Jays add Casey Fien to Pen Candidate List

Just when you thought the Jays had a ton of competition for the precious few pen spots Alex Anthopolous goes out and adds one more to the candidate list. The Jays grabbed Casey Fien off the waiver list and I, for one, can certainly understand why. The only reason Fien made it onto the waiver wire is because the Tigers brought in so many people (Phil Coke, Max Scherzer, Austin Jackson, and Daniel Schlereth) in the Curtis Granderson deal and the addition of Johnny Damon that they really didn’t have room for him at all. Add to that the fact that they already have Joel Zumaya, Bobby Seay, Ryan Perry, Zach Miner, Fu-Te Ni, Robbie Weinhardt, and about 4-5 others knocking on the door from AA and AAA. Who did I forget? Oh yeah, Jose Valverde, their brand new closer. Needless to say that the Tigers pen is one of the deepest and best in the league, so Fien was deemed expendable.

He was designated for assignment by the Tigers on February 23rd and was nabbed by the Red Sox on March 1st off waivers. who also have an extremely deep pen.

Fien is 26, will be 27 in October 1983, 6’2″ and 195 lbs, and throws from the right side. He was drafted by the Tigers in the 20th round of the 2006 draft. Since then, before making it up to the majors, he completed 222 innings in the minors (9 starts in his first season, then pen appearances only) with 239 Ks, 49 BBs, 197 HA, a 3.04 ERA and 1.11 Whip. He also accumulated 34 saves, with 14 of those coming in 2009 while in AAA.