Tigers get makeover with trades for Cespedes, Simon

San Diego — Brad Ausmus doesn't much like talking about his lineup hours before a game, let alone in December. But he couldn't help himself Thursday, after the Tigers acquired All-Star outfielder Yoenis Cespedes from the Boston Red Sox for pitcher Rick Porcello.

"At some point, the opposing pitcher is going to have to go through some combination of Miguel Cabrera, Victor Martinez, Cespedes, J.D. Martinez and even Nick Castellanos — with Ian Kinsler in front of that," he said.

"That's a pretty powerful part of the lineup, probably as powerful as any lineup in the game."

The trade, which will also bring 28-year-old right-handed reliever Alex Wilson and 19-year-old left-handed pitching prospect Gabe Speier to the Tigers, came together in the wee hours Thursday morning.

"Boston had approached us about a 1-on-1 deal a couple of weeks ago, but we never had the desire to pursue it for the simple fact that we didn't want to give up starting pitching at the time," Tigers president and general manager Dave Dombrowski said. "But when we started talking about some different ideas and the possibility of acquiring another starting pitcher, it allowed us to make this deal."

Before making the deal for Cespedes, the Tigers acquired All-Star right-hander Alfredo Simon from the Reds in exchange for shortstop Eugenio Suarez and right-handed pitching prospect Jonathon Crawford.

"We feel we are settled now in terms of our rotation," Dombrowski said. "We like our starting pitching."

Asked if the team might still pursue free agent Max Scherzer, Dombrowski said, "Our situation with him has not changed whatsoever. I am not sure how many times I've got to talk about this situation. It keeps coming up ... Anything can happen, but we're not in active pursuit of that situation."

Although Dombrowski had said throughout the week that he didn't feel there were any gaping holes in the outfield, there clearly were.

"One big thing that kind of stuck in my craw, we really had to replace Torii Hunter's offense," Ausmus said. "He drove in 80-some runs for us. That's a big chunk of runs that we had to replace and I think this guy definitely does it."

Before Cespedes, the Tigers were looking at the prospect of a starting outfield of J.D. Martinez in right, Anthony Gose in center and some combination of Rajai Davis and Tyler Collins in left.

Now, the Tigers are more settled with Cespedes in left, Gose and Davis sharing center to some degree and with Collins potentially provided a strong left-handed bat off the bench.

"Cespedes is a premium player," Dombrowski said. "He's a good all-around player. He's a guy every time he's faced us, he's a threat to drive the ball out of the ballpark. He's a threat to drive in runs. You always fear him at the plate."

Cespedes, 29, is a .263 career hitter and his OPS last season wasn't overwhelming (.780). But he produced runs. Combined between Oakland and Boston last season he hit 22 home runs and knocked in 100 runs.

And he has above average range for the spacious left field at Comerica Park and one of the best arms in the game.

"He moves well," Ausmus said. "He's not a burner like Rajai but he's an athlete. I have no complaints at all."

The acquisition of Cespedes also should allow rising outfield prospect Steven Moya to have another year of development time in Toledo. Prior to Thursday, the Tigers were going to give Moya a full chance to win a job in spring training.

"It's going to be much more difficult for him to break with the club at this point," Dombrowski said. "You never can tell but we definitely don't have to rush him."

Cespedes, like Porcello, will be a free agent after the 2015 season. Dombrowski, though, said the trade had nothing to do with which player might be easier to re-sign.

"The difference is, with Ricky, we could make a qualifying offer and we can't do that with Cespedes," he said. "That's why we were able to get a couple of extra players involved from our perspective.

"We had a lot of people calling about Rick, as you would expect. He's a quality pitcher. But very few guys made sense like Cespedes."

Dombrowski said Wilson will have a chance to win a bullpen spot next season. In 18 innings for the Red Sox last season he held opposing hitters to a 1.98 batting average while posting a 1.91 ERA and a 0.882 WHIP.

"He's a former second round pick who's been in pro ball a while now," Dombrowski said. "He actually pitched better at the Major League level than he did in the minors."

Speier, who returned last season from Tommy John surgery, is an intriguing prospect who, Dombrowski said, "was still a long ways away."

To create room on the 40-man roster to accommodate the two trades, the Tigers designated right-hand pitcher Melvin Mercedes for assignment.

Chris McCosky on twitter @cmccosky