David Price trade rumors: Tigers making big push for Rays’ ace

UPDATE: David Price has been traded to the Tigers in a three-team deal.

David Price will be on the move ... somewhere. Probably. Maybe. It might be to the Detroit Tigers. It could be the Seattle Mariners. Maybe it’s even the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Dodgers were said to be in on Price one moment, but claimed that report to be untrue. How about the Cardinals?

It’s Detroit that keeps coming up as a destination. Which makes good sense for Detroit -- a team known for making blockbuster deals whenever the chance arises, but likely less so for the Rays, given the barrenness of the Tigers’ farm system.

But something has to be done in Detroit, and team general manager Dave Dombrowski seems to know it. With the Athletics bulking up their rotation, including the addition of ace left-hander Jon Lester Thursday, the Tigers continue to keep their eye on pitching help. Earlier in the day they were said to be getting “close” on a deal with the Red Sox for left-handed reliever Andrew Miller. But that’s off now. Then they tried to acquire starter John Lackey, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. So we know the Tigers are trying hard, anyway.

Price, with a 3.11 ERA, a Cy Young Award and four All-Star rosters under his belt, of course makes some sense for Detroit, whose rotation has not been quite up to snuff, and who could possibly take the opportunity of adding a starter to push another to shore up the bullpen. Price has one year of arbitration remaining, and should expect a nice raise into the range of $20 million for 2015.

Making their job a little more difficult is that the farm system is poorly ranked, and rightly so. The top prospect came in the 2014 amateur draft, high school outfielder Derek Hill. The second-ranked prospect, starter Robbie Ray, came over in the trade with the Nationals for Doug Fister. And then things drop off. Quickly. However, the Rays have been scouting the Tigers’ Double-A affiilate, according to MLB.com’s Jason Beck.

Some major league players may be available. Reports have said right-handed starter Rick Porcello may have to be part of a deal with the Rays. He’s a free agent after 2015, earning $8.5 million now entering his final arbitration year. Tigers left-handed starter Drew Smyly, still four arbitration years from free agency, has an ERA of 3.77 and could be of interest to a team like the Rays.

The Tigers have gotten deals done with their poor farm system before, so rule nothing out, but it still seems like a Price trade would be a far off hope for the club.