Fister and Pauley to the Tigers

I woke up three minutes after Danny Knobler announced (on Twitter) that the Tigers had acquired Doug Fister and David Pauley for Charlie Furbush, Casper Wells and Francisco Martinez. Yes, that means I slept very late. I blame Jon Heyman. Sometime around one in the morning, he reported (on Twitter) that the Tigers had called up Jacob Turner. After a couple of hours of speculation without any confirmation of anything, the Twitter feed went quiet and I finally went to bed. I felt like a kid on Christmas Eve. The anticipation kept me awake for hours.

I was expecting one present — one starting pitcher. Imagine how happy I was to find both a starter and a reliever. And we didn’t even have to give up Jacob Turner. The Fister/Pauley deal is a good one. I know this. So I’m not listening to the radio today. Or watching the forums. I don’t have to — the Twitter feed is full of their quotes.

This isn’t my usual M.O. Typically, I like to hear all the chatter. Know the opposition. But not today. Quotes like this from the local radio station tell me everything I need to know: “Fister’s 13 losses means he didn’t pitch good enough to win.” True. In Seattle. With the (lack of) run support Fister’s gotten in his last 10 starts, Justin Verlander couldn’t have pitched good enough to win all of those games. (Okay, maybe June Verlander could have.)

Here are the facts: Douglas Wildes Fister. Age 27. 6’-8” tall. His 3.33 ERA and 1.17 WHIP are better than that of King Felix (3.38 ERA/1.21 WHIP) — and every Tigers starter not named Verlander.

David Pauley. Bullpen help? Yes please! Pauley’s 2.15 ERA./.994 WHIP combo looks good to me.

For everyone upset about giving up Martinez, I have two words for you: Nick Castellanos. According to Baseball America, Castellanos is our number two prospect — not Martinez. For everyone upset about Casper, I don’t really have much for you. Seeing as he was sent down earlier this month, the move isn’t all that surprising. He should get some serious playing time with Seattle, but that’s probably not much comfort to some of you.

People will argue we gave up too much. Make Jarrod Washburn comparisons. Misunderstand the W-L record of a perfectly good pitcher on a hard-luck team.

Only time will tell if this was truly a good move. But right now, I like this trade. A lot.

And did I mention we still have Jacob Turner?

The Tigers announced this morning that he’ll be making his major league debut this afternoon. One start and then back down to the minors.

All week, I’ve been looking forward to Sunday. Not just for the trade deadline, but the pitching matchup. Verlander – Weaver at Comerica Park … and I have tickets.

It doesn’t get much better than that.

But right now – I have to admit – today is looking pretty damn good, too.