So much for the Jon Lester to Oakland deal being the biggest of the day. According to numerous reports out there, the Tampa Bay Rays have traded four-time All-Star and former Cy Young Award winner David Price to the Detroit Tigers in a three-team deal.
As of now, reports have David Price going to the Tigers, Drew Smyly and Nick Franklin to the Rays, and Austin Jackson to the Mariners.
— MLB Trade Rumors (@mlbtraderumors) July 31, 2014
The complete deal is not yet known, but it appears that Austin Jackson is heading to the Seattle Mariners with both Nick Franklin and Drew Smyly heading to the Tampa Bay Rays. There are obviously other moving parts in this deal.
This is an interesting deal for a number of reasons. Tampa Bay still remains in the AL East race at this point, but decided that it made sense to look more towards the future than the short term. With that said, the value Tampa Bay received in this deal will allow it to compete this year and into the future. That’s an important distinction to make.
In terms of the Tigers, they acquire a dominating starting pitcher that may very well help them compete with the Oakland Athletics rotation down the stretch and into the postseason. While this deal likely wasn’t a direct result of Oakland acquiring Lester and before that Jeff Samardzija, it sure does help the Tigers.
Price will team up with Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer and Anibal Sanchez to form an outstanding starting rotation. He is also under team control through the 2015 season, which means that this isn’t a deal to acquire a rental for a couple months. He is a 11-8 with a 3.11 ERA in a MLB-leading 23 starts and 170.2 innings this season. Over the course of his six-plus year career, Price boasts a 82-47 record with a 3.18 ERA. Price’s 8.22 K/BB ratio this season would rank among the best in modern MLB history if he is able to maintain that current pace.
Seattle, also in position to contend for a wildcard spot, adds a major upgrade in the outfield with Austin Jackson.
Drew Smyly may also be a moving part in this deal. If so, he’s heading to the Rays.
Seattle’s involvement in the deal is said to be only Nick Franklin heading to Tampa Bay and Austin Jackson coming over from Detroit.
nick franklin to rays in deal
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 31, 2014
We will update this article when all the players are agreed to and finalized. News should be coming down soon.
Photo: USA Today