Reds sign Wilson

[westofyou]

Take some of Pauls numbers as a Red (IP, Games Started, K/9, BR/9) and he falls in with this group, at the bottom

ERA                             ERA      GS     H/9 IP   BR/9 IP     SO       IP     
1    Jason Schmidt              2.79       61     6.59     9.32      459    432.2   
2    Carlos Zambrano            2.93       63     7.69    12.04      356    423.2   
3    Brandon Webb               3.24       63     7.73    12.62      336    388.2   
4    Jake Peavy                 3.27       59     7.95    11.74      329    361     
5    Roy Oswalt                 3.31       56     8.62    11.26      314    364.1   
6    Livan Hernandez            3.41       68     8.46    11.41      364    488.1   
7    Ben Sheets                 3.54       68     8.51    10.19      421    457.2   
8    Al Leiter                  3.61       60     7.98    13.33      256    354.1   
9    Carl Pavano                3.61       63     8.84    11.31      272    423.1   
10   Dontrelle Willis           3.70       59     9.01    12.28      281    357.2   
11   Odalis Perez               3.87       61     8.75    11.01      269    381.2   
12   Steve Trachsel             3.89       66     8.99    12.44      228    407.1   
13   Matt Clement               3.90       62     7.62    11.90      361    382.2   
14   Russ Ortiz                 3.97       68     8.07    12.84      292    417     
15   Greg Maddux                3.99       69     9.25    10.98      275    431     
16   Woody Williams             4.01       64     9.06    11.98      284    410.1   
17   Tom Glavine                4.03       65     9.30    12.44      191    395.2   
18   Mike Hampton               4.05       60     9.54    13.14      197    362.1   
19   Brian Lawrence             4.16       67     9.40    12.23      237    413.2   
20   Matt Morris                4.28       59     8.87    11.40      251    374.1   
21   Kevin Millwood             4.34       60     9.05    12.27      294    363     
22   Adam Eaton                 4.35       64     8.87    12.10      299    382.1   
23   Paul Wilson                4.50       57     9.81    13.10      210    350.1

[Boss-Hog]

$8.2 million minimum over two years. $3.6 in 2005, $3.7 in 2006, and a 2007 club option of (up to pending escalators) $5.15 or a $850k buyout.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?...mlb&id=1935163

NOW what do you think?

It's a terrible signing.

[Reds1]

I can't see how anyone is surprised with this signing. I'm just happy we got one pitcher. We need more and Wilson being our #1 really sucks, but now we only need to get 2 more starters instead of 3! If we could get a semi-ace I could live with this!

ACE (Not Acevedo)
Wilson
Hudson
Harang
Claussen

[Aronchis]

The option is club, meaning, adios no matter what happens to Wilson.

This move is about what was thought. The contract isn't that bad, especially if you think Paul is going to have a late career surge, maybe even a bargain. But it is still a stopgap type move and "mentor" role to young pitchers over the next 2 seasons.

[Roy Tucker]

To me, the litmus test is would the Reds have signed Wilson for this kind if money if he hadn't been on the team last year and had been just another guy on the market.

My guess is no. Why they placed such a premium on good citizenship and good work ethic I don't know.

[letsgojunior]

$8.2 M?!?!?!?

Pass the bucket M2.

[LvJ]

Erm.. well... ok. I like Wilson, but that's a bit too much.

ALTHOUGH, I will not fault OB or Wilson for the cheap ... um .. people ... in the front office. It's THEIR FAULT we can't sign guys. Not OB. I'm not throwing in the towel yet though.

[Boss-Hog]

To me, the litmus test is would the Reds have signed Wilson for this kind if money if he hadn't been on the team last year and had been just another guy on the market.

My guess is no. Why they placed such a premium on good citizenship and good work ethic I don't know.

Excellent point.

[Doc. Scott]

I don't necessarily think it's the end of the world. LaRue and Valentin both signed for cheaper than I thought/was realistically hoping. Wilson cost a little more. Framed against Lidle's $6.3/2yrs it's not great, but Wilson is a distinct half-step or so better than Cory and he comes way cheaper than the $22.5MM for three years that Kris Benson, who's only two years younger, got from the Mets. Wilson was better than Benson in 2004.

[Boss-Hog]

ALTHOUGH, I will not fault OB or Wilson for the cheap ... um .. people ... in the front office. It's THEIR FAULT we can't sign guys. Not OB. I'm not throwing in the towel yet though.

It's 100% on O'Brien for spending the money that is available to him on signings like Paul Wilson.

[Raisor]

ugh ugh ugh

Horrible deal.

[Doc. Scott]

It isn't totally what they were going to pay Wilson, anyway. It's what they will or won't pay a Clement/Perez/#1-on-the-Reds-staff free agent.

I'm feeling a little skeptical about that #1OTRSFA at this moment.

[DoogMinAmo]

$8.2 M?!?!?!?

Pass the bucket M2.

Easy everyone, its 2 years at 7.3 mil total, plus the 800+k buyout makes the deal a guaranteed $8.15M. To me, it seems like both parties should be happy here. The Reds get their starter for little over the 3.5 mil a year they originally offered, and Paul gets his guaranteed 8M. If Paul ends up staying exactly the same pitcher, the Reds have wasted money in worse ways. If he improves, then it is money well spent. If he falls, well lets just say I hope we don't have to consider this.

The bright side is it was only a marginal raise form last year, where he pitched above expectations. I say good enough.

[LvJ]

It's 100% on O'Brien for spending the money that is available to him on signings like Paul Wilson.

Are you saying we shouldn't have signed Wilson at all? Now, if we could sign a guy like Clement if we didn't sign Wilson at all, then I would agree. My point was, signing Wilson for .. what? 2 Million cheaper? 2.5 Cheaper? That isn't going to affect signing anyone important, atleast not in my opinion. I'm sure if a top of the line guy said I want 2.5 more, they would go for it. But again, it comes back to should he have signed Wilson at all? Could we compete with the big teams for a better option?

[letsgojunior]

Easy everyone, its 2 years at 7.3 mil total, plus the 800+k buyout makes the deal a guaranteed $8.15M. To me, it seems like both parties should be happy here. The Reds get their starter for little over the 3.5 mil a year they originally offered, and Paul gets his guaranteed 8M. If Paul ends up staying exactly the same pitcher, the Reds have wasted money in worse ways. If he improves, then it is money well spent. If he falls, well lets just say I hope we don't have to consider this.

The bright side is it was only a marginal raise form last year, where he pitched above expectations. I say good enough.

I'm sorry, but it's not good enough for me. First of all, we're operating on a low payroll ($45 M last year), that is already extremely top heavy (think Jr-Casey-Graves). It would be one thing if we already had one or two very good young pitchers who could anchor the rotation, and we needed a solid #3-4 starter to win 10-12 games and have an ERA around 4. Except that we don't have any great young pitchers, and we're signing Wilson with the expectation that he'll anchor the staff. Second of all, the price tag implies that even if Wilson doesn't pitch incredibly well, he'll at least be an innings eater. That is not the case. He has yet to eclipse 200 IP in his time with the Reds, or even in his ENTIRE CAREER for that matter. Third, this is a guy who is pretty injury prone, and we've already got a roster replete with guys who are injury prone. He's missed time each of the last two seasons, and was a top prospect before he blew out his arm. Fourth, what direction does this signing indicate the club is going in? It seems to me that we're going in about seven directions at once. Handing the SS reins over to Lopez/Machado, and trying Kearns out at 3B implies that we're building for the future. Signing Wilson for big bucks indicates we want to win right now. What exactly are we doing?