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.
Categories: post by johnstevens
Tagged: Buster Olney, free agents, Tampa Bay Rays, troy percival
While we’ll likely have a more comprehensive analysis of individual team needs, wants, and haves, I wanted to get us started with a quick discussion of the middle relievers currently available on the free agent market. As Kevin Towers stated in our first post,
“Free agent relief shopping is dangerous.”
And it’s true. Last year, the Orioles shelled out over $55 million in free agent contracts to Danys “Danny” Baez ($19M/3yrs), Chad Bradford ($10.5M/3yrs), Jamie Walker ($12M/3yrs), Todd Williams ($755k/1yr), and Scott Williamson ($900k/1yr). What does that buy you? Danys’s 6.44 ERA (60 ERA+), Todd’s 7.53 ERA (61 ERA+) . . . oh, and Scott Williamson was released by July. People say it’s a crap shoot — and they may be right, we’ll explore that here at Loogy Lounge — but if so, why on earth would you shell out so much money?
Oh right. The Orioles are the worst run franchise in Major League Baseball.
Who will be the big winners & losers in the free agent lottery 2008?
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Categories: post by Gnopple
Tagged: baltimore orioles, chad bradford, danys "danny" baez, free agents, hot stove, nails, scott williamson, todd williams, troy percival
