Bullpen Musings
OK, so one game after Cox pulled Reitsma to give a save opportunity to McBride (and not exactly giving Reitsma a vote of confidence in the paper the next morning), Reitsma is given another chance and converts. It would seem high time to replace him, but the in-house options seem less than promising. So I believe that Reitsma is being kept in the role in preparation for a deal -- otherwise, McBride or Ray would have gotten the opportunity last night. But why install one of them if you have a plan to import a new closer soon?
So maybe it's time to scan some other rosters -- teams who are going nowhere, have needs, and possess a relatively inexpensive veteran reliever. There are only about eight such teams at the moment -- many other teams are at least superficially in contention. Here are some possible imports:
LaTroy Hawkins, Baltimore -- A live arm, and the O's aren't making postseason plans. But he's a tad pricey ($4.4 million), and has famously flamed out as a closer in the past. Not likely.
Scot Shields or Brendan Donnelly, LA Angels -- Each has logged several years of excellent service for the Angels. Shields ($2.1 million) is more expensive than Donnelly ($950K), and will be arbitration eligible after this season. Sooner or later the Angels will have to deal some bullpen arms to fill other gaps on their aging roster. Hmmm....
Joe Borowski, Florida -- Possesses the Experienced Closer label, and is a former Brave. Very affordable ($327K). These factors combine to imbue me with fear that this could actually happen. Yikes.
Roberto Hernandez, Pittsburgh -- He's really old. Let's not get him.
Scott Eyre, Bob Howry, or Scott Williamson, Cubs -- Ah, here we might have something. These are guys you bring in if you think you're in contention, and are eminently tradeable if (as is the case with the Cubbies) your season collapses. The Cubs have needs in the middle infield and outfield, and there's no sense whatsoever in hanging on to three guys making $2-$3 million each as setup/situational relievers. Howry and Williamson have each closed before, and all three are pitching well this year. Williamson is a particularly interesting stealth candidate -- he's fallen off the radar after two years of arm troubles, but seems healthy now and his K/9 ratio is about twice that of our present pen.
Here's my pecking order at the moment:
1. Williamson
2. Shields
3. Howry
4. Donnelly
Thoughts?
So maybe it's time to scan some other rosters -- teams who are going nowhere, have needs, and possess a relatively inexpensive veteran reliever. There are only about eight such teams at the moment -- many other teams are at least superficially in contention. Here are some possible imports:
LaTroy Hawkins, Baltimore -- A live arm, and the O's aren't making postseason plans. But he's a tad pricey ($4.4 million), and has famously flamed out as a closer in the past. Not likely.
Scot Shields or Brendan Donnelly, LA Angels -- Each has logged several years of excellent service for the Angels. Shields ($2.1 million) is more expensive than Donnelly ($950K), and will be arbitration eligible after this season. Sooner or later the Angels will have to deal some bullpen arms to fill other gaps on their aging roster. Hmmm....
Joe Borowski, Florida -- Possesses the Experienced Closer label, and is a former Brave. Very affordable ($327K). These factors combine to imbue me with fear that this could actually happen. Yikes.
Roberto Hernandez, Pittsburgh -- He's really old. Let's not get him.
Scott Eyre, Bob Howry, or Scott Williamson, Cubs -- Ah, here we might have something. These are guys you bring in if you think you're in contention, and are eminently tradeable if (as is the case with the Cubbies) your season collapses. The Cubs have needs in the middle infield and outfield, and there's no sense whatsoever in hanging on to three guys making $2-$3 million each as setup/situational relievers. Howry and Williamson have each closed before, and all three are pitching well this year. Williamson is a particularly interesting stealth candidate -- he's fallen off the radar after two years of arm troubles, but seems healthy now and his K/9 ratio is about twice that of our present pen.
Here's my pecking order at the moment:
1. Williamson
2. Shields
3. Howry
4. Donnelly
Thoughts?
posted by Sam Bass | 11:27 PM
1 Comments:
My vote goes to either Shields or Donnelly. I'm tired of picking up past Cub closers (Alfonseca, Farnsworth). For some reason I think that we would have already pursued Borowski if we wanted him. I just hope we don't pickup someone like Danny Graves who was recently designated for assignment.
Other possibilities?
-Keith Foulke: Papelbon has stepped in on Foulke's turf. Yes, his salary is high, but if we could get a deal from Boston similar to Renteria, Would it be worth it?
-Jose Mesa: He's available in Colorado. He might be worth a shot.
-Mike Gonzalez: I think this would be a great find. He's cheap, but I think the Pirates are hoping he will be their closer for years to come. Pittsburgh probably would want a big return for him.
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