Tigers Acquire Jarrod Washburn

The Tigers have acquired Jarrod Washburn from the Seattle Mariners today for pitchers Lucas French and Mauricio Robles. The 34 year old Washburn is having his best year as a Major Leaguer posting a 2.64 ERA and 79/33 K/BB ratio so far. He doesn't walk or strikeout many batters and puts the ball in play. Thus, he needs a strong defense to be successful. He had that with the Mariners and should get that with the Tigers as well. He will replace French as the only lefty in the Tigers rotation.

Both French and Robles were in my top 10 Tigers prospect list but neither is in the top five. So, the Tigers were able to significantly bolster their rotation without surrendering prize prospects. It should be noted however that Robles is very young and raw and has a fairly high upside.

The downside to this trade is that Washburn is a free agent at the end of the year. He should be a Type B free agent though which means they would get a supplemental draft pick for him if they offered arbitration and he turned it down.

I like this deal a lot and they may not be done. The Tigers are believed to be still looking for a hitter.