Tigers climb to top of AL Central with blockbuster trade

Now, while the White Sox go to Plan B, the Tigers go to the head of the class. At 24, Cabrera statistically compares favorably at his age to Hall of Famers Hank Aaron, Frank Robinson and Orlando Cepeda. Even while taking criticism for being overweight last season, Cabrera played in 157 games for Florida, batting .320 with 34 homers, 119 RBI and a .401 on-base percentage (eighth in the NL).

As things stand now, Detroit's projected opening day lineup looks something like this:

CF Curtis Granderson
2B Placido Polanco
3B Cabrera
RF Magglio Ordonez
DH Sheffield
1B Carlos Guillen
C Ivan Rodriguez
LF Jacque Jones or Marcus Thames
SS Renteria

The Cabrera deal also appears to have squeezed Brandon Inge out of the lineup.

Meanwhile, the Tigers' rotation -- Willis is coming off of a disappointing season in which he went 10-15 with a 5.17 ERA -- also sets up as one of the deepest and most balanced in the AL:

RHP Justin Verlander
RHP Jeremy Bonderman
LHP Willis
LHP Rogers
LHP Nate Robertson

In pulling off this deal, Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski has given manager Jim Leyland a team that not only will contend for the AL Central title, but a club that -- if healthy -- stacks up with the Angels, New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Cleveland as the most powerful in the AL.

"I'm glad we're in the other division," Red Sox manager Terry Francona told the Associated Press on Tuesday. "That lineup just got scary."

From the Marlins' perspective, it's very close to the deal the Marlins expected to seal all along -- be it from the Angels, Dodgers or anyone else. They get a pitcher with a bit of major league experience who should be ready to join their rotation (Miller), a swift outfielder with tremendous upside who is close to major league ready (Maybin), a catcher (Rabelo) and three young arms who will help keep their farm system pipeline stocked.

"It was kind of like, wow, when I heard," Marlins left fielder Josh Willingham told the AP. "I halfway expected one of them to get traded, but not both in the same deal. So it's a little bit of a shock.

"It's deflating because they're great teammates and good friends. It's going to be hard not seeing them around. I know we got some good players in the deal, but Miguel and Dontrelle are proven big league players, and it's going to be tough to fill those roles. Miguel brings you more than 100 RBI, 30 home runs and a .300 batting average, and while Dontrelle had a disappointing year, he's a workhorse. He's going to eat up 200 innings and he's always healthy. It will be tough to replace those guys."

For Florida, again, this trade is about tomorrow.

For Detroit, it's all about today.

Imagine. The club from Motown pulling off a blockbuster right here in Music City.