The problem with trading Fister wasn't that he's an ace (he isn't) or that he's the second coming of Cliff Lee (unlikely) but rather that he's good and CHEAP.
We traded him with four+ years of club control left. He was still making $450k when he got moved. So it's not just the WAR, it's the WAR/$ that kills you. Yes, he's into arb now. He's making 4 mill this year, will be up to Saunders/Vargas figures next year, and then will still have one year of control left (if they don't just buy out his 2 remaining arb years after this season and throw in some extra FA years - I certainly would).
So far Detroit has paid less than 5 million bucks total to get what will be 9-ish WAR by the end of this season. That's the crime.
As you say, Sandy, rising contenders are built on the backs of club-controlled players. Coughing up a 3 WAR/year pitcher making peanuts in order to get some navel lint and a Sponge Bob lollipop in return is bad. It's just bad, and since there was no reason we had to do it, that makes it worse. Morrow was not any kind of undefensible mistake.
Fister was.
~G
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