Fister impressed the hell out of me when he started against the Yankees last week.

Furbush?

Irving?

Ideally, this strategy should be something the M's can exploit... get a finesse pitcher, put a good defense behind him in your pitchers' park, then trade him after he runs up some stats (that are not likely to be duplicated once he's removed from those circumstances). Let's see what they get back.

Francisco Martinez (3B, 20 years old, starting at AA) (Tigers' 4th best prospect preseason -- BA) (Tigers' 6th best prospect preseason -- KLAW).

This crushes my dream of having Fister, Furbush and Wang all on the same team.

I think this is a good trade for both teams. Doubtful that the PTBNL is of consequence, so looking at the players involved, I think Furbush has a good track record but just isn't able to consume as many innings as Fister. Casper Wells could have a couple okay years with the bat, which would obviously be big for the Mariners. But seems redundant for the Tigers with Dirks and Raburn, etc. sitting around. He is a righty though, which is usually not a promising sign in Safeco. And then maybe Martinez develops.

Gotta root for Casper to break out. His dad is one of the nicest people I know. He was a tight end at Colgate after being a three sport star in high school.

Fister is a cheap cromulent innings-eater, he will be missed in Seattle. Pauley was nails early this season, has come back to earth, but again is cheap and club-controllable.

Wells will probably be useful, but his delta over Greg Halman is probably not a lot. W'll see what happens going forward, but i would have preferred that the M's held onto those two guys until this winter and looked for a solid outfielder in return.

Prospects, I always look askance at.

Fister has been quite interesting. He was never rated highly as a prospect and had an anticipated upside as a fungible #5 starter but who more likely would find a spot in the bullpen. Along the way, though, Fister honed his control and over the last year has added a few ticks of velocity, so that now he's a very serviceable starter. He should do well in Comerica and I think that Tigers fans will be pleased with what he will bring. He not only helps them out this year, but with the years of control should be a mainstay for several years. He's not going to be an ace, but he's should be more than an innings eater.

Pauley is a serviceable bullpen arm. In the off-season guys like Pauley are readily available, but they all find jobs so if you need one during the season you have to pay something to pick one up.

****

Per Larry Stone of the Seattle Times the PTBNL could be a significant part of the deal.

Tigers' 6th best prospect preseason

The trade makes sense now.

Brewers acquire Jerry Hairston Jr. from Nats

Nats receive Erik Komatsu Motors.

"Komatsu, 23, was batting .294 in 93 games with Double-A Huntsville this season. He was taken in the eighth round of the 2008 draft, and was the Brewers' minor league player of the year last season."

Favorite actor: Katt Williams

And Red Sox nab Mike Aviles.

Trades are starting to happen fast. Perhaps we should start a catch-all thread?

I'm assuming "The Sandlot, Pimp Chronicles Part 1" is two movies?
Otherwise that's an interesting sounding sequel.

Fister for Furbush is probably the nastiest trade since the Dodgers traded Tim Felcher to the Indians for Mike Hunt and T'aint Robinson.

Bowden reporting Marquis to the D-Backs for Zach Walker.

Bowden also reporting Span for Storen is close. Who knows what anybody is thinking on that one?

It's Bowden so rate accordingly.

Koi Uehara for Tommy Hunter and Chris Davis.

Slick trade for Baltimore, I think.

EDIT: Dallas Morning News reporting the Rangers are getting salary relief.

Bowden reports that the Nationals acquire a mediocre African-American outfielder? Maybe he's still calling the shots over there.

Ubaldo scratched!