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The Detroit Tigers have traded away their ace of the staff, sending David Price to the Toronto Blue Jays, almost one year to the day since they acquired him from Tampa Bay.
The Tigers received three left-handed pitchers in return. Daniel Norris who is just 2-6 in the minors but was named the Blue Jays top prospect, Matt Boyd, who has a 9-2 record and 1.68 ERA in both AA and AAA this year, and single-A pitcher Jairo Labourt.
The Tigers started off the season red hot with an 11-2 record. Since the middle of April, however, the season has been a long one. The team is currently 49-52 and 12.5 games behind Kansas City, the defending American League Champions.
Until Wednesday, the Tigers claimed to be buyers at the trade deadline. After beating Price's former team in Tampa, General Manager Dave Dombrowski said the team was open to trading away key pieces like Price.
The Tigers traded for Price last July 31 as the trade deadline expired. They gave up pitcher Drew Smyly and prospect Willy Adames to Tampa while shipping centerfielder Austin Jackson to Seattle.
A press release was issued by the team Thursday afternoon:
DETROIT – The Detroit Tigers announced today that the club has acquired lefthanded pitcher’s Daniel Norris, Matt Boyd and Jairo Labourt from the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for lefthanded pitcher David Price.
Norris, 22, has compiled a 1-1 record, 3.86 ERA (23.1IP/10ER), and 18 strikeouts over five starts with the Blue Jays this season. Since his major league debut last season, the lefty has compiled a 1-1 record, 4.20 ERA, (30.0IP/14ER) and 22 strikeouts over 10 games (six games started). Norris has spent most of this season at the Triple A level with the Buffalo Bisons, compiling a 3-10 record. 4.27 ERA (90.2IP/43ER), and 78 strikeouts over 16 games started. The 6-2, 195 lbs. lefthander participated in the SirusXM All-Star Futures Game in 2014 and was named the 18th-best prospect following the season by Baseball America. Additionally, he was named by MLB earlier this year as the third-best lefthanded pitcher prospect in baseball. The Johnson City, Tennessee native was originally selected by Toronto in the 2nd round of the June 2011 draft.
Boyd, 24, made his major league debut earlier this season for Toronto and appeared in two games with the Blue Jays. He has split 2015 between Triple A Buffalo and Double A New Hampshire, compiling a combined 9-2 record, 1.68 ERA (112.2IP/21ER), and 107 strikeouts over 18 games started between both teams. Over his minor league career, Boyd has posted a 15-12 record, 2.50 ERA (270.0IP/75ER) and 277 strikeouts over 52 games (49 games started). The 6-3, 215 lbs. Seattle, Washington native attended Oregon State University and was selected by the Blue Jays in the 6th round of the June 2014 draft.
Labourt, 21, has posted a 2-7 record, 4.59 ERA (80.1IP/41ER) and 70 strikeouts in 18 games started this season with Single A Dunedin this season. Over his minor league career, he has posted a 9-19 record, 3.12 ERA (291.2IP/101ER) and 276 strikeouts over 75 games (68 games started). He was selected to participate in the Sirius XM All-Star Futures Game prior to this season’s All-Star Game in Cincinnati. The 6-4, 204 lbs. native of Azua, Dominican Republic was originally signed by the Blue Jays on March 7, 2011.
David Price compiled a 9-4 record, 2.53 ERA (146.0IP/41ER) and 138 strikeouts over 21 games started with the Tigers this season. Since his acquisition on July 31st of last season from the Tampa Bay Rays, he posted a 13-8 record, 2.90 ERA (223.2IP/72ER) and 220 strikeouts over 32 games started with the Tigers.
To create space on the 40-man roster, the Tigers have transferred lefthanded pitcher Kyle Lobstein to the 60- day disabled list.