The Tigers have acquired 27-year old righty starting pitcher Doug Fister and 28-year old righty reliever David Pauley from the Mariners for 25-year old lefty starter/reliever Charlie Furbush, 26-year old righty swinging outfielder Casper Wells, 20-year old righty swinging 3B Francisco Martinez and a player to be named later. Fister has been very unlucky this year due to the very weak “offense” of the Mariners. Fister has started 21 games so far this year and he is 3-12 with a 3.33 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP. He has pitched in 60 games (59 starts) in his first three years in the majors and he is 12-30 with a 3.81 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP. I look for him to win a lot of games the last two months for the Tigers with an improved team around him. David Pauley pitched in 39 games (0 starts) for the Mariners this year and he is 5-4 with a 2.15 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP. He has pitched in 67 games (20 starts) in his first four years in the majors and he is 9-16 with a 4.36 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP. Both of these guys are pitching the best baseball of their careers right now and the Tigers hope they keep up the good work.

Casper Wells played in 64 games for the Tigers this year and he was 29 for 113 (.257 avg, .774 OPS) with 16 runs scored, 4 homers, 12 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He played in 100 games in his two years with the Tigers and he was 59 for 206 (.286 avg, .831 OPS) with 30 runs scored, 8 homers, 29 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Wells will start in LF for the Mariners. Charlie Furbush pitched in 17 games (2 starts) for the Tigers in his first taste of the majors this year and he was 1-3 with a 3.62 ERA and a 1.55 WHIP. Furbush will likely replace Fister in the Mariners’ starting rotation. Francisco Martinez played in 91 games in AA-ball this year and he was 98 for 348 (.282 avg, .724 OPS) with 63 runs scored, 7 homers, 46 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. Martinez has a nice upside.

The Tigers gave up a lot to get Fister and Pauley, so they hope they keep pitching like they are right now the rest of the year.

UPDATE: (8/17/2011) - The Tigers have sent 22-year old righty reliever Chance Ruffin to the Mariners to complete this deal. Ruffin came into this season as the Tigers’ #7 prospect according to Baseball America. He was selected with the #48 overall pick of the 2010 Amateur Draft by the Tigers. Ruffin pitched in 2 games (0 starts) for the Tigers this year and he was 0-0 with a 4.91 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP. Ruffin also pitched in 44 games (0 starts) in AA+AAA-ball this year and he was 3-3 with 19 saves, a 2.03 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. Now I really don’t like this deal for the Tigers.

28-year old righty swinging 1B Miguel Cabrera has been awesome, as usual, for the Tigers this year. He has played in 105 games for the Tigers so far this year and he is 115 for 365 (.315 avg, .994 OPS) with 72 runs scored, 22 homers, 68 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Teams have been walking Cabrera a lot this year (74 times) which makes his numbers even more eye popping. They are giving him a ton of respect as Victor Martinez and Jhonny Peralta are having huge years batting behind him this year. Cabrera could set new career highs in walks (89) and runs scored (112) this year if he continues on his current pace. Cabrera has now played in 575 games in his first four years with the Tigers and he is 673 for 2,140 (.314 avg, .962 OPS) with 364 runs scored, 131 homers, 424 RBIs and 11 stolen bases.

The Tigers are on the hunt for pitching next week. They really need a starter and they are willing to pay the price to get a good one. James Shields, Jeremy Guthrie, Brett Myers, Hiroki Kuroda, Ted Lilly and Wandy Rodriguez are the top tier available on the trade market. The second tier is where the Tigers could find a nugget though with Doug Fister, Aaron Harang, Bruce Chen, Jason Vargas, Erik Bedard or Chris Capuano being available. With the Mariners really desperate for position players that can hit, I think a deal for Fister, Vargas or Bedard make sense with outfielder Casper Wells being the bait. The Tigers also are looking for righty relievers. Frank Francisco, Octavio Dotel, Jon Rauch, Jason Frasor, Koji Uehara, Brad Ziegler, Michael Wuertz, Grant Balfour, Matt Lindstrom and Matt Guerrier make the most sense as they are looking for a solid 7th inning guy. The Tigers have a good hitting team but they need reinforcements pitching wise to hold off the Indians, White Sox and Twins in the A.L. Central.

The Tigers have acquired 29-year old switch-hitting 3B Wilson Betemit from the Royals for 21-year old righty swinging catcher Julio Rodriguez and 19-year old lefty reliever/starter Antonio Cruz. Betemit will step right in and start at 3B for the Tigers. Betemit has played in 57 games for the Royals this year and he is 57 for 203 (.281 avg, .750 OPS) with 29 runs scored, 3 homers, 27 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. He has now played in 657 games in his 9 years in the majors and he is 434 for 1,622 (.268 avg, .778 OPS) with 212 runs scored, 58 homers, 224 RBIs and 8 stolen bases.

Julio Rodriguez has played in 66 games in A-ball for the Tigers this year and he was 64 for 226 (.283 avg, .679 OPS) with 20 runs scored, 1 homer and 27 RBIs. Antonio Cruz pitched in 22 games (10 starts) in A-ball for the Tigers this year and he was 2-6 with 1 save, a 3.11 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. Neither of these guys are considered top prospects, so the Tigers made a nice more here as Betemit will be a clear upgrade on Brandon Inge.

34-year old righty swinging 3B Brandon Inge has had an awful time with the bat so far this year. Inge has played in 70 games for the Tigers so far this year and he is 38 for 215 (.177 avg, .483 OPS) with 18 runs scored, 1 homer, 17 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He has also been pathetic as pitch selection this year as he has whiffed 60 times while only walking 17 times. Don’t be surprised one bit if the Tigers make a deal for a 3B as they don’t have many alternatives on the active roster.

UPDATE: (7/21/2011) - The Tigers have designated Brandon Inge for assignment. He will most certainly clear waivers and play most of the rest of the 2011 season in AAA-ball. Inge has played in 1,367 games in his 11 years with the Tigers and he is 1,066 for 4,552 (.234 avg, .691 OPS) with 514 runs scored, 137 homers, 581 RBIs and 45 stolen bases. Inge is the Tigers’ all-time leader in whiffs with 1,169 of them.

UPDATE: (7/26/2011) - Brandon Inge has accepted an outright assignment to AAA to remain with the Tigers. That means he will get his full pay to play for the Toledo Mud Hens.