Do you suppose there's any chance Detroit Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski called up Dan O'Dowd, his counterpart with the Colorado Rockies, on Wednesday morning and thanked him for making the asking price too high for Ubaldo Jimenez?
The Cleveland Indians met O'Dowd's price and got a 4-4 record and 5.10 ERA from Jimenez for the trouble. Meanwhile, the Tigers took their business elsewhere and got Doug Fister from the Seattle Mariners. It took many, many phone calls to get a deal done, and Detroit still ended up shipping a load of talent to Seattle. But Fister was worth the expense, going 8-1 with a 1.79 ERA.
And that was just his regular-season record.
Following a shaky postseason debut in Game 1 of the ALDS against the New York Yankees (technically in relief of Justin Verlander, after that game's infamous rainout), Fister is a major reason the Tigers' World Series hopes are still alive.
In Game 5 of the ALDS, he allowed only one run over five innings to a Yankees lineup that had scored 26 runs in the series' previous four games.
And in Tuesday night's Game 3 of the ALCS against the Texas Rangers, with Detroit already down 0-2 in the series, Fister came through yet again. It wasn't a pretty beginning, as Texas hit three consecutive singles to take a 1-0 lead. But Fister found his bearings after getting Michael Young to ground into a double play and quickly ended the Rangers' threat.
[Fan central: Show your team pride with playoff gear | Buy postseason tickets]
From there, Fister cruised through six more innings, allowing four hits. Interestingly, three of those hits were from Yorvit Torrealba. Everyone else in the Rangers' lineup besides Torrealba and Ian Kinsler steadily grounded out or hit shallow fly balls, unable to center the bat on Fister's sinker. Even Nelson Cruz, who had been a Tigers killer in the series' first two games, went 0 for 3.
In two postseason starts, Fister has allowed three runs in 12 1/3 innings. If the ALCS goes to a seventh game, the Rangers will have to face him again. And Fister has already shown how well he can pitch in must-win games.
What's even better for the Tigers is that this could be just the beginning of a beautiful partnership. Fister is under club control for the next three seasons. Compare that to Jimenez, who could have just one more season with the Indians if they choose not to pick up the options for 2013 and 2014 on his contract.
Any way you look at it, Dombrowski made the better deal for his team, which has already yielded excellent benefits.
Follow Ian on Twitter ? @iancass ? and engage the Stew on Facebook
Other popular stories on Yahoo! Sports:
? Wrongly convicted boxer gets a bout at age 52
? Video: Dan Wheldon denies any dispute with Danica Patrick
? The 10 most significant team owners in sports history
No comments:
Post a Comment