Back in 2011 the Mariners had a plethora of pitching talent and a dearth of hitting ability. By July the team was headed to yet another last place finish. So, GM Jack Z decided to trade away one of his promising young starters, Doug Foster and a solid reliever, David Pauley to the Detroit Tigers. Once he arrived in Detroit, Fister turned into a great pitcher. He has a 2.73 ERA as a Tiger. As compensation for Fister the Mariners received, Capser Wells, Fransisco Martinez, Chance Ruffin and Charlie Furbush.
The center piece of this trade was supposed to be Martinez. Last week the Mariners traded him back to Detoit for cash considerations, essentially giving up completely on him. The other hitter in the trade was Casper Wells, a defense first outfielder with too many strikeouts and not enough power. He got cut by the M's this off season and still hasn't found a permanent MLB home. A reliever, Chance Ruffin, was included in the trade because he was near Major league ready and has an electric arm. After forgetting how to throw strikes in AAA last year, he is currently in AA Jackson and isnt really considered by anyone to be in the future plans for the team. That leaves only Furbush as a contributor to the Mariners.
When he came over to the Mariners, Furbush was a starter. He is now a reliever and although he is not quite a LOOGY, he does specialize in getting lefties out. As such his potential value to the M's dropped dramatically. However, with all three other players the M's received as part of the trade providing zero value, the burden of salvaging the trade falls entirely on Furbush. Unless Charlie manages to become the greatest left handed reliver ever this trade is going to go down as a failure for Jack Z. In fact it might even be the epitome of all Jack Z trades. They look good when they happen and than turn out worthless in the end.
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