Why aren’t we bringing up Willi Castro and Jake Rodgers right now? Castro is 22 and Rodgers, 24. At the absolute least it will build some excitement. I don’t get how bringing these guys up interferes with the “Rebuild."
-- Jack T., Massachusetts

The Tigers want to give Daz Cameron, Willi Castro and Jake Rodgers – the Nos. 5, 7 and 12 prospects in their system, respectively -- every chance possible to not only stick in the Majors once they arrive, but succeed. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have kept Rogers at Double-A Erie for more than a full season to work on his swing. The Tigers don’t want their prospects to get buried under the struggles in Detroit this year if they can help it. Plus, they’re cognizant of the timetable on their prospects.

There’s a good chance Rogers and Castro suit up for Detroit late in the season, since they’re already on the 40-man roster, kind of like what the Tigers did with Christin Stewart last year.

If Kyle Funkhouser progresses as the Tigers hope over his next few turns at Triple-A Toledo, you’ll see him make his Major League debut sooner rather than later. Avila has made no secret they’d like to give him an opportunity while they have starts to give and see how he develops. He’s older than their other pitching prospects, having turned 25 in March, and he has 53 Minor League starts and counting on his resume despite lost time to two different injuries since last summer.

The Tigers actually haven’t had that many injuries compared with other teams, especially the Yankees. The problem is that they’ve lost most of their free-agent signings to injuries, as well as much of their starting depth in Triple-A Toledo, leaving their active roster in Detroit not only thin but young. They knew Matt Moore and Tyson Ross had injury histories when they signed both, as well as infielders Jordy Mercer and Josh Harrison. That’s more of a matter of the front office than the training staff. Miguel Cabrera’s knee issues have been building over the years. Fulmer’s Spring Training injury, culminating in Tommy John surgery, was the one major injury to a young player on the big league roster.

The way players and teams handle injuries these days almost always involves multiple opinions, not just the team doctors but independent specialists. I feel like I’ve mentioned Dr. James Andrews’ name more often this season than I’ve written about some players. In many cases, the specialists also have insight on rehab. If there was a rash of particular injuries among otherwise healthy players, that might create some questions. But between staffing and partnerships such as the University of Michigan’s Sports Science Initiative, the Tigers have done quite a bit on the training side the last few years.