The Detroit Tigers traded a high-quality starting pitcher for a mediocre package of players and prospects from the Washington Nationals. Cheap Air Jordan Shoes Free Shipping . Numbers Game looks at the Nationals acquisition of Doug Fister. The Nationals Get: RHP Doug Fister. Fister, 29, has been a highly-effective, if underrated, pitcher for the last three seasons. While his record in that span is merely 35-32, Fister has a 3.30 ERA and 1.19 WHIP. Early in his career, Fister wasnt much of a strikeout pitcher, relying on his sinker to generate groundball outs, striking out 5.0 per nine innings over his first two seasons. However, Fister got much better as a strikeout pitcher upon arriving in Detroit, throwing significantly more breaking balls. For example, in his second major league season, with Seattle, Fister threw either a slider or curve on 18.7% of his pitches. Over the last three years, that has increased from 32.6% to 33.6% to 34.6% last season. So, even with lacklustre velocity, including a fastball that averages 88.6 MPH, Fister has seen his strikeout numbers climb. In 70 games with the Tigers, Fister has whiffed 7.2 batters per nine innings, which isnt dominant, but is dramatically better than his first couple of seasons with the Mariners. All told, Fister has a fWAR of 13.3 over the last three seasons, which ranks ninth among starting pitchers in that span. Seriously, ninth! What were indicating here is that, while he may not have the name recognition, Doug Fister is a very good starting pitcher. Fister hasnt faced a lot of National League competition, making five career Inter-League starts, but has a 2.23 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and 35 strikeouts in 32 1/3 innings, an indication (in a very small sample) that the move to the NL shouldnt pose a problem. Fister, who made $4-million in 2013, is arbitration-eligible for the next couple seasons, but is ultimately very affordable for a starting pitcher is of his calibre. Joining a Washington Nationals rotation that already includes Stephen Strasburg, Jordan Zimmermann and Gio Gonzalez makes it easy for Fister to come in and perform, without any pressure to be the staff ace. Theres a whole lot to like about this deal for the Nationals. Its the kind of trade that could put them over the top as contenders next season. The Tigers Get: INF Steve Lombardozzi, LHP Robbie Ray and LHP Ian Krol. Lombardozzi is a 25-year-old utility player who has played at least 20 games at second base, third base and left field in the course of his two-plus major league seasons. He doesnt hit for power (.342 career slugging percentage) and doesnt get on base (.297 career on-base percentage) so, without notable offensive improvement, hes no more than a fill-in at the major league level. Ray, a 22-year-old southpaw, was a 12th-round pick of the Nationals in 2010. Splitting the 2013 season between High-A Potomac and Double-A Harrisburg, Ray was 11-5 with a 3.36 ERA and 1.25 WHIP, striking out 160 in 142 innings. He could develop into a major league starting pitcher, but hes not there yet and that means there is risk in his projection. Krol, 22, is a lefthanded reliever who pitched 32 games for the Nationals last season, posting a 3.95 ERA and 1.32 WHIP in 27 1/3 innings, striking out 22 and walking eight. Those are respectable enough numbers and, given his age, its fair to expect improvement, but lefthanded relievers have a limited impact on the game as a whole. Krols presence should allow Drew Smyly to move into the Tigers rotation, taking Fisters place. Smyly was excellent in relief last season, posting a 2.39 ERA and 1.03 WHIP, with 81 strikeouts in 76 innings. Even if Smyly is a wonderful addition to the Tigers starting rotation, that wont justify the relative pittance that Detroit received in return for Fister. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. Cheap Air Jordan . - Young and old. Wholesale Air Jordan Online .ca NHL Power Rankings, finally overtaking the St. Louis Blues and Chicago Blackhawks, who rank second and third this week. http://www.wholesaleairjordan.com/ . But that changed when he committed a five-minute major penalty and helped pave the way for a comeback by the Philadelphia Flyers. Vincent Lecavalier scored at 2:45 of overtime and the Flyers rallied from a two-goal deficit for a 5-4 victory on Sunday.TORONTO – As he does throughout most games, Randy Carlyle kept his arms tightly and tensely crossed on the Toronto bench as his team swiped another victory, now six in the first seven games this season. "Every win is not going to be a work of art," he would say shortly after the finish of a 4-1 win against Minnesota. Though not the least bit pretty in their performance, the Leafs (6-1-0) found another avenue for manufacturing victory, with special teams and sturdy net-minding the difference on this night. Without the puck for most of the evening, the Leafs were badly outshot 37-14, totaling just 30 attempts on the net compared with 68 for the Wild. They also dropped 62 per cent of the faceoffs. But as has been the case in the opening weeks of a strong start, one with many incomplete victories, Carlyle couldnt harp too strongly on the negatives in light of his team ultimately finding success. "Its hard to be critical when youre getting points," he said. "[But] were not going to continue to accept whats happening. We have to find a way to mold this from a different angle. Our level of play has to increase. We were on the receiving end. You cant continue to play that way and expect to have success." Perhaps most important to their success in the early going, special teams were a key point again versus the Wild. The continually potent Toronto power play scored twice in three opportunities – Tyler Bozak and Mason Raymond with the goals – and now ranks as the third-best so far this season with a success rate of 33.3 per cent. Additionally strong once more was the penalty kill, also ranked third overall with an 89 per cent success mark, stymying the previously scorching Wild power-play on four of five attempts, including three of four in a penalty-laden first frame. Raymond added an empty-netter and now, with four goals this season, is also tied for the team lead with eight points. "I think the stats are showing it," said the 27-year-old of special teams. "Theres no secret. At the end of the day, in my opinion, its winning us games." The coach agreed with his forwards sentiment. "Timely goals on special teams make the difference in games like tonight," Carlyle observed. Continued stability in goal also proved consequential, especially in light of 23-year-old Wild goaltender Darcy Kuemper yielding three goals on seven shots. Though not without flurries of noise in his performance, James Reimer managed to stop 36 of 37 shots in his first start since the home opener 10 days earlier. He was busy throughout the proceedings, memorably stopping breakaway attempts from Mikael Granlund and Torey Mitchell in the middle period. As one of the more prominent flaws in their performance as a team thus far, the Leafs remained far "too loose" in their defensive play against the Wild (more on this in Five Points) and were again sloppy with the puck. They have allowed an unmanageable 35 shots per game so far this season, good for 14 more on average than first-ranked Minnesota. Such flaws have been masked with strong and timely goaltending, elite special teams and plenty of offence. Carlyle fears this will catch up with his team soon though, especially with far superior opponents from Chicago, Anaheim and Pittsburgh looming soon on the calendar. "The message has to be delivered and framed in the proper way that youre not tearing them down," he stated of his approach in the days ahead. "Even though were not playing the way wed like to play, were still finding a way to win hockey games. This is what the league is about. Youre here to win. You can talk and describe and theres ample footage and theres ample evidence that were not playing to the high enough level, but were playing high enough to win hockey games." Carlyle concluded his thoughts bluntly. "The worry for coaches is that some night were going to get our butt kicked playing like this." Five Points 1. Fighting the puck Despite his 36 saves, Reimer wasnt entirely thrilled with his performance against the Wild, this in his first start since Oct. 5. "Honestly overall I wasnt that happy with my game," he said. "I just didnt feel that I was as sharp as I couldve been in some instances. I was focused, I was intense, I was mentally in the right frame of mind, but I think just the rhythm of stopping pucks; I felt I could never get into that rhythm, I guess you could say, where things were sticking to me." Reimer was hooked after yielding four goals on 21 shots in his previous start against the Senators. He improved to 2-0-0 lifetime againstt Minnesota. Cheap Air Jordan For Sale. "Its like as a player when you feel you dont have your hands so then you chip the puck in and go to work," he continued of this most recent start. "Thats kind of how it was for me." 2. Goaltending decisions Earlier in the day, Carlyle spoke to the decision of going with Reimer against the Wild, Jonathan Bernier making the previous three starts. "You try to balance and you try to do an assessment on performance of individuals and how our team has played in front of [the goaltender] and the chances that were giving up and the quality of chances," he said. "And all those things go into the decision-making process along with number of games in a row. You dont want people to get stale. We have a decision to make based upon three or four factors." The Leafs face the Hurricanes next on Thursday, to whom Reimer owns a 4-1-1 career record and .927 save percentage. Bernier yielded five goals on 31 shots in his last start, a 6-5 win against the Oilers. 3. Defensive improvements Asked to pinpoint one needed improvement as it pertained to his teams defensive game, Carl Gunnarsson cited an area of will. "If I could pick one thing I would say weve got to win more one-on-one battles along the boards mainly," he told the Leaf Report before Tuesdays game. "Just have more, what would you call it, mental ability to go in there and you want to not kill a guy, but you really want to go in there and win that battle because not only are we talking about winning the game, but theres games in the game too and you want to win that one, every one-on-one battle that you can. I think we can be better at that." 4. Defensive improvements pt. 2 Questioned on the subject shortly thereafter, Carlyle added, "I just think overall were too loose in the three zones. Its not so much as the winning of the one-on-one battles, I think its the ability to step inside and be first on pucks; talk about team toughness and all those things, its willing to take a check to make a play; stop on pucks instead of circling away; win your share of one-on-one battles; start with the puck more on face-offs. All those things are factors that go into improving your team play." 5. JVR Out James van Riemsdyk sat out Tuesdays game with a mysterious upper-body injury. Carlyle wouldnt provide much in the way of details as to the injury, but noted that it did not occur during a game. Since the Leafs had the day off Sunday and the 23-year-old missed practice Monday, one would be led to believe that the injury occurred off the ice. "Were surprised with what happened," Carlyle said without further explanation. Bonus Point I Morgan Rielly got his first extended look on the power-play, replacing Paul Ranger on the second unit with Jake Gardiner. The 19-year-old notched the second of his two assists there on the first of two goals from Raymond. Additionally garnering opportunity on the penalty kill was Nazem Kadri. For the second straight game, the 23-year-old received second shift duty, totaling 1:29 on Tuesday. Bonus Point II Now the number one faceoff team in the NHL, the Wild took 34 of 55 draws against the Leafs, who fell to fourth-worst overall at 44.7 per cent. Boasting a 52.6 per cent success rate in 2013, Tyler Bozak has notably fallen to 48.6 per cent through seven games. He won just 9 of 21 faceoffs against the Wild, owned mostly by Mikko Koivu. Stat-Pack 68-30 – Difference in total shots attempts, widely favouring the Wild. 14 – Difference in average shots allowed nightly between the Leafs and Wild. 9-27 – Toronto power-play through seven games. 24-27 – Toronto penalty kill through seven games. 21:02 – Ice-time for Jay McClement on Tuesday, leading all Toronto forwards. 1:42 – Ice-time on the power-play for Morgan Rielly against the Wild. 8 – Points for Mason Raymond, matching Phil Kessel and Joffrey Lupul for the team lead. Special Teams Capsule PP: 2-3 PK: 4-5 Quote of the Night I "Every win is not going to be a work of art." -Randy Carlyle on a 4-1 win over the Wild. Quote of the Night II "I saw it just trickling over the line. It was a great feeling. I didnt know what kind of celebration I was going to do, but the crowd was up behind me. It felt really good." -Lifelong Leaf fan Trevor Smith on scoring his first goal with the club on Tuesday. Up Next The Leafs host Eric Staal and the Hurricanes on Thursday night. 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