Anthony Fenech

Detroit Free Press

SAN DIEGO – He's said it all along, ad nauseam, at every mention of trading David Price and at every mention of re-signing Max Scherzer.

"We're not seeking starting pitching," Dave Dombrowski said, or "We really like our starters," or "We're really comfortable with our rotation depth."

And at one point Thursday morning, the Tigers were drowning in it.

They had six starting pitchers for five spots.

"I don't know how long that will last," he said, not coyly at all, sitting on top of a podium in the media room at the MLB winter meetings.

The answer: All of a half hour.

The long-rumbled about Rick Porcello-for-Yoenis Cespedes trade with the Red Sox was agreed upon, and a trade for Reds' right-handed starter Alfredo Simon was the reason why.

The Tigers parted with two prospects, shortstop Eugenio Suarez and righty Jonathon Crawford – "We gave up two good young players," Dombrowski said – to seal the first deal that sealed the second deal that has shaken up the look of the team's starting rotation.

"We were able to get a guy that made the All-Star team last year and we feel that he can give us some good depth in the rotation," Dombrowski said. "He has quality stuff so he's a guy that definitely fits in the rotation. That's how we see him, as being one of our starters."

Simon, 33, had a career year with Cincinnati in 2014.

In his first yearly go-round in the rotation, he went 15-10 with a 3.44 ERA. He pitched nearly 200 innings and earned a National League All-Star berth.

"He was one of the guys we liked a great deal all along," Dombrowski said about picking from the Reds' choice of their starting pitching surplus.

Simon throws a mid-90 M.P.H. fastball, features a splitter but not a solid breaking pitch.

"He's always a guy that never quite got over that hump of being a really good pitcher and then last year his performance on the field matched his stuff," Dombrowski said.

But he did that for only half the season. The other half, he posted a 4.52 ERA.

He is on the wrong side of 30 years old, doesn't possess a proven track record and has performed better in his career as a reliever.

In the two seasons prior to last, he combined for a 2.78 ERA in 148 2/3 innings out of the bullpen.

"We're happy with our starting pitching," Dombrowski said. "All of them are established starters who have won a lot of games at the big league level and of this group of six, five will be in our rotation come Opening Day."

That group is now down to five.

But one of them could be better suited to strengthen the bullpen than weaken the rotation.

Contact Anthony Fenech: afenech@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @anthonyfenech.