The Giants are not getting David Price. Neither are the Dodgers, and while that might be of small consolation to you, it's of major consolation to me. Considering what the Blue Jays gave up, however, it might be an excellent thing that the Giants missed out. Hear me out.
The Tigers aren't rebuilding. They're trying to prop open their window with their own severed limb and scramble through to next year. They want help right away, which means they're less interested in Tyler Beede. Maybe Andrew Susac appeals to them, but James McCann is having a nice season. No, the Tigers want pitching that's ready for next year, an outfielder, and maybe a third baseman.
Chris Heston and Christian Arroyo, with other prospects mixed in, then. Would you trade that for two or three months of David Price? The potential postseason rotation would get a little stronger, but you have to figure in the dropoff from Heston to Matt Cain or Tim Hudson. The farm would take a hit. The Giants would have bristled at that (made-up) suggestion.
Even if you're so gung-ho on Price that you would give up Heston, here's the crazy thing: The Tigers still might have gone with the Blue Jays' prospect package. Daniel Norris has a higher ceiling, which the Tigers might value more than the Fister-ness of Heston. Matt Boyd has done nothing but pitch well professionally, and now he's in Triple-A, doing just as well. He's a classic safe lefty.
I can think of a lot of different other permutations that the Giants could have put together that I would have been okay with, mixing and matching between Susac, Beede, Arroyo, Hunter Strickland, other relievers in the system, Mac Williamson, Adalberto Mejia, Keury Mella ... look, I'm an easy sell on the win-now philosophy. Probably because I love winning, and I sure love having it now. But you can scramble around all the puzzle pieces you're willing to deal and still not come close to what the Blue Jays gave up. Take four of those names. The Tigers might still prefer what the Blue Jays gave up.
The Blue Jays are in the middle of a 21-season postseason drought, and their GM won't be around to see the worst-case scenario if this doesn't work. It made sense that they were a little goofy.
The Giants could have been that goofy. All it would have taken was Duffy or Heston or both or ... yeah, I'm twitching, too.
The Dodgers could have been that goofy. Whisper the name "Julio Urias" into the phone, and Dave Dombrowski would have pedaled a tricycle 2,000 miles to pick him up if the Dodgers demanded it.
I wanted David Price. You wanted David Price. This is a disappointment, but you can't get mad at the Giants for stepping back. The Tigers made a sweet deal. The Blue Jays made a risky deal, probably because their GM won't be around to see the fallout if it fails. The Giants will slink away, in second or third place. As they do.
You can be irritated that the farm system wasn't deep enough to compete with the Blue Jays, and that will continue to be a theme for the next couple years. For now? At least it wasn't the Dodgers. It's a weird kind of sour grapes -- "at least that other fox couldn't reach those superpower-imbuing grapes, either" -- but it's better than looking for a new #3 starter or third baseman, just to get a shiny new ace for a couple months.