Scott Linebrink sat down with the media yesterday to explain why he sucked last August, yet deserves his large set-up contract. Turns out it’s his kid’s fault:
Right-hander Scott Linebrink’s hope for next season is to provide relief for a White Sox bullpen that went through 2007 with more face-lifts than Joan Rivers.
On Thursday, he simply was trying to ease the minds of fans who felt the Sox paid too much for his services.
After going from San Diego to Milwaukee last season in a trade-deadline deal, Linebrink raised some eyebrows when he failed to have the expected impact on the Brewers’ bullpen, especially with a 1-3 record and 5.40 ERA in August.
The 31-year-old wasn’t making excuses for his ‘07 hiccup during his first meeting with the media since signing a four-year, $19 million free-agent contract with the Sox. But he said he had his reasons for the letdown.
”It was a challenging season for me,” Linebrink said. ”There were a lot of things going on off the field. We had the birth of my daughter right after the All-Star Game, and then I was traded. I rebounded, but mentally there was a fight to get into the game.”
Following up on their big trade, the Tampa Bay non-Devil Rays signed 38-year-old relief pitcher, Troy Percival, to a two-year, $8 million contract (plus incentives). I think that it’s a little crazy to make a 38-year-old reliever who didn’t pitch in 2006 the second-highest paid player on your team. Buster Olney thinks:
The Rays also will probably value Percival for his old-school approach, something that could be a help with such a young team as Tampa Bay.
Good call, Buster. Can’t wait to see that $4 million old-school approach in action next year.
So maybe this blog has got me thinking about middle-relief pitching a bit too much. If anyone has an explanation of this dream I had last night, please comment:
I’m sitting in the left-field bleachers of Yankee Stadium. I guess it’s pre-game warm-ups, because Joba Chamberlain is throwing with someone in the outfield just a few feet away from me. Edwar Ramirez emerges from the bullpen. He walks past Joba. Everything seems normal.
Suddenly, an umpire — who for some reason is on the field during warm-ups — throws Edwar out of the game in typically dramatic umpire fashion. Edwar leaves the field and goes into the clubhouse. Confused, Joba says to the ump: “That wasn’t Edwar Ramirez. I’ve never seen that man before.” Everyone starts freaking out and security personel begin searching for the Edwar look-alike. I try talking to Joba about what happened, but he ignores me.
Ray King is probably the largest middle reliever in Major League Baseball. The only thing bigger than his gut, might be the gawdy 6.00 ERA (75 ERA+) he posted after he got shipped off to Milwaukee at the end of last season. He finished the season weighing 264 lbs. But that’s all going to change…
“I have been running with my kids on my football team, basketball team and baseball teams,” King said from his Phoenix-area home. “It’s been fun.”
You know, one of these teams ought to throw in some Curt Schilling weight target terms and incentivize the big 33-year-old for a bounce back year — if you get him back to his St. Louis Cardinal days, you’ll have something special — for pretty cheap.
Your culprit: Greg Couch of the Chicago Sun-Times. In a generally dumb article about why Kerry Wood shouldn’t be the Cubs’ closer, Couch writes:
Wood can never be trusted again. Not as a starter, not as a closer. In middle relief, fine.
On behalf of those who fight for the rights of middle-relief pitchers every day: go fuck yourself, Greg Couch. Why would you want someone who “can never be trusted” to ever pitch for your team? Would the innings he’d pitch in middle relief not count towards the final score of the game? Just for you, I hope the 2008 Cubs have outstanding starting pitchers, a dominant closer, and an untrustworthy Kerry Wood who yields 408 runs in 54 innings pitched of middle relief.
I like old people. But why do teams want veteran free-agent middle-relief pitchers so badly? Today’s example comes from an article discussing the Rangers’ off-season needs:
They want to add a veteran relief pitcher who can work late in the game...
They have interest in Eric Gagne coming back as their closer, but they may stick with Otsuka or Wilson as their ninth-inning guy and concentrate on finding a setup reliever. There is depth on the free-agent market in that area, including David Riske, Octavio Dotel, LaTroy Hawkins, Matt Herges, Ron Mahay, Rudy Seanez and Doug Brocail.
31-year-old Riske is a nice arm, and hasn’t exhibited Linebrink-like decline yet. After that, despite various degrees of success last year, there’s a lot of mileage on the arms of Dotel (33), Hawkins (34), Herges (37), Mahay (36), Seanez (39), Brocail (40). As I’ve written before, having these guys in your bullpen isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But veterans — like Linebrink — require more money and more security. To fill that last hole or two in the bullpen, a team would be wiser to take its chances with young pitchers who they won’t be stuck with if things don’t work out.
Rolaids purports to be the “home of everything you need to know about the best relievers in baseball.” Hey, Rolaids: relief-pitching fans across the country now agree that the Loogy Lounge is the home of everything they need to know about the best relievers in baseball. And your Relief Man of the Year Award undermines everything we strive for as a blog dedicated to relief pitchers.
Why does a silly award like this make my stomach turn? (Get it? Stomach turn… Rolaids. Thank you. Thank you. I’ll be here all week. Try the veal.) I did some research, and it appears the award is actually considered to be prestigious and is sometimes used as a barometer to measure relief pitchers. The Relief Man Award is given to the relief pitcher in each league who accumulates the most points based upon the following system:
Three points for each save
One additional point for each “tough” save (i.e. reliever comes in with the tying run on base and saves the game)
Two points for each win
Two points deducted for each loss or “blown save”
At least its objective. Unfortunately, it’s also really stupid. First, it absolutely is impossible for a non-closer to win the Rolaids Relief Man Award. The list of past award recipients confirms this point. Maybe my issue here merely is based upon semantics, but I think it’s disingenuous to call this a Relief Man Award. It’s an award exclusively for closers. Second, putting the middle-relief prejudice aside, this is a really bad way to measure closer effectiveness. Case in point: Joe Borowski was ranked ahead of Jonathan Papelbon in 2007.
OK, I’m done ranting about trivial nonsense. Going forward, I’m just going to use Pepto for my indigestion. Maybe they can come up with a better way to recognize relief pitchers.
Congratulations to Hideki Okajima for being named to the 2007 All-Rookie Team, as the LHP representative. This caps an excellent season where he was named A.L. Rookie of the Month in April, an All-Star, and the World Series Game 3 Chevy Player of the Game.
Actually, I don’t really mind this deal. It’s not nearly as offensive as the other Chicago team’s recent relief signing. Why? It’s a one-year deal with incentives for a guy with upside. And by “upside,” I mean that when healthy, Wood can still strike guys out at a terrific rate. In 2005 and 2007 — his two years with bullpen work — Wood struck out 77 in 66 IP and 24 in 24.1 IP. (By comparison, Linebrink’s strikeout rate recently has dropped).
Who’ll be better in 2008? Tough to say — lot’s of variables. Will Wood stay healthy? Will he be the Cubs’ closer? Will Linebrink adapt to the American League and having an insane manager? If you forced me to pick one for my team next year, I’d take my chances with Wood.
The easier question: which team will be happier in 2009? Much better chance that it’s the Cubs.
Below: Wood and close friend Mark Prior pose for a picture following the announcement of Wood’s new contract.
Ray King is probably the largest middle reliever in Major League Baseball. The only thing bigger than his gut, might be the gawdy 6.00 ERA (75 ERA+) he posted after he got shipped off to Milwaukee at the end of last season. He finished the season weighing 264 lbs. But that’s all going to change…
This installment of the 
Rolaids purports
