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Sources: Jays agree to trade for ace David Price

David Price (Getty Images)
David Price (Getty Images)

The Toronto Blue Jays agreed to a trade for ace David Price on Thursday afternoon, sources with knowledge of the deal told Yahoo Sports, betting on themselves despite a .500 record and sending three left-handed pitching prospects to the Detroit Tigers, who are only 1½ games behind the Blue Jays in the standings.

Toronto’s emergence Thursday shoved the Los Angeles Dodgers, favored to land Price, to the side and thrust the Blue Jays – who have outscored opponents by 100 runs this season but have little to show for it – back into a marquee position as they try to chase down the Yankees in the American League East.

Pitcher Daniel Norris is the prized return for Detroit, which sought pitching depth for its organization and also will receive Matt Boyd and Jairo Labourt.

Following the shocking trade for shortstop Troy Tulowitzki earlier this week, the Blue Jays doubled down with Price, who turns 30 next month, is a free agent after the season and is likely to command one of the top pitcher contracts in history, even in a market flooded with fellow free agents Johnny Cueto, Jordan Zimmermann and Jeff Samardzija. He is durable, having made at least 27 starts in every season since 2010. He is accomplished, having won the American League Cy Young Award in 2010 and finishing in the top six two other times. In the course of his career, he has led the AL over a season in wins, ERA, innings pitched and strikeouts.

This year, Price has been at perhaps his finest, posting a 2.53 ERA and averaging nearly seven innings a start for the Tigers, who last season gave up Drew Smyly, Austin Jackson and Willy Adames in a trade-deadline deal for him.

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The Blue Jays, who have made something of a habit of winning the winter and losing the summer, in a matter of days have acquired the best position player on the market in Tulowitzki and the best pitcher on the market in Price. They restart, then, seven games behind the Yankees in the AL East and two games back in the wild-card race with 60 games to play.

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