Tag Archives: Doug Fister

Ready to Roar 2.0

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Tigers celebrate Jhonny Peralta’s walkoff homerun to beat the White Sox 5-4 Friday.

“Get to .500, then we can talk.” So goes the ancient baseball adage and so go the Tigers who finally seem to have righted the ship after taking a tight series from the White Sox this weekend to move to 14-13.

I wrote a similar post around this point in the season a year ago about how the Tigers were looking like they were about to separate themselves from the rest of the AL Central and I don’t need to point out how correct I was, but I’m about to do it anyway—sorry about that.

After 27 games in 2011, the Tigers were actually in worse shape with a 10-15 record.  They had suffered through being swept at home by the Mariners just as they have this season, but began turning things around after taking a series from the White Sox.  Sound familiar? Detroit went 85-52 from that point on to cruise to their first division title since 1987 by 15 games. Now it’s looking like history is repeating itself.

The Tigers could be using the Sox as a launching pad once again as 17 of their next 24 games come against sub-.500 ball clubs including Seattle, Chicago, Minnesota, Pittsburgh and Boston.  The only exceptions are Oakland and Cleveland who are both bound to come back to earth.

Detroit’s starting pitching had struggled until last week when they combined to give up only 12 runs while eating 40 innings over six games for a 2.70 ERA. Justin Verlander‘s 2-1 record doesn’t reflect his repeat Cy Young performance thus far, averaging almost 7 2/3 innings per start with a 2.38 ERA and .184 batting average against. Rookie Drew Smyly has been dominant with a 1.61 ERA over his first five starts so more consistency from Rick Porcello and Max Scherzer coupled with the return of Doug Fister from the DL to face his former teammates in Seattle tonight suddenly give the Tigers one of the deeper rotations in the game.

There’s no need to fret about a Tigers offense that has sputtered at times this year.  There’s simply too much talent there to flounder all season. PV is a lot more worried about Prince Fielder than I am since he’s sure to improve on his already solid .300 AVG, four HRs and 13 RBI as he gets more and more familiar with American League pitching. Jhonny Peralta finally got his first bomb of the year in spectacular walkoff fashion Friday night. Austin Jackson is showing vastly improved plate discipline and  Miguel Cabrera is simply Miguel Cabrera—on pace for 42 HRs and 132 RBI.

The defense hasn’t been nearly the issue that most pundits predicted it would be before the season started as they currently rank in the top third in the Majors in fielding percentage. However, the bullpen does tend to make me throw up in my mouth at times as the back end has been anything but impressive.  Jose Valverde and Joaquin Benoit are simply allowing way too many base runners (1.82 and 1.86 WHIPs respectively) and need to get back to the numbers on the back of their bubblegum cards.  When they do, we’ll be seeing a repeat of 2011′s runaway victory in the AL Central.

Week One Report Cards: Cubs/Tigers

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Can we please put an end to the debate? There is no question Chicago is the greatest baseball town in the world.  In this first week of the season, not only did I have the privilege of getting sunburned and a bit intoxicated amongst the brick and ivy in the bleachers of baseball’s greatest cathedral last weekend (though I had to suffer through Kerry Wood and Carlos Marmol defiling another solid start by Matt Garza), but I get to head down to Mobile Phone Park today to watch the Tigers avenge yesterday’s tough loss to the South Side nemesis.

Seven or eight games certainly isn’t enough of a sample size to draw any definitive conclusions about the long season ahead, but that’s not going to stop me from doing it here.

Cubs: C+
The Cubs 3-5 record masks what has been a surprisingly productive offense that ranks in the NL’s top five in Runs, RBI, and Avg. and better than average starting pitching. Despite poor outings by 4th and 5th staters Chris Volstad and Paul Maholm, Cubs starters have a combined 3.51 ERA with 50 Ks in 51.2 innings. Garza and  Ryan Dempster have both had quality starts spoiled by the bullpen which is the only thing keeping them out of first place in the division.  Is it too early to question the wisdom of the ‘Messiah’ Theo Epstein for trading one of the game’s best left-handed relievers in Sean Marshall for Travis Wood who is on a bus somewhere in Iowa now?  Nope.

Tigers: A-
It wasn’t hard to predict the Tigers would have a good offense, but to lead the AL or rank second in Runs, Hits, Triples, RBI, Avg, OBP, and SLG% is even more than I could’ve hoped for.  With an offense like that, the pitching only has to be average, which it has been, ranking in the middle of the AL with a 3.80 ERA despite having to rely on minor league call-ups Drew Smyly and today’s starter Adam Wilk due to Doug Fister‘s mysterious left side injury. Even the defense has been decent despite the lack of range.  The only thing that worries me is closer Jose Valverde who has already blown a save and couldn’t stop the bleeding when Justin Verlander inexplicably imploded after eight dominant innings on Wednesday.  Papa Grande needs to return to his 2011 form before I can give the Tigers full marks.

So now I’m off to 35th & Shields where the Sox have an awful record against staters they’ve never seen before—I’m sure PV has the numbers. A shaky Gavin Floyd looks to be the next punching bag for the Tigers potent offense. I’m just hoping Roger ‘Sodfather’ Bossard can draw the batter’s box correctly today.

2011 Tigers postmortem: Top 5 moments

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It might be easy to forget what an incredible season the Tigers had in 2011 after such an embarrassing ALCS Game 6 loss to a clearly superior Rangers ball club, but there’s no way I’m going to let that happen. A season in which the Tigers won their first division tille since the Reagan era by a colossal 15 games contained a million indelible moments—here are my top 5:

5. September 28 vs. CLE: Valverde goes 49 for 49
Needless to say, Jose Valverde is a polarizing figure.  His antics on the mound and entering games make opponents seethe with anger and Tigers fans revel in his ridiculousness.  He puts a few to many runners on base for my taste, but no one can deny that his 2011 season was entertaining, effective, and extraordinary. Closing the season at Cleveland with his franchise-record and league-best 49th save after giving up a hit and a stolen base while striking out two was a perfect microcosm of the rollercoaster of emotions Papa Grande put Tigers fans through all year long.  It was never easy, but somehow he always got the job done.

4. September 14 vs. CWS: Tigers win 12th in a row
To win 12 games in a row is a huge accomplishment, but to do it against your division rivals at crunch time to put the division title out of reach is quite remarkable.  On August 29th the Tigers held a tenuous 5-game lead over the White Sox followed by the Indians only a half game behind the Sox. Two weeks later, the race was over after the Tigers swept the the Indians, Twins and finally the White Sox (twice). I was fortunate enough to witness the 11th win firsthand—a 5-0 shellacking by Verlander and crew—the night before the coup de grâce. Coming back from a three-run deficit in the 9th on pinch-hit home runs from Ryan Raburn and Alex Avila then sealing the deal on a Carlos Guillen’s RBI single in the 10th put an exclamation point on the Tigers’ dominating run.

3. September 3 vs. CWS: Tigers come back from 7-down to win 9-8
In many ways, the Tigers ended all their AL Central division foes’ hopes for 2011 with their miraculous 9-8 victory over the White Sox on September 3rd. After trailing by as many as seven runs, the Tigers comeback culminated with a game-tying, two-run homer from Ryan Raburn followed by a stunning walk-off homer from Miguel Cabrera in the 9th. The soul-crushing defeat sent the White Sox spiraling downward as they gave up 18 runs the following night. The improbable victory sent the Tigers well on their way to eventually win 12 in a row and finally clinch their first division crown in 24 years.

2. May 7 vs. TOR: Verlander throws second career no-hitter
Justin Verlander’s 2011 season will go down as one of the greatest individual performances in Major League history. Leading the league in Wins, ERA, Strikeouts and WHIP will not only give him the Cy Young, but it would be a crime if it didn’t also land him the MVP, which I have been campaigning for for months. But when you add in his no-hitter against the Blue Jays in which he only issued an 8th inning walk to spoil a perfect game, the notion that he doesn’t deserve the MVP is simply asinine.  24-5 record, 2.40 ERA, 250 Ks, 0.92 ERA, .192 BAA—’nough said.

1. October 6 vs. NYY: Tigers win ALDS-clinching Game 5
Winning any playoff series is a big deal.  Winning a playoff series in a deciding Game 5 on the road in front of the largest crowd in new Yankee Stadium history is a whole different animal, but that’s exactly what the Tigers did. Unheralded utility player Don Kelly and waiver-wire pickup Delmon Young went yard on consecutive pitches to stun the Yankees in the 1st inning.  Doug Fister went five strong, giving up just one run on five hits to the formidable Yankees lineup. Victor Martinez’ two-out RBI single to score Austin Jackson proved to be the game  winning as Max Scherzer, Joaquin Benoit and Valverde combined to lock down the remaining gut-wrenching, heart-in-your-throat four innings to take the Tigers frist winner-takes-all game in a postseason series since 1968.

Though it ended on a sour note, 2011 was a great year for the Tigers and should prove to be the start of a long run of dominance over the AL Central.  With a strong staff of young pitchers under contract for the next several years, a nucleus of young hitters that collectively ranked in the top five offenses in the game and with money to spend in the offseason after the contracts of Guillen, Magglio Ordonez, Brad Penny and Joel Zumaya come off the books, the tank is full and the gas pedal is mashed to the floor in the Motor City.

On to the ALCS!!!

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Now that the smoke has cleared and i’ve finally recovered from the three-and-a-half-hour heart attack of an incredible Game 5, I’ve had a little time to collect my euphoric thoughts.  First of all, PV hit it on the nose when he said I’d be drinking a victorious brew about 10:45pm on Thursday evening.  It was 10:43.  Plus, I hit it on the nose (bad night for that nose) when I said the Tigers would win the seires in 5 games because of their superior starting pitching depth.

Tigers starting pitchers combined for a 3.46 ERA over 26 innings compared to 5.18 over 19.1 innings for the Yankees over the course of the series.  If not for Curtis Granderson pulling off a couple of miracle catches in Game 4, it would’ve been a much wider margin.  Despite a shaky Game 1 relief appearance on Saturday, Doug Fister returned to his September AL Pitcher of the Month status last night, throwing five strong innings, getting key outs when he had to, and only giving up a solo shot to Robinson Cano. Rick Porcello went a solid six innings in his outing while Max Scherzer was back to his “ace-like” self, stymieing the Bronx Bombers to only one run over seven and a third with seven Ks between his two appearances.  Oh yeah, and there’s that Verlander guy—he’s pretty good.

So now it’s on to Texas for the Tigers’ second American League Championship Series in five years.  I was sad to learn that the series is moving to FOX from TBS where we were enlightened by color analyst Ron Darling and all his insightful gems like “pitching is importan in the postseason” and “I’m surprised Fister is going after Gardner like this with the bases loaded and a full count.”  Thanks Ron.  It says a lot about the value of a Yale education—they’ll give a degree to just about any douchebag. But I digress…

On to the Tigers/Rangers matchup where Detroit took six of nine regular season meetings, outscoring Texas by a 45-37 margin.  The Rangers have long been known for their prodigious power but have only recently put a priority on pitching under the leadership of team owner Nolan Ryan. It’s certainly worked for the reigning AL champs as this is their second ALCS in two years. However, as was the case with the Yankees, the Texas’ starting rotation simply doesn’t match the depth of that of the Tigers. Furthermore, Detroit’s right-handed-heavy lineup will feast on Texas primarily left-handed rotation.

Game 1 will feature that Verlander guy you may have heard of versus C.J. Wilson at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.  Wilson had great numbers during the regular season, going 16-7 with a 2.94 ERA and just over 200 strikeouts.  But he was absolutely rocked for eight runs (six earned) including three long balls by the Rays in his only appearance in the ALDS.  Look for huge games by Miguel Cabrera, Jhonny Peralta and Delmon Young against the lefty in that band box.

Beyond that, rotations haven’t been announced but Scherzer only threw want amounts to be a 32-pitch side session between starts last night so he’ll be more than ready for Sunday’s Game 2.  Fister would be fully rested for Game 3 on Tuesday and should finally be treated to a home start after being thrown to the wolves of Yankee Stadium twice in the last week.  Leyland’s seemingly insane plan to hold Verlander out of last night’s game may prove to be a genius move, keeping the soon-to-be MVP very rested and available to possibly start Games 4 and 7* (*if necessary) in addition to Game 1 on reasonable rest.

I’m sticking with what worked for me in the ALDS and picking the Tigers to win in five again and make their second World Series in five years.  Let’s just hope the outcome is a little kinder this time (and hope the Cardinals lose tonight!).

Welcome to my nightmare

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Base hit after base hit after base hit after base hit… The nightmare of the Yankees’s (a.k.a. “Gas-House Gorillas”) 8th inning kept me up all night.  Even more unsettling were the repeating images of the two circus catches by former Tigers hero Curtis Granderson that bailed out A.J. Burnett and sent the ALDS back to New York for Game 5* (*now very necessary).

Burnett must’ve had a horseshoe up his ass because he looked like anything but a major league pitcher before Granderson’s heroics.  TBS’s Pitch Trax looked more like a Jackson Pollock painting with all the random dots and streaks sprayed erratically over the entire canvas during Burnett’s first inning.  The Tigers took advantage and patiently drew three walks while Burnett was working on his abstract design setting the stage for Don Kelly’s rocket shot to deep center.  Granderson, who had often remarked that he had trouble with balls hit directly at him at Comerica Park during his time as a Tiger, initially took a step or two in, underestimating Kelly’s power.  How Granderson recovered in time to snare a ball that was already over his head and behind him, I’ll never know.  Even after watching all the infernally incessant replays, I still don’t understand how it didn’t sail over his glove by at least six inches.

Regardless, the play clearly turned the tide and settled down Burnett who cruised until two outs in the 6th with a 4-1 lead. After giving up a single to Kelly (ironically enough) Burnett was relieved by the world’s highest-paid middle reliever Rafael Soriano who promptly gave up a tailing shot by Jhonny Peralta into the gap in left center. But Granderson was there again to bail out his brethren as he made another ridiculous diving catch to rob Peralta of extra bases, a sure RBI, and stem the tide of yet another Tigers rally.

Despite cosmic occurrences conspiring against him, the Tigers 22-year-old pitcher Rick Porcello did an admirable job keeping things close, giving up four runs on five hits while striking out five. The game was still in some doubt until the Gorillas’ merciless, 38 minute 8th-inning mauling.

But now we turn to Thursday’s Game 5* (*now very necessary) where there seems to be some silly controversy brewing on the blog. My counterpart insists that the Tigers send Justin Verlander out to start on two days rest while I maintain he will be more effective out of the bullpen to pick up where Septermber’s AL Pitcher of the Month Doug Fister (on full rest) leaves off.  Regardless, the debate is irrelevant because manager Jim Leyland agrees with my sound logic and has announced Fister is his Game 5 starter.

All bets are off as we head back to the Bronx.  PV does make some great points about the Yahkees woes in recent ALDSs so I’m still feeling pretty confident my prediction of Detroit in 5 will prove to be spot on.  I’ll certainly be drinking by 10:45 tomorrow night—I just hope it’ll be along with the Tigers in celebration.

Evil Empire on the verge of destruction

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Game 3 Recap
Last night’s epic struggle between the game’s top pitching behemoths Justin Verlander and CC Sabathia certainly lived up to it’s billing, but not in the locked-down, low-scoring way most expected.  While CC was shaky from the beginning, he was able to get out of trouble with double plays in each of the frist three innings, Verlander gave up two quick runs and then settled into his usual dominant groove. The soon-to-be MVP stuck out 11 (including every Yankee in the starting lineup) and topped the 100 mph mark 15 times—his highest total ever.

Eventually, Detroit was able to wear down CC with clutch hits from some unlikely sources in utility infielder Ramon “Code Red” Santiago and the much-maligned Brandon Inge. The two combined to go 4-for-8 with two doubles, two runs scored and two RBI. Meanwhile, New York was finally able to get to Verlander again in the 7th despite his attempts to explode the radar gun to tie the game at 4.

But the death blow to put the Evil Empire on the brink of elimination came from another unexpected source in waiver-wire acquisition Delmon Young.  The “Little Meat Hook’s” opposite-field blast off the world’s highest-paid middle reliever Rafael Soriano put the Tigers up 5-4, setting things up for closer Jose Valverde to give all Tigers fans a heart attack, but eventually managing to get the Save as he always does.

Game 4 Preview
Tonight’s Game 4 couldn’t be billed more differently as New York’s worst nightmare A.J. Burnett (11-11, 5.15 ERA)  heads to the mound to face the consistently inconsistant Rick Porcello (14-9, 4.75 ERA) for Detroit.  While last night’s game was the battle of the best starters in the league, it’s pretty clear tonight will be a battle of the bullpens.

With Verlander gutting out eight innings last night, Tigers manager Jim Leyland will have a more rested bullpen than the Yankees.  Saddled with inferior starting pitching that hasn’t been able to go six innings in either of the last two games, New York manager Joe Girardi has been forced to burn thru his two best middle relievers in Soriano and Dave Robertson last night as well as Boone Logan, Cory Wade and Luis Ayala for a totat of 3.2 innings on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Tigers haven’t used anyone but Valverde and Joaquin Benoit out of the pen over the last two days so Leyland has a full arsenal to work with. With the offenses being equally potent, the Tigers have the edge with a slightly better starter, more bullets it their bullpen, and a raucous crowd at their backs. This series is OVAH!!!

Game 5* (*if necessary)
Even if by some miracle the Tigers don’t clinch tonight, all is not lost as some hysterical bloggers have suggested. Detroit would send September’s American League Pitcher of the Month Doug Fister (8-2, 2.40 ERA as a Tiger) to the mound, fully rested on Thursday.  Despite one poor inning on Saturday, Fister has proven he can get the job done over the long haul and is simply better than his Game 5* (*if necessary) counterpart, Ivan Nova (17-4, 3.66 ERA).

Those same hysterical bloggers have even suggested that Leyland must start Verlander in Game 5* (*if necessary).  While I agree that Verlander is superhuman and capable of the virtually impossible, to start him on two-days rest after throwing 120 pitches would be a ridiculous panic move and totally unnecessary.  While not unprecedented, a starting pitcher going on two-days rest in the postseason hasn’t happened since the late 1960s when four-man rotations were the norm and there was only one round of the playoffs, not three.

Furthermore, it’s ridiculous to rush Verlander back when you have a legit starter ready to go with Fister. It would be ludicrous to just give up on a pitcher with a sub-3.00 ERA for the season because of a mere blip on the radar in very strange circumstances Saturday. But even in the unlikely event everything falls apart for the Tigers in Game 4 and Game 5* (*if necessary), no one said Verlander won’t be available out of the bullpen in an all-hands-on-deck, worst-case scenario.  Once again, advantage Tigers.

Things really couldn’t be more bleak for the Yankees. Any way you stack it, the Tigers hold the advantage in almost every remaining facet of the series.  Whether they win it tonight or win it on Thursday, all of Detroit will be smiling and New York will be left questioning how a team with a $200 million payroll could loose to the Tigers for the second time in five years.

We’ve only just begun…

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Perhaps lost in the malstrom of Wednesday night’s epic finishes and equally epic collapses on THE GREATEST NIGHT IN MLB REGULAR SEASON HISTORY is the fact that Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera won the American League batting title with a .344 average.

He joins pitching Triple Crown winner Justin Verlander (24 Ws, 2.40 ERA, 250 Ks—oh yeah, and he had the top WHIP of 0.92 for good measure) and Saves leader Jose Valverde (49 of 49) on one of the greatest Tigers rosters in the history of the illustrious franchise.

Winning 95 games for the 10th time in their 110 seasons, Detroit has fared quite nicely against each of the remaining AL teams. Of those 95 wins, 14% came against New York (4-3), Texas (4-2) and Tampa (5-1). They also come into the playoffs as the hottest team in the Majors, going 30-9 down the stretch.

But this is only the beginning.  Regular season accomplishments and accolades are meaningless if you don’t get it done on the big stage in the playoffs and it doesn’t get any bigger than Game 1 tonight in the Bronx.

Many have lamented the Tigers’ loss of home field advantage to Texas by one game, forcing them face the hallowed Yankees in the frist round. But this actually works to the Tigers’ advantage as they will only have to beat them three times in the shortened Division series instead of four in the ALCS.  They’re going to have to face them at some point so why not make it easier on themselve?  We only have to look back to 2006 to see it can work as the Tigers dismantled another 97-win Yankees club, three games to one.

As we all know, pitching wins championships and tonight’s heavyweight battle between Verlander and CC Sabathia should prove to be one for the ages. I could analyze the stats forever but the simple fact is JV-MVP is just better than CC and should prevail.  However, even if  the 2011 Cy Young winner falters or Tigers bats go quiet versus Carsten Charles, Detroit’s superior pitching depth will prove to be too much for the Yankees to handle.

Game 2 will feature September’s AL Pitcher of the Month Doug Fister versus an impressive, yet inexperienced 24-year-old Ivan Nova.  The matchup favors Detroit once again with Fister sporting a 2.83 ERA and 1.06 WHIP vs. Nova’s 3.70/1.33.  No contest.

Monday’s Game 3 is where things get really interesting when the Tigers return home sending the mysterious heterochromiac Max Scherzer to the mound against Sweaty Freddy Garcia. We’re never sure if we’ll get Good Max when he’s using his blue eye or Bad Max when his brown eye takes over, but he always has the potential to dominate.  Garcia had been known as s Tigers killer throughout his career, but that reputation hasn’t held true lately as he’s 0-3 vs. Detroit since last September.

But the real key to Game 3, and possibly the whole series will actually be the off day, Sunday.  As long as Tigers’ brass can keep Garcia’s sweaty mits off his Venezuelan buddy Miguel Cabrera and out of any of the saloons the two used to haunt, the Tigers should be just fine.

If the Tigers need a fourth game, manager Jim Leyland has already announced he won’t send Verlander out on three days’ rest so it’ll be Rick Porcello vs. C.C. Sabathia.  I don’t like that matchup at all so let’s just hope it doesn’t come to that.  But it it does, the Tigers have the ultimate ace in the hole with Verlander waiting in the wings on his normal five days’ rest to face a completely overmatched Ivan Nova on short rest.  In the immortal words of the tiger-blooded Charlie Sheen: “WINNING!”

Final verdict: The Tigers’ superior pitching depth will prevail. I’ll be conservative and take the Tigers in 5.

All the right moves

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Tigers' GM, Dave Dombrowski and manager, Jim Leyland admire their masterpiece.

After being lambasted for questionable moves at the trading deadline over the past few seasons that have not paid off, Tigers’ GM, Dave Dombrowski has made all the right moves this season and assembled the best team in the American League since August 1 with a 22-11 record while building a 7.5 game lead over the Indians.

The key move came on July 30th when Dombrowski sent four role players and mid-level prospects to Seattle for an overlooked pitching star-in-the-making with an unfortunate last name, Doug Fister. The Tigers’ GM was able to past his poor 3-12 record and saw that his poor record was due to the Mariners scoring only 1.97 runs per game for him—the lowest for any pitcher in the AL.  Since the trade, the 6′-8″ giant has gone 4-1 with a stunning 2.64 ERA and 1.04 WHIP while racking up 36 strikeouts against only 4 walks, culminating in yesterday’s 13 K domination of second place Cleveland. Those kinds of numbers would put him in the top slot of most rotations, but Fister has to settle for the #2 slot behind soon-to-be AL MVP, Justin Verlander, in a rotation that is now as feared as any in the league and primed for a long playoff run.

Other less heralded, yet shrewd maneuvers include the addition of Wilson Betemit  and waiver acquisition of Delmon Young from division rivals Kansas City and Minnesota respectively.  While I was not initially in favor of the move for Betemit, the switch-hitter has added the depth and versatility manager Jim Leyland has been looking for, batting .290 with three home runs and 14 RBIs as a platoon player. It’s hard to admit, but I was wr… wro… wr… wrong. Delmon Young made a huge splash in his Tigers debut with a home run in his first at-bat and has filled the #3 hole quite nicely, batting .300 with 17 RBIs in his 20 games with the club.

As we head down the stretch, the Tigers superior pitching and batting depth has proven to be too much for division foes, Cleveland and Chicago. Their lead in the AL Central has ballooned from 2 games on August 1 to 7.5 today culminating with the death blow sweep of the White Sox over the weekend, out-scoring the sagging South Siders 35-11.

Game One saw Verlander easily get his 21st win, befuddling Sox’ bats in an 8-1 laugher. Game Two was the back-breaker. Detroit came back from a 7-run deficit in the 5th to win on a mammoth walk-off shot by Miguel Cabrera that is still sending shockwaves around the Midwest.  The Mercy Rule should’ve been invoked in Game Three as the Tigers destroyed the Sox’ 18-2 on national television in a display that will give South Side children nightmares and make their mothers weep for years to come.

Only one man, my counterpart, Peter Verniere, has not lost hope for the obviously doomed White Sox.  I have to admire his courage in the face of such insurmountable odds.  Keep reaching for that rainbow, Pete.

AL Central Trade Winners, losers

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Well, the trading deadline has past and I’d thought I’d weigh in on who were the winners and losers in the AL Central, outside of one clear-cut winner, I think everyone faired well, except for the team that traded away their entire future for an average pitcher this season.

1 – Detroit Tigers
By far made the smartest most efficient moves to better their squad in the necessary areas without giving away the farm like another AL Central club. Doug Fister has been a hard luck loser on a bad ball club, the Seattle Mariners. Fister only has three wins this season despite posting a 3.33 ERA, while only allowing 139 hits over 146 innings pitched. Reliever, David Pauley is also an improvement of Charlie Furbush, who pitched well out of the pen for the Tigers, but Pauley has an ERA over a run lower. Enough said.

It pains me to say this, but even the signing of Wilson Betemit makes sense from the fact that he’s been a White Sox killer his entire career, which prompted the Sox to trade for him back in 2007 after the Nick Swisher debacle. Betemit committed three errors in the first four innings of a game and was not heard from much after that. It again cost very little and is an improvement over the struggling Brandon Inge.

2 – Sox/Twins/Royals
There might be people laughing at this right now, but by none of these teams making wholesale changes to their teams they’ve made a commitment to this season and next season by no real movement. Since the Sox had six starters and three players that can play third base they shed some salary and brought over a solid arm to improve the bullpen. With Edwin Jackson and somehow Kenny Williams getting a team to take Mark Teahan, the Sox cleared out some payroll without creating any holes.

The Twins did absolutely nothing which means they feel like making it a four team race, while the Royals only traded away Mike Aviles and his .222 batting average to Boston for two prospects. Again, a bold move for the Royals, but they have a solid nucleus and with the extra revenue next season from the All-Star game they might make some big offseason moves.

3 – The Cleveland Indians
Can’t figure the Indians out? Colorado refuses to release the medical records of Ubaldo Jimenez, so the Indians pay to fly him to their Spring Training facility to work out. He passed the physical so they sent the farm to the Rockies which included top prospects, Alex White and Drew Pomeranz. Both White and Pomeranz were considered the cornerstones of the future Indians’ starting rotation. Even more puzzling they sent Orlando Cabrera to the Giants for minor league outfielder, Thomas Neal, who is currently on the DL. Cabrera was only batting .244, but seemed to be pretty clutch for the Indians this season. Last I checked Jimenez won’t be batting and the Indians really needed some offensive help, but nothing there. Smart.

Kosuke Fukudome was putting together a solid season with the Cubs, but rumors are that the Indians thought they needed to trade for a Japanese player by MLB rule, since they had Shin Soo-Choo on the DL. Well, not really but it’s kind of funny.