The Detroit Tigers have acquired veteran right-hander Francisco Rodriguez from the Milwaukee Brewers, according to a report from Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com on Wednesday afternoon.

The news was first reported by Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports who said this morning that the Tigers had been looking at the asking prices for guys like Cincinnati Reds lefty Aroldis Chapman and New York Yankees lefty Andrew Miller.

As Heyman notes, Detroit will absorb the $9.5 million left on Francisco’s contract for the upcoming season which includes a buyout for 2017. 

Not long after learning about the newest acquisition, Miguel Cabrera spoke with Wilmer Reina of Los bigleaguers where he said, “It’s great. We’ve waited for years to have a closer of (K-Rod’s) quality.”

Manager Brad Ausmus had a chance to speak as well where he said, “We're excited to have Francisco. He has experience in both leagues and has been an All-Star.”

General manager Al Avila had this to say of the deal once completed, ”One of the things that was attractive for us and our scouts was how he's been a leader for other pitchers in the bullpen." 

In terms of what the club’s next focus is going forward, Avila said, “This move gets us started in the right direction with our closer and we can move forward with the rest of our needs.”

From Francisco’s side of things, he said, "I take this opportunity with a lot of pride. It's something that me and my family are looking forward to.”

When speaking about what he is capable of when on the bump, he said, “I can throw my pitches in any count in any situation. I don't think I'm going to change much of my approach at all.”

Heading to Milwaukee as the exchange piece for Rodriguez is infielder Javier Betancourt and a player to be named later. Betancourt has yet to make an appearance on the big-league stage given the fact that he is 20 years of age. He was a Gulf Coast League All-Star in 2013 and a Midwest League All-Star in 2014.

Over the course of the 2015 season, Francisco pitched with an ERA of 2.21 having thrown 57.1 innings giving up 15 runs on 38 hits, six of those being home runs in a total of 60 games played. Rodriguez will look for more more playing time in Detroit where he has the opportunity to take over as the club’s closer in 2016.

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