Tigers GM Jokes About AL Arms Race With A's GM After Trading For David Price

There's a new arms race in Major League Baseball and it seems like at least one of the general managers involved is having fun with it.

Early in July before the All-Star break, Oakland A's GM Billy Beane traded for star pitcher Jeff Samardzija. When Detroit Tigers star pitcher Justin Verlander heard about the deal, he said he "thought that they made that trade for us." Then on the final day of the MLB non-waiver trade deadline, Beane pulled off another trade and sent slugger Yoenis Cespedes to Boston for lefty ace Jon Lester and outfielder Jonny Gomes. Hours later and just minutes before the 4 p.m. ET deadline, Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski countered Oakland's moves. He traded for another superstar pitcher David Price, and then jokingly texted Beane about their blockbuster deals.

As if both teams' starting pitching rotations couldn't get any better. The A's now have four dominant starters (Jon Lester, Sonny Gray, Jeff Samardzija, Scott Kazmir) and the Tigers have the last three AL Cy Young award winners (Max Scherzer, David Price, Justin Verlander, respectively).

After the deadline passed and the dust settled, the A's and Tigers were installed as the top two favorites to win the World Series, per Bovada (Oakland had already been favored). No surprise there.