It was a surprising goodbye for the Tigers last July when they traded Justin Upton to the Angels a few hours ahead of the conventional summer deadline.
The motive was understood but hard to accept for a fair share of Tigers followers. Upton and his agent had revealed they were opting out of an expensive contract with Detroit, which was their team-agreed right, so that a power-hitting left-fielder could gamble on an even better deal as an autumn free agent. And he indeed scored as the Angels tacked on another year to a $100-million-plus package.
The Tigers that July afternoon got from the Angels a right-handed pitcher, Grayson Long, whose profile wasn't terribly exciting.