Athletics acquire Mike Fiers from Tigers

The Athletics have acquired right-handed starter Mike Fiers from the Tigers for two players to be named later or cash, as the team announced Monday:

Fiers, 33, will slot into an Athletics rotation that has been the team’s clear weak point so far this year. Sean Manaea has taken his game to the next level and late free-agent additions Trevor Cahill and Edwin Jackson have exceeded expectations — as has Brett Anderson to a lesser extent — but adding Fiers to the starting five is a major boost for an Athletics team that has a 2.5-game lead over the Mariners for the second AL Wild Card spot.

Fiers has experienced a bounce-back season this year in Detroit after a couple of lackluster seasons with the Astros. Over 21 starts, he has a 3.48 ERA and 1.24 WHIP over 119 innings. He’s only struck out 87 hitters, but he hasn’t walked many (26) either. He has a spectacular 1.88 ERA in three starts since the All-Star break. Fiers, who is making $6 million this year, is arbitration-eligible for next season, so the A’s can keep him for 2019 if they so choose.

Fiers is the second post-deadline trade acquisition the Athletics have made. They acquired veteran reliever Shawn Kelley from the Nationals for international slot money on Sunday.