The Astros have announced the signing of righty Doug Fister to a one-year deal. The PSI Sports Management client will receive a $7MM guarantee in the contract, which includes incentives that can boost its total value to $12MM, Chris Cotillo of SB Nation tweets.
Heading into the winter, MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes predicted a one-year pact in the $10MM range for the towering right-hander. While he falls shy of that, in terms of guarantee, Dierkes rightly pegged Houston as the landing spot.
It’s easy to see the appeal for an Astros club that has plenty of rotation options, but still carried some uncertainty. Fister will presumably slot in toward the back of a staff fronted by Dallas Keuchel and Collin McHugh. It’s not exactly clear how things will line up otherwise, but the depth looks solid. Youngster Lance McCullers Jr. showed so much promise last year that it’s hard not to imagine him in the rotation. Scott Feldman is still facing some injury uncertainty after he was shut down late last year, though he says he’s healthy. And Mike Fiers had good results upon joining Houston, including a no-hitter, though he also could feature as a high-end swingman.
Fister, who’ll soon turn 32, is a classic bounceback candidate. After several strong years in Detroit, he put up a stellar 2.41 ERA over 164 frames in 2014, his first season with the Nationals. But things took a turn south last year, as he dealt with injury issues and lost his rotation spot after he was tagged for a 4.60 ERA and .302/.341/.471 batting line in 15 starts.
Though he showed better form working out of the pen, there are some concerns that extend beyond the results. Fister has never been reliant on velocity, but his average sinker lost 1.7 ticks in dropping all the way to 86.1 mph in 2015. Typically a reliable groundball producer, Fister induced grounders on just 44.6% of the balls put in play against him.
Fister also allowed home runs at a much higher rate than usual in his final season in D.C. And while he’s never been a strikeout pitcher, his 5.5 K/9 against 2.1 BB/9 represented the worst K:BB ratio he’s logged since his debut season. Advanced metrics have always lagged results for the veteran, but they were especially down on him last year. He ended up with a 4.55 FIP, 4.46 xFIP, and 4.47 SIERA to accompany the 4.19 ERA that he tallied over his 103 total frames.
Of course, Fister battled through a forearm strain to open the year, which could go a long way towards explaining his struggles. If he can build up in camp at full strength, it isn’t hard to imagine that he might return to being a quality rotation piece — even if it would be a bit optimistic to expect a repeat of that 2014 effort. While he hasn’t always put up huge innings tallies, Fister has generally been rather durable over his career, and the Astros will surely hope he can fill up some frames with average-or-better run prevention numbers in 2016.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Doug did what?
$7 plus incentives?
I would think it’s a lot more than $7 🙂
1st incentive is $6,999,993.00 for just breathing….. 🙂
I like this move a lot more than seeing the Astros give up their pick to get Gallardo. I wouldn’t have minded seeing them take a flyer at Lincecum, though…but, if Fister has a decent year in Houston, we’ll take the QO pick we’ll get for him signing a bigger deal next off season…
Hopefully this will keep washed up hack Wandy in the minors and off the 25 or 40 man. Can’t believe they wasted time with him…. Maybe put him in a package to use as trade bait??
Feldman to long relief??
Are the Astros done for the offseason
i hope they are done barring a major trade for a starting pitcher. I like Houston’s team and their drive for the post season. I would hate to get a cancer in the club house.
What the heck is your problem with Wandy?
He’s signed to a minor league deal, meaning unless he actually plays well in camp, he’s either going to Fresno, or getting released. Chill, bro.
sean, I feel this post. Ever since the new comments section went live with no features like upvoting or reporting or editing, these comments sections are going as downhill as the trolling posters are making out their most hated players to be. I mean one guy was going off on Cervelli like he stole his gf from him, its like, calm down!!!
you mean that guy that said Cervelli was ‘never’ on the DL? yeah that guy i know who you mean :-p
Although I agree with you on Cervelli, I feel a lot of your comments are like that as well
Like what? I don’t mind criticism.
Wandy was signed as an insurance policy and perhaps a nod to the Astros of the late 2000s, nothing more. I like them signing Wandy to a minor-league deal, not because I’m particularly eager to see him pitch in Houston, but because he is a veteran who has still shown good things in the recent past, and he could start a few games if a few go down with injury. That is why you can never have too much pitching: injuries and unexpected poor performance happen. It’s almost inevitable. Sign as many pitchers as you reasonably can, and then you don’t have to scramble when things don’t go according to plan.
With regards to the Fister signing, he can start or come out of the pen. Much of that may be worked out in Spring Training, but I could also imagine the Astros starting the season with a 6-man rotation, or swapping out Fister, McCullers (still learning to pitch a full MLB season), and Feldman (coming off injury). Saving innings for all three early on could pay good dividends at the end of the season.
1 year/$7 million , it can max out at $12 million if performance bonuses reached
I hope the Astros are through barring a large front of the rotation trade…. I like Houston’s team and their drive to win! Don’t want any club house cancers screwing that up.
So much for that 2 year $22 million asking price
yes, i didnt think anyone would cave on that- he is the perfect case for a 1 year deal.
Strange place to try to rebuild value must not have had many offers
Why is that? They aren’t moving the fences in centerfield yet and as long as you make hitters play there you are safe. Plus, they are legit contenders for the World Series which I am sure are part of those 5 mil in incentives. Rather go there instead of Oakland or Seattle and still end up with a 5 – 12 record no matter how well I pitched in pitchers parks….
He is not even a guarantee to be in the rotation for one, he was lit up in the NL going to the AL will not help his cause, the ball flies in minute maid he gave up 14 homers in 103 innings with home games in a pitcher friendly park., He is on the decline and going to a hitters league in a hitters park where he will have a short leash in the rotation, not very wise unless it was one of the few offers he got. Straily,Woj and Buchanan will probably be a revolving door through the 5th spot until Feldman is healthy if Fister gets hit early and often.
feldman says he’s already fine, i’m not sure why they’re linking to the day of his injury news in the story here. there’s currently no particular reason to expect him to be on the shelf to start the year. somewhat elevated risk coming off an injury, certainly, but that’s all unless and until something else happens
blog.chron.com/ultimateastros/2016/01/23/scott-fel…
Thanks, I’ll add that in. Was trying to reference the injury, not suggest there hasn’t been progress. Forgot to work back to that and research it more closely.
Brent Strom will work with him and bring him back to 2014 form. His Groundball rate is 45%, i’m sure he’ll be a good #4 starter.
You do realize that Fister has pitched most of his career in the AL. Doesn’t seem to have been a problem.
Let’s shore up 1st base now. Dae-Ho-Lee or Alavarez please. Maybe check on Freese at 3rd base option and or see if we can get Longoria in a trade.
Alvarez, like Pedro Alvarez? Didnt the Stros just release the right handed version of him in Chris Carter? As a Pirates fan, Pedros absolutely horrendous at first, and cant sniff lefties. Hes a platoon DH at best
it was a reach on my part. ok Lee then.
no way to lee…. no 300lber on the Astros….. that doesn’t scream world series at all
How about Tyler White? Been doing extremely well in the minors and played roughly 60 games in AAA last year.
.325/.442/.496 .939 OPS in AA and AAA last year. 114 games (plays 1st and 3rd,)
So 6 years of control and only 550K. Not to mention AJ reed will probably be in the majors in June. Astros have plenty of internal options
It’s Chris Singleton’s job to lose, and if he doesn’t work out, Tyler White and A.J. Reed are good fallbacks.
Reed will probably be starting somewhere in Houston by the midpoint of the 2017 season, if not 1B than DH.
“300lber doesn’t scream world series at all” – this is the first and only time a human has ever said this before, congrats.
Didn’t know Chris Singleton was out of retirement
Are you positive? I think it was said about Panda when he signed w/ Bawston…haha
White sox will give you Adam largo he and will pay 75% remaining on his contract. Good glove streaky power 2 years ago…..But seriously take him from us.
Loney and 4 million from the Rays for a B prospect.
Nah. Astros have a few options at 1st to start out (Singleton in what might be his last chance, Tyler White, and maybe Reed if he gets off to a great start in the minors, maybe even call up Matt Duffy if needed). Even if none of them work out, the offense should still be pretty good, and perhaps they’ll go get someone before the trade deadline. Bringing in another player at this point to occupy a spot on the 40-man roster seems unnecessary at this point.
Also valbuena and margo have spent time there…
Perfect fit. Keuchal, Mchugh, McCullers, Fister, Is a formidable first 4
Feldman is a hoss when healthy
Good deal for the Astros it also works well for Fister giving him a chance to build up his value again before hitting the market in a weal FA class next year.
correction: “weak” FA class……
Will miss Doug Fister. 2015 was not kind to him. Hope he has 2014 year for the Astros. Great fan fav, btw.
Shame the pirates couldn’t get him on a similar deal. oh well.
Pirates can’t sign every pitcher.
they signed a bunch of throwers but few that have proven they can pitch. At least Fister has some fairly recent success under his belt, something most of the pirates signees (who are mostly relievers) do not have 🙁
it’s a good deal for both sides. obviously, no one was really going hard for Fister and it seems like a safe gamble for Houston. If he puts it all together, he could be a tremendous bargain. If not, it’s not like they’re suck with a huge salary for years. At this time of the year, teams are bottom feeding so it means taking chances on players who had previously been productive IF they are healthy.
The old saying there is no such thing as a bad one year contract certainly applies here.
This is probably the biggest steal of the offseason so far.,
As an Astros fan I really like this move. With Keuchel, McHugh, McCullers, Fister and Feldman ( or Fiers) they will have a strong rotation. Either Feldman or Fiers will likely go to long relief – probably Fiers if Feldman is healthy. And they still have numerous guys in AAA that can fill in if necessary.
Astros are gonna be really good next year, I think Fister could pitch better than he did last year as well
Best of luck Doug! Class act! Could be the bargain of the hot stove!
I think my fellow stros fans, aren’t as excited about AJ Reed as I am, I think he’s our future 4, or 5 hitter!
Yes its singletons job to lose, I understand that!!
If AJ Reed continues to knocked the cover off the ball during spring ball, and singleton still shows the same crap he’s shown in the past two seasons!!
How can they wait very long to bring Reed up
Heck if Tyler White can play like he did in winter ball during the spring, could we see a couple youngsters on the 40 man roster!!
Gattis, and Valbuana better bring it, because we have some studs ready to break through to the bigs!
besides being excited on Reed/white..
I’m just as excited to see if Moran, JD, or Duffy can earn a call up!!
I know I am a biased Astros fan, but I am very excited to see how our minor-league kids play this coming year!
It can’t get here fast enough!!
Oh yeah great signing today in fister, let’s hope he comes back strong, and earns those potential bonuses of 5 million!!
Gattis was your best hitter last year. Put Astros in the playoffs. Why is he the one who needs to bring it?
Lol you’re kidding, right? Gattis our best hitter? So you make terrible trade proposals AND terrible player evaluations.
Gattis was not good at all last year…feel free to try to argue your point, but be ready to get ridiculed.
Fister at 7mm sure beats Pelfrey at 2/16mm. Still, perspectives can change once the season starts. What did the teams know that we dont? No one bid up Fister and there was enough interest in Pelfrey that two years were required to sign him. Puzzling.
Nice pick up for the Astros. No real commitment. Nothing but upside with this move. If he bounces back to be a number 3 than its a win. If he continues down last years road than you just wash your hands of him.
My trade rumors app isn’t working…. It just goes into the app if I go from the notifications, but if I try to go in from the app it won’t show anything… How can I fix t ? I come in and read the blog everyday but I have to go into the website now which is annoying lol… Thanks in advance.