A year ago the Tigers were shopping for a couple of starting pitchers who, in automobile parlance, would be called basic transportation.
They kicked tires across the free-agent lots and came away with two dependable baseball second-cars. Mike Fiers in 21 starts for the Tigers had a 3.48 ERA and 1.23 WHIP before he was dealt in August to the A’s. Francisco Liriano had occasional trouble staying in his lane, to take the auto metaphor a bit too far, but he made 26 starts and when he wasn’t walking hitters was quite good.
The Tigers paid reasonably for each: $6 million for Fiers, $4 million for Liriano, each for a single season.