I'm glad this happened today instead of tomorrow when I'm on vacation with no internet...
So, the Tigers have acquired Aubrey Huff from the O's, which is a big time move. Mack Avenue Tigers and the Detroit Tigers Weblog were the winners on my RSS feeder. Mainstream Media via the Free Press, News, and Sun.
Tigers get a big (or medium sized, as is the case this year) lefty bat in exchange for Brett Jacobsen, the former 4th rounder low-level, decent upside minor leaguer. Baseball America rated him 10th in the Tigers System heading into this year. This is definitely the type of move you would expect a team in contention to make and at first glance it meets with my approval. His 72 RBIs would put him in the team lead, for what it's worth. He gives some positional flexibility as well, and although he is more of a 1B/DH he can play at 3rd (he can't possibly be worse defensively than Raburn) and could even give it a go in Left Field. For a guy who is only hitting .253, the Free Press tells me that he has hit .324 with runners in scoring position, which should be welcome news for Tigers fans on the heels of an 0-16 RISP day on Sunday.
It will be unlikely that I'll be able to do much more for commentary because I'm wrapping things up at work and then hitting the road, but this is a good move for the Tigers that should help tremendously with their offensive woes. The order is stronger and more stout because of this, the future hasn't been tremendously compromised and the team has a better chance to win. If that's not what you look for out of a trade, then I don't know what is.
Stick with some of the links above for updates, as there hasn't been a move on the 25 man roster yet.
