The Detroit Tigers acquired David Price and his former team Tampa Bay Rays drop left-handed pitcher Drew Smyly and minor league shortstop Willy Adames in exchange, as they beat the trade deadline Thursday.

Yahoo Sports decribes the move as "complex," but said the American League Central leaders' move to take in a former Cy Young Award winner only strengthens its field, already empowered by Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander.

According to Michigan Live, they focused on the starting rotation instead of the expected bullpen. Price outplayed Justin Verlander for the Cy Young in 2012, while Verlander and Scherzer won it in 2011 and 2013, respectvely.

The move gives the Tigers a strong rotation and protects it for a possible Max Scherzer goodbye if he chooses free agency for 2015, the report adds.

According to MLB.com, it was a multi-team trade for the Tampa Bay Rays with the Detroit Tigers and Seattle Mariners--the fourth three-team trade in Rays history. They take infielder Nick Franklin from Seattle and Seattle takes outfielder Austin Jackson from Detroit.

"David has been an important part of the Rays franchise and the winning tradition we have established during his Rays career," said Rays principal owner Stuart Sternberg, as quoted by the report.

For Rays manager Joe Maddon, the move was dissapointing. "My reaction is, obviously, you would prefer that David did not have to go, but then it doesn't surprise that he has to go under our working abilities here," he was quoted as saying in another MLB.com report. "I hate losing the guy and it's Detroit's gain."

Price, 28, was top pick for the Rays in the 2007 First-Year Player Draft, joining it for the first time in the 2008 season, the report said. In 2009, Price compiled a 10-7 mark and a 4.42 ERA--and leaves as the Rays' all-time leader in ERA (minimum 300 innings pitched).

Meanwhile, according to the previous MLB report, 25-year-old Smyly willmove into the starting rotation with a career 16-12 record with a 3.46 ERA and 262 strikeouts over three seasons. On Saturday, it added, he set a career high with 11 strikeouts.

Eighteen-year-old Adames, the report said, is the youngest position player in the Midwest League. He hit .269 this year with six home runs and made his professional debut last season with the second-most walks (56) in the Dominican Summer League.

The Bleacher Report understood the circumstances of the trade. Price has a high price on his head, it said, and the Rays were too deep into sell mode. But it said the trade was just a "head-scratcher."

He currently leads the majors in strikeouts, among other achievements, the report said, but the Rays seem to have failed to take all those into acocunt when it traded him. It believes that the Tigers successfully equalized with the Oakland Athletics and the Mariners got an outfield upgrade.

"Did they get enough?" it asked. No, it answered. There's always the possibility of the players blossoming in the future it said, but that will not produce for them in the now.