Doug Fister Signing Brings Solid Value For Houston Astros

On Thursday, it was reported that the Houston Astros had come to terms with free agent starting pitcher Doug Fister. According to Chris Cotillo of SB Nation and MLB Daily Dish, the deal is for one year and $7 million, though it contains incentives that could boost it to $12 million.

Source: Fister gets 1-year, $7M deal from Astros. Deal can max out at $12M if performance bonuses are reached.

— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) January 28, 2016

Between 2011-14, Fister was one of the more underrated pitchers in MLB. Over that time span, in which the right-hander pitched for the Seattle Mariners, Detroit Tigers and Washington Nationals, he went 50-38 with a 3.12 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP as a starter. He was also worth 14.0 fWAR, ranking 17th among all starting pitchers in the game.

Of course, Fister is coming off of a down year. In a season in which he battled a forearm injury and ultimately found himself pitching out of the bullpen, Fister went just 5-7 with a 4.19 ERA, a 1.40 WHIP and a 96 ERA+ across 25 games (15 starts) for the Nationals in 2015. Throughout his career, Fister has also been known for his ability to keep the ball on the ground, and the 44.6 percent ground ball rate he had last year was his worst since he posted a mark of 41.3 percent as a rookie in 2009.

That said, he is not very far removed from being an excellent big league pitcher. Plus, he will turn only 32 years old next week and should have plenty of bounce-back potential.

In bringing Fister aboard, Houston is making a low-risk move that could have the potential to go down as one of the better bargains of the offseason. The Astros’ rotation does, however, appear to be a bit crowded as they have 2015 AL Cy Young award winner Dallas Keuchel, Scott Feldman, Lance McCullers, Collin McHugh and Mike Fiers, so it will be interesting to see exactly how Fister slots into the mix.

If Fister can regain his form, though, he will make Houston’s staff even deeper. If the Astros are fortunate enough to reach the postseason for a second consecutive year, Fister’s postseason experience could come in handy in October as well.