Detroit Tigers: Doug Fister Not a Fit in Free Agency After Move to Bullpen
By Matt Snyder
The Doug Fister trade (for Robbie Ray et al.) is still a sore subject among Detroit Tigers fans. He was a key piece in a dominant starting rotation that won the Central division in each of his three seasons with the club.
So much is the love for Fister in Detroit that many fans have brought up his name as a potential (or desirable) free agent target for the Tigers this upcoming offseason. That sentiment, however, will likely take a severe hit as the Washington Nationals have moved him out of their starting rotation and into a long relief role.
Fister has battled injuries since being traded from the Tigers following the 2013 season, throwing 164 innings in 2014 and just 86 innings so far this year. He was effective when healthy a season ago (posting a 2.41 ERA, though his fielding-independent numbers were a run-and-a-half higher than that), but that hasn’t been the case in 2015.
His ERA and FIP stand at an identical 4.60, his strikeout rate has fallen to a career low 5.02 batters per nine innings, and his average fastball velocity has dropped to 86 mph.
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The Tigers will probably be in the market for a starting pitcher this offseason, but Fister, who will be 32, looks to be very much a fringe fifth starter at this point in his career. The Tigers might not go after the likes of David Price and Johnny Cueto with monster offers, but they’d probably be looking for someone who could perform solidly in a mid-rotation role at the very least.
The decision to deal away Fister looks much better now with the benefit of hindsight. Hindsight is usually the most terrible way to judge moves like this — I prefer to judge by process than results — but might it be fair to say that Dombrowski (and/or the Tigers’ front office in general) saw something in Fister with respect to an impending decline? We can’t say that for certain, but it might be the case.
At any rate, Fister has accumulated just 1.5 total fWAR in his time with the Nationals. Robbie Ray, on the other hand, has accumulated a total 1.5 fWAR across his years with the Tigers and (now) the Arizona Diamondbacks (while being paid a fraction of the salary).
Next: Dombrowski Decision Was Ilitch's, Not Mutual