“I told you guys to stay close to the phone,” manager Jim Leyland said. “There’s going to be some action here within the next couple of days. What the action is going to be, I don’t know.”

Phase one has taken place, though.

In Wilfredo Ledezma, the Tigers traded a pitcher they’ve liked enough to keep around. As Leyland said on Wednesday, he’s been very good on several occasions, and just OK on others.

But with a growing surplus of pitching forcing the Tigers to find more roster flexibility, they could ill afford to keep a sporadic contributor who’s out of options.

At least with this deal, for left-handed reliever Macay McBride, the Tigers get a pitcher in return who’s not out of options and might help as much as, if not more than, Ledezma — instead of coming up empty.

• Tigers trade Ledezma to Braves for another lefty