Considering the Tigers’ offensive woes, including another 2-1 loss Wednesday to the M’s, perhaps it isn’t a Halladay Detroit needs, but a Holliday. The San Jose Mercury News reported Wednesday that several teams had scouts this week in Oakland, where Matt Holliday put on a hitting display over three games against the Twins. The Mercury News names the Tigers and Giants among teams “known to have at least a degree of interest” in Holliday.

The Tigers have had internal discussions about Holliday, but their level of interest likely depends on how much the A’s demand in return. The Tigers arguably don’t have the depth in their farm system to offer Oakland enough talent to top the two First-Year Player Draft picks the A’s would receive if they lose Holliday as a free agent this winter instead of dealing him now.

For now, that doesn’t seem to be enough. Foxsports.com’s Ken Rosenthal suggests the Tigers would need to include lefty pitching prospect Casey Crosby, which is a deal-breaker for Detroit. Though Crosby was a fifth-round Draft pick in 2007, the same year the Tigers selected Rick Porcello in the first round, they view Crosby with top-round talent.

For now, no deal appears to be close for the Tigers, on Holliday or anyone. Any deal they make will likely come in the final days leading up to the July 31 nonwaiver trade deadline, given their history over the past several years.

“Normally if [president/general manager] Dave [Dombrowski] gets something going, he’ll fill me in on it,” manager Jim Leyland said Wednesday about Tigers dealings in general. “But we haven’t had any conversations about that.”

Again, Carlos Guillen’s situation could impact any decision the Tigers make on offense. He began the Triple-A portion of his Minor League rehab stint Wednesday at Toledo, and he could return as soon as this weekend. That would give Tigers officials at least the three-game series at Texas through next Wednesday to evaluate him and figure out how much he can help. That said, the Tigers could use more offense with or without Guillen.

— Jason Beck