Jarrod Washburn Leaves Mariners for Tigers

Today might be one of the best days on the baseball calendar. It’s the July 31 baseball trading deadline.

The reason that the trading deadline is so great is because, not only do you finally see trades happen that have been rumored for a while, but you see trades happen that seemingly come out of nowhere.

That is what happened this morning when the Detroit Tigers acquired LHP Jarrod Washburn from the Seattle Mariners for left-handed pitchers Luke French and Mauricio Robles.

Every time I hear the name Mauricio I think of Jason Alexander’s character in Shallow Hal.

Talk about a trade that came out of right field. We have heard Washburn rumored to go to the Milwaukee Brewers, the New York Yankees, or even the Philadelphia Phillies before they got Cliff Lee. Not once did I hear the Tigers were after him.

Not only was the trade to the Tigers surprising, but I can’t believe that is all the Mariners got for Washburn. No disrespect to French and Robles, but the Mariners were believed to be asking for top prospects for Washburn. French and Robles do not qualify as that.

Though French has seen time with the Tigers this year and has posted a 3.38 ERA in 29.1 innings of work and Robles has 111 Ks in 91.1 innings pitched this year between Single-A and High-A—niether of them were top Tigers prospects according to Baseball America.

Washburn and his 2.64 ERA in 20 starts should fit in nicely behind Justin Verlander and Edwin Jackson.