Joba to Relieve and Start in 2008?

With Wang, Pettitte, Mussina, Hughes, and Kennedy (assuming no trades), does it make more sense to put Joba in the bullpen next year and insert him into the rotation when one of those guys either goes down or is ineffective?

Good, brief analysis on this issue by River Ave. Blues.

My vote:  no.  If the Yanks want Joba in the ‘pen next year, I think you keep him there all year.   If he’s coming in to get 3 batters out during spring training and part of the season (possibly every other game per Joba Rules), I see little upside in putting him into the starter role where he’ll probably have trouble lasting longer than 5 innings.

Thoughts?

Christmas Miracle: Relief Pitcher Turns to God After Steroid Use

I thoroughly enjoyed this story about Dan Naulty, former relief pitcher named in the Mitchell Report, whose use of steroids caused him to question the meaning of life and ultimately put him on a more righteous path.

Happy Holidays!

Below:  Hot-selling new Christmas tree ornament.  

 

Deja Vu

A low-budget team signs an old relief pitcher, making him one of the team’s highest paid players. Sound familiar?

This time, the guy — Ron Mahay — is really old (he’ll turn 37 next season).   He has had a decent career and was pretty good last year, though terrible against righties.   To new Kansas City manager, Trey Hillman:  if you want this signing to work out at all,  do not use Mahay against righties.  Ever.

Prediction:  Trey Hillman uses Ron Mahay against righties, causing the Royals to regret the fact that they’ve guaranteed the reliever $4 million in 2009.

A Few Links…

- First the Mitchell Report, now this. Many relief pitchers are in the news for the wrong reasons lately.

- Yankees’ right-handed relievers, Jose Veras and Jonathan “Dejo” Albaladejo, are showing promise in the Dominican League.

- The Mets signed Matt Wise to a one-year deal for $1.2 million. Not too exciting, except for this fact, which the article points out:

Comically, Wise is infamous for an injury inflicted by a pair of salad tongs. He sliced his middle finger last June, which forced him to miss a couple of games.

- With Mike Gonzalez out until after the All-Star Break, the Braves are interested in Brian Fuentes.

- The Astros signed right-handed journeyman, Chad Paronto. Not that it’s Paranto’s fault, but even with all of their recent moves, the Astros still suck.

- And, finally, this from Connor Robertson, the reliever acquired by the Diamondbacks in the Dan Haren trade:

But middle relief, I think that’s a fun part of the game. Especially if you can help get your starter out of a jam, or help another pitcher get out of a jam. That’s just a great feeling.

Being a reliever, you’re not in the spotlight that much… it’s kind of like the offensive line of baseball.

Amen, Connor. Amen.

Bullpenternet: His Heart Is In The Right Place…

A fellow blogger, over at ArmChairGM, posted a story about how middle relievers kind of get the shaft in fame, power, adulation, and big contracts. But see Scott Linebrink. Kind of sounds like the thing that The Loogy Lounge would be all about right? Well, John Stevens is probably still breathing hard somewhere in the 50’s on the West Side of Manhattan because the fellow blogger ponders:

“Why is the closer’s role more important in baseball than then the middle reliever/set-up man? Why is the save a more prominent statistical category than a Hold?”

And the truth of the matter is, John Stevens has already answered this. It’s not. They’re equally asinine. You should be as unimpressed with a guy who enters with a three run lead and gives up two runs whether it’s the seventh inning or the ninth. They’re both terrible outings.

As I end this article, I wonder why Holds is even counted as a category? Is this just another Bill James way of tracking player information?

We don’t know either, guy. But it’s kind of a fun to make up new shit. And no, Bill James had nothing to do with it. John Dewan and Mike O’Donnell got plastered one night at Sully’s and decided that Calvin Schiraldi was getting NO respekts….and they did something about it.

Is Holds going to someday be as important as Saves?

Yes. The hold became as important as the save on the day it was invented in 1986.

I question all of these things because I feel every ballplayer on the teams 40 man roster deserves respect. Therefore I salute all of the George Sherrill’s of the world. It doesn’t matter what inning they pitch in, just as long as they do their job.

And, guy, we salute you. May the middle reliever get the same massive overpriced contracts as each of his fellow overhyped teammates.

Relievers React to Mitchell Report

- There was only a bit of circumstantial evidence, but that was enough for Brendan Donnelly to be forever linked with the Mitchell Report. Now he’s sick to his stomach.

- Who is Kirk Radomski? Mike Stanton says he has no idea what the man who purportedly sold him human growth hormone even looks like.

- Unsigned reliever Ron Villone is glum.

- Matt Herges is mum, but his team believes that he’ll have to provide an explanation.

Yanks Getting Bullpen Savvy

The Yankees weren’t willing to give an older reliever a multi-year deal, and thus, in effect, ended up trading Luis Vizcaino, 33, to the Rockies for LaTroy Hawkins plus a supplemental draft pick. After rejecting a one-year deal with the Yanks through arbitration, the Rockies signed Vizcaino to a two-year deal for $7.5 million, with a vesting option for a third year that would bring the total amount of the contract to $11 million if Vizcaino makes 68 appearances in 2009. Hawkins will earn the same amount in 2008, but his contract is for just one year.

If you’ve taken anything away from this blog during its one glorious month of existence, it should be this: do not sign thirty-something relief pitchers to multi-year deals. Because of their erratic nature, it’s a huge gamble that cuts into the payrolls of small-market teams and limits the roster flexibility of big-market teams.

Luis Vizcaino and LaTroy Hawkins have had similar levels of success in the majors. If I had to guess, I’d say that Vizcaino will be somewhat more productive next year — as Hawkins was this past year — because he’ll be pitching in the National League. But with relievers, you never know. And that’s why the Yankees came out better in this swap.

Below: Vizcaino in a really awkward, full-body photograph.

Which Random Middle Relievers Will Be Named in the Mitchell Report?

For every Barry Bonds or Rafael Palmeiro, there’s a Jason Grimsley or Guillermo Mota. In light of the news that the Mitchell Report, to be released Thursday, will contain approximately fifty names of former and current MLBers, expect some unheralded middle-relief pitchers to be on that list.

Here are three random players I predict to be named:*

(1) Vinnie Chulk (Giants) – Barry’s partner-in-crime

(2) Brendan Donnelly (Red Sox) – put an asterisk on the 2007 championship

(3) Tanyon Sturtze (inactive/retired) – my favorite Yankee in 2004-2005

*These predictions are based on absolutely nothing. Except scientific fact.

LaTroy Hawkins To Be First “LaTroy” to Pitch For Yankees, But Not First “Hawkins”

Here’s a brief, exciting e-mail exchange between me and loyal Loogite and fellow Yankees’ fan, MJ, on this signing:

MJ:

LaTroy Hawkins is close to becoming a Yankee for 2008. He’s apparently going to get himself a one-year deal at $3.75M. It’s a one year deal which is nice but LaTroy Hawkins isn’t exactly what I’d call lights-out. On the bright side, Farnsworth now has a former teammate he can walk back from the bullpen with (2004 Cubs).

John Stevens:

Hawkins is very shaky, but with the current state of free-agent relief signings, I guess a one-year deal is the most you can hope for. This seems to squeeze out one of Veras or Ohlendorf. Not sure Hawkins is an upgrade.

MJ:

I don’t know who it squeezes but the Yanks definitely seem to be collecting righties for the bullpen. I guess it’s not a bad thing because they can always have Bruney/Britton/Veras/Ohlendorf/Ramirez in the minors on the ready as a musical chairs bullpen. Spring training will be interesting to see how Girardi builds his bullpen around Rivera and Farnsworth.

Brewers’ Revamped Pen… Sucks

The Brewers made an unfathomable trade on Friday, sending two minor-league relief pitchers to the Pirates for Salomon Torres. Comically, the title of the article I came across reads: Brewers Bolster Bullpen (nice alliteration!). At the same time, the article states: “To acquire Torres, the Brewers parted with two good, young arms from their system.” Is 36-year-old Salomon Torres really worth this? Why not just take a shot with one of these kids? Torres sucks. He has a career 4.40 ERA, 99 ERA+, and 1.431 WHIP. Last year, his numbers were even worse.

How could this get more terrible for the Brewers? Well… Torres is unhappy with the trade and is considering retirement. Awesome! Oh, and now, Eric Gagne has reportedly signed a one-year deal worth $10 million to close for the Brew Crew. That makes him the second-highest paid Brewer.

The Brewers are going to be bad next year. If you don’t think so, please post a comment and include your contact information so that I can make a bet with you.

** But see Olney, Buster. Apparently Buster might be interested in betting:

[T]he Milwaukee Brewers signed Gagne to a $10 million deal, a contract that would represent about 14 percent of their entire 2007 payroll of $71 million. And it may turn out to be precisely the right decision for them to make, at this particular time . . .

The Brewers traded for Salomon Torres, but he may retire, and in any event, he had a horrible run as the Pirates’ closer.

No, the Brewers needed somebody else. They had to do something, because this team is too good and has too much potential for 2008 to have left such a gaping hole left untended . . .
The Gagne signing is a proportional response, an expensive patch-and-fill job that keeps them in the running for next year but also freed them from any long-term obligation in the volatile relief market. And they keep their prospects for another day, for other trade talks.