The Tigers continue to make moves this off-season. In another big trade, the team sent right-hander Doug Fister to the Nationals in exchange for pitching prospect Robbie Ray, utility infielder Steve Lombardozzi and southpaw reliever Ian Krol.
The Nationals were one of the teams rumored to be on the Jeff Samardzija trade hunt. And I speculated that Krol could have been part of the package for the Shark. But the Tigers pulled the trigger first.
Fister had a very good season. He went 14-9, 3.67 ERA, 1.308 WHIP and 4.1 WAR. He solidifies the Nationals rotation.
The Tigers add some young arms and depth in the infield. Ray is a 22-year-old southpaw who was a consensus
top-ten prospect in the Washington organization. The 12th rounder
signed for above slot in 2010, and rose to the Double-A level last year
in his age-21 campaign, notching 58 innings of 3.72 ERA ball at
Harrisburg where he went 5-2, with a 1.328 WHIP. Krol, also 22, is a young, left-handed reliever who showed a power
fastball in his jump to the bigs last year. For the Nats, he went 2-1, 3.95 ERA, 1.317 WHIP and 0.1 WAR.
Lombardozzi, 25, plays mostly second base. He hit .259 last year, with 2 HR, 22 RBI, .278 OBP, 4 SB. He appears to be insurance/bench player behind newly acquired Ian Kinsler.
Many people believe that the Nationals got the better deal, but that may be in the short run. The Tigers received two quality young left handed pitchers in the deal.
If the Cubs made the same deal with the Nationals for Samardzija, fans would have been happy with the results, because even Lombardozzi would be an offensive upgrade over Darwin Barney at second base.
