New Tigers starter officially declares allegiance by throwing heavy shade at Twins

The Tigers trading for Twins starter Chris Paddack was a relatively underwhelming move to kick off their trade deadline season. He left Minnesota with a 4.95 ERA and a couple of pretty horrendous blowouts behind him (including an Opening Weekend performance when he gave up nine runs in 3 1/3 innings).

But the Tigers needed a quick solution after Reese Olson went onto the IL and was ruled out for the rest of the regular season in abrupt fashion.

Despite the underwhelming first half in the Twin Cities, Paddack wowed in his first start as a Tiger. He made his debut on Wednesday against the Diamondbacks and gave Detroit six innings of one-run ball, which translated into a win for a Tigers sweep. He gave up just three hits, issued zero walks walks, and struck out five batters.

After the game, Paddack addressed the whiplash that comes with a trade deadline swap. He said, "My life got twisted upside down in a matter of 24 hours," which is understandable enough. The most delightful part for Tigers fans, though, is that he didn't hesitate to throw some unprompted shade at the Twins.

"Everybody has been awesome so far," he said. "These facilities here, all the coaching staff, nutritionists, the kitchen — it's amazing what they have compared to what we had over at the Twins."

New Tigers starter, ex-division rival Chris Paddack wasn't afraid to shade Twins after first Detroit start

The Twins have the 10th-lowest payroll in baseball this year — their smallest in years — and the organization is in the middle of a sale. They have a .472 winning percentage through their 13-1 blowout loss to the Red Sox on Wednesday, and are six games out of a Wild Card spot. Paddack was their first sale of the deadline, but they've since given up closer Jhoan Duran for a huge haul from the Phillies.

Making a strong impression on newly signed free agents or acquired players has been something of a trend for players on the Tigers this year. Gleyber Torres and Tommy Kahnle have had nothing but positive things to say for the organization, and Torres signed at the recommendation of former Yankees teammate/short-term Tiger Gio Urshela.

After losing 12 of 13 games between July 9-26, the Tigers are rolling again and are on a four-game winning streak, neck-and-neck with the Blue Jays for the best record in the American League. The Tigers expect Paddack to be a big part of the second half hopefully the postseason, and both parties have already made good first impressions. Now we know that Paddack is playing with a chip on his shoulder, he could end up being a more promising acquisition than originally thought.