Hello Doug Fister and David Pauley

Doug Fister

The MLB trade deadline has passed and the Tigers have made a move that I believe really improves their chances at making the playoffs.  The Tigers traded away Casper Wells, Charlie Furbush, Minor League 3b Francisco Martinez and a player to be named later.  First off to the people who say that the Tigers gave up too much are crazy.  They gave away two players who have played a little in the majors this season and look like they could be good but not great.  They also are players who don't really have a lot of potential in my opinion.  But the player that people are really mad that we gave up is minor leaguer Fransico Martinez. People are wondering how we could give up our 3b of the future, but those people obviously don't pay attention to the Tigers minor league system.  The real 3b of the future for the Tigers is Nick Castellanos.  He is younger, putting up better offensive numbers and has less errors in the field.  The Tigers have known this for a while and that made Martinez expendable.

David Pauley

The Tigers are getting some pretty good young pitchers in return as well.  In Doug Fister the Tigers are getting a 27 year old starter from the Seattle Mariners.  People cannot judge him off of his win loss record because he received the worst run support in the league while pitching for the Mariners.  Plus his other numbers are superb.  He has a 3.33 ERA and 1.17 WHIP.  Those numbers are better than his former teammate in Seattle Felix Hernandez.  He is a good pitcher who really makes the pitching rotation a lot better and will give the Tigers a chance to win the game every time he takes the mound.
The other pitcher the Tigers received in the trade was a relief pitcher named David Pauley.  He is having a great season posting an ERA of 2.15 and a great WHIP of 0.99.  He started his career spending two seasons in Boston before joining Seattle for the last year and half.  Since joining Seattle he has put up good numbers.  The addition of Pauley really makes a bullpen, that at times looks shaky, a lot more reliable to get the job done.  These two players were exactly what I think the Tigers needed to make them the Central Division Champions.

Hello Eric Wright, Stephen Tulloch, and Justin Durant

Stephen Tulloch

The NFL lockout is over and the Lions have made some very nice moves in free agency already.  There were a few in particular to me, that stood out as being possible difference making moves.  The signing of Stephen Tulloch is the signing that i believe will have the biggest impact.
Stephen Tulloch is a middle linebacker who spent the first five years of his career as a Tennessee Titan.  This means that he has played for Jim Schwartz before and is familiar with the scheme the Lions play.  His career has really taken off in the last two seasons.  He finished the '09 season with 121 tackles and the '10 season with 160 tackles.  These are the numbers we should expect from Tulloch this season with him playing behind such a great defensive line.  Since he is only signed to a one year contract he is going to need to continue putting up big numbers to get a big contract next season.  This is a risk for the Lions because if he has a huge year they may not be able to afford him next year, but this is a risk I think is worth taking.  This is the perfect move for the Lions considering the holes they had at linebacker coming into this season.

Justin Durant

Another big move the Lions made was signing another linebacker named Justin Durant.  Justin spent the first four years of his career in Jacksonville with the Jaguars.  This is a good move that has some big question marks.  The reason it is a good move is because when Durant plays he puts up big tackle numbers and seems to have a nose of the ball.  The big question mark on the deal is the fact that Justin is yet to play a full season in his four year career.  The most games he has played in a season came in the '08 season when he played in 14 games.  Last season he played in a career low 10 games.  If Durant can stay on the field the Lions will have improved their linebackers immensely over the offseason.

Eric Wright 

The final big signing the Lions made was that of defensive back Eric Wright.  This is another move that has some risk but also has high reward.  Eric had been with the Cleveland Browns for all 4 years of his career.  His best seasons were the '08 and '09 season when he had a combined 7 INT'S and caused 5 safeties.  He also had good tackle numbers for a defensive back finishing in the mid 60's both seasons.  After those seasons he was considered around the league as a up and comer who had a bright future ahead of him.  But last season Wright took a step backwards,  only playing in 13 games and only having one interception.  If Wright can return to his form of the '08 and '09 seasons, this could be a great signing for the Detroit Lions.  This would allow the Lions to have found the big play corner they needed without spending the big time money on some of the bigger names on the market.  If these three signings pan out the way the Lions anticipate, the playoffs should be in the very near future.