Tigers Trade Eugenio Suarez, Jonathan Crawford For Alfredo Simon
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
CBS DETROIT - The Detroit Tigers added the final piece to their rotation Thursday by trading for starting pitcher Alfredo Simon of the Cincinnati Reds, the team announced.
To get Simon, the Tigers gave up infielder Eugenio Suarez and minor league pitcher Jonathon Crawford. Suarez played in 85 games for the Tigers as a rookie in 2014 and hit .242 with an on-base percentage of .316. Crawford turned in a 2.85 ERA in 23 starts for Single-A West Michigan.
Simon, 33, made the All-Star Game last season and recorded a 3.44 ERA over 32 starts for the Reds. The previous two seasons Cincinnati used Simon as a reliever, and he turned in a 2.87 ERA in that role in 2013 and a 2.66 ERA in 2012.
The Detroit rotation now includes Justin Verlander, Anibal Sanchez, David Price, Shane Greene and Simon. The Tigers traded away starter Rick Porcello earlier in the day for outfielder Yoenis Cespedes.
Simon comes to the Tigers with some baggage. A woman accused him of rape in 2013 and filed a civil suit in April 2014 after the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia declined to pursue charges. Several years earlier, Simon spent three months in jail in the Dominican Republic before he was acquitted of a shooting death. Simon had been firing a gun into the air in celebration, along with others, on New Year's 2011.