The Detroit Tigers’ starting rotation was already quite formidable with Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, Rick Porcello and Anibal Sanchez. It got a major boost on Thursday, as the team added Tampa Bay Rays ace David Price.
Price, a four-time All-Star, is 11-8 with a 3.11 ERA this season. He won the 2012 AL Cy Young Award, which means that the Tigers rotation now features the three most recent Cy Young Award winners. Verlander claimed the honor in 2011, and Scherzer won the award in 2013, according to The Associated Press.
The Tigers’ roster also features the three most recent AL MVPs. Verlander won the award in 2011, and slugger Miguel Cabrera received the honor each of the last two years.
The three-team deal involved the Rays, Tigers and Seattle Mariners. Price is the only player making his way to Detroit. Seattle is picking up Tigers center fielder Austin Jackson, while Tampa Bay is adding Nick Franklin (from Seattle), Drew Smyly and minor leaguer Willy Adames from the Tigers, reports USA Today.
“It doesn’t surprise me because [Tigers general manager] Dave Dombrowski, he knows how to make big deals,” Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane said, according to The New York Times. “He’s been doing it for a long time. I heard some rumors last night, so I wasn’t shocked at all.”
Beane and the A’s also made moves as the trade deadline approached. They added Jon Lester on Wednesday and Jeff Samardzija earlier in July.