Analyzing the free agent relief pitchers

[ChatterRed]

Jeremy Affeldt (LH)(30 years old) - interesting is that lefthanders batted .269 against him and righties batted .255. Weird. Has a 97 mph fastball.

Luis Ayala (RH) - his e.r.a., WHIP, and batting average against him have gotten worse every year the last 3 years. Opponents batted over .300 against him in 2008. Just say no.

Joe Beimel (LH)(32) - had a 2.02 e.r.a. with the Dodgers this year, but a 1.45 WHIP. Lefties batted .278 against him and righties batted .263 against him. His e.r.a. at home was 1.31 and away it was 2.81.

Joe Borowski (RH) - 2008 was an absolute disaster; just say no

Doug Brocail (RH)(42) - started mlb career in 1992; did not pitch in 2001, 2002, and 2003 due to injury; had 2 of the best seasons of his career the last 2 seasons.

Shawn Chacon (RH) - has career e.r.a. of 4.99 in 8 seasons; suspended for insubordination in June.

Juan Cruz (30)(RH) - 2008 - 51 IP, 34 hits allowed; 2.61 e.r.a. and opponents batted .198 against him; 2007 - 61 IP, 45 hits allowed, 3.10 e.r.a., opponents batted .205 against him. Lefties bat .159 and righties bat .221 against him. Has struck out 158 batters in 112 innings the last 2 seasons.

Alan Embree (39)(LH) - 2008 - 4.96 e.r.a. in 70 games; not interested

Scott Eyre (37)(LH) - was terrible in 2006, 2007, and 2008 until traded to the Phillies where he pitched respectably. I would say no to this guy.

Kyle Farnsworth (33)(RH) - has been up and down his whole career; He was pitching well for the Yankees until they traded him at the deadline for Pudge, then his stats went downhill, probably from pitching for Detroit, who was out of it. Not really that interested. He had outstanding relief seasons in 2003 and 2005. Opponents batted .299 against him this year.

Casey Fossum (31)(LH) - career 5.41 e.r.a......just say no

Keith Foulke (35)(RH) - gave up 13 HR's in 31 IP; just say no

Tom Gordon (41)(RH) - he has been in the major leagues since 1988 and has pitched over 2,000 innings in relief. He has been on the DL since July with elbow inflammation.

LaTroy Hawkins (36)(RH) - strange career, very up and down; pitched poorly for the Yankees this year, but pitched well for Houston when traded; had some stellar relief seasons back in 2003, 2004, and 2005 in terms of e.r.a. and WHIP. May be on the decline.

Mark Hendrickson (35) - career e.r.a. over 5.00; just say no

Matt Herges (39)(RH) - 2008 e.r.a. of 5.04 and a WHIP of 1.60; just say no

Bob Howry (35)(RH) - had solid relief pitching seasons from 2004-2007 and then this year had an e.r.a. over 5.00 with a WHIP of 1.46 with players batting .309 against him.

Jon Lieber (39)(RH) - opponents are batting nearly .300 against him in 2007 and 2008; just say no.

Jason Johnson (35)(RH) - career e.r.a. of 4.99 and a career WHIP of 1.49. Nope.

Damaso Marte (34)(LH) - had solid relief seasons in 2006 and 2007; struggled with the Yankees this year. Righties batted .196 against him this year. Yanks have a $6 million option on him. I would be surprised if they exercised it.

Trever Miller (36)(LH) - lefty specialist; lefties batted only .209 against him this year while righties batted .286.

Guillermo Mota (35)(RH) - his best years were before 2005

Will Ohman (31)(LH) - 2005, 2006, and 2008 were pretty solid relief years for him. Lefties bat .200 and righties bat .256.

Darren Oliver (38)(LH) - the last 3 seasons have been his best ever, with good e.r.a.'s, WHIP's, and batting average against while pitching for the Mets and Angels.

Chan Ho Park (36)(RH) - posted a 3.40 e.r.a. and 1.40 WHIP in relief this year, but hasn't had a sub-4.81 e.r.a. since 2001. Just say no.

Horacio Ramirez (29)(LH) - horrific in 2006 and 2007; had very small sample size in 2008 which lead to good numbers. Lefties batted .350 against him, yikes. Just say no.

Al Reyes (38)(RH) - did not pitch in 2006 and has been marginal at best the last 2 seasons.

Dennys Reyes (32)(LH) - pitches good in even years; pitches poorly in odd years; 2003 - e.r.a. over 10.00, WHIP over 2.00; 2004 - 108 IP, 4.75 e.r.a.; 2005 - 5.15 e.r.a., 2.04 WHIP; 2006 - 50 IP, 0.89 e.r.a, 0.99 WHIP; 2007 - 29 IP, 3.99 e.r.a., 1.88 WHIP; 2008 - 46 IP, 2.33 e.r.a., 1.19 WHIP; the guy must be a headcase; actually his stats the last 3 years other than his 2007 WHIP, are pretty good; he must be a lefty specialist because lefties only hit .202 against him this year.

Arthur Rhodes (39)(LH) - did not pitch in 2007; in 2008, lefties batted .157 against him and righties .309. Lefty specialist?

Juan Rincon (30)(RH) - horrible in 2007 and 2008, just say no.

Glendon Rusch (34)(LH) - career e.r.a. over 5.00 and WHIP at 1.48. Just say no.

Rudy Seanez (40)(RH) - last 2 seasons have been okay, nothing special.

Brian Shouse (40)(LH) - 2007 and 2008 have been his 2 best seasons pretty much. Lefty specialist. Lefties bat .180 and righties over .300.

Russ Springer (40)(RH) - 2006, 2007 and 2008 have been his best seasons other than 2004. Pretty good for his age.

Mike Timlin (43)(RH) - 2008 - 5.66 e.r.a. in 50 IP, 1.62 WHIP; just say no

Ron Villone (39)(LH) - lefty specialist; lefties batted .178 and righties .300.

David Weathers (39)(RH) - has not had an e.r.a. over 3.94 since 2004. First season since 2004 that he allowed more hits than IP this year. Batting average against jumped from .240 to .276 this year and his WHIP jumpbed from 1.21 to 1.53, although his e.r.a. was his best since 2004. Age catching up?

Kip Wells (32)(RH) - has not pitched well since 2003; just say no

Matt Wise (33)(RH) - on the DL since May with shoulder pain - headed for surgery.

Jamey Wright (34)(RH) - career e.r.a. over 5.00; pretty much what it is every year for him.

Might as well try and re-sign Affeldt if you can.

If I were pursuing them as free agents, my first targets would be Affeldt, Beimel (32)(LH), Juan Cruz (30)(RH), Ohman (31)(LH) and Marte (34)(LH).

Then I would pursue the older guys - Springer (40)(RH), Brocail(42)(RH), and Oliver (38)(LH).

Cruz would be my number one target. Then probably Ohman.

[Orodle]

Relievers I would like:

Dennis Reyes: I liked him his first time through, stats wise pitched great in '99. Plus I wouldnt expect him to be too expensive.

Damaso Marte: I have always liked him...hes nasty. He would be more expensive than Reyes

Juan Cruz: Also another reliever with nasty stuff but might be pretty costly.

My dark Horse: Chan Ho Park- I think his days as a started are definately up but pitched good out of the pen this year while also pitching great out of the pen last WBC.

[ChatterRed]

Reyes is so up and down.

Park is like 36 or 37 and has sucked the last 5 or 6 years. I think this past year was an anomoly.

[redsfandan]

Reds Hope To Add Lefty Reliever
By Ben Nicholson-Smith [November 20 at 11:07pm CST]
According to MLB.com's Mark Sheldon, Reds GM Walt Jocketty wants to add a lefty to the Reds bullpen. Jocketty says the Reds considered Trever Miller before it became apparent that he was close to a deal with the Cardinals.

To build the bullpen back up, Jocketty said the Reds would consider Arthur Rhodes, Will Ohman, Darren Oliver, Dennys Reyes and Joe Beimel. Cincinnati could use a reliever since ex-Red Jeremy Affeldt signed with the Giants earlier in the week.

The Reds have talked about bringing back two of their own free agents, David Weathers and Mike Lincoln.

Teams are more interested in talking about trades now that some free agent price tags seem so high, according to Jocketty.
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/

[redsfandan]

Market booming for lefty relievers
Left-handed specialists fast becoming coveted commodities
By Tom Singer / MLB.com

The character actors have grabbed the lead. The faces in baseball's crowd shots have broken above the title.
We're only into the opening scenes, but so far left-handed short relievers are stealing The (offseason) Show. Clubs are prioritizing and flattering them, and they're signing.

Up to the minute, six of the 174 free-agency eligibles have inked new contracts, and half of them are southpaw short men. And far more teams are looking for left-handed relief than there are Damaso Martes, Jeremy Affeldts and Trever Millers to go around.

So the demand remains high for still-available left-handers such as Arthur Rhodes, Joe Beimel, Will Ohman, Dennys Reyes, Darren Oliver and others.

This, despite one of the few economic indexes currently on the upswing. Marte (three years, $12 million) and Affeldt (two years, $8 million) have pretty much blazed the market for their ilk.

Reds general manager Walt Jocketty, already on to his Plan C after seeing Affeldt depart and Miller about to go elsewhere, called that market "inflated." The testimony is on his side: As a group, relief pitchers have always been on the bottom of MLB's salary scale; in 2007, the last season of complete position-by-position analysis, their salary averaged $1,493,000.

"Left-handed relief is tough to find and the market is a little inflated," Jocketty said. "We'll see if it comes down."

What goes up must come down? Maybe not in this instance.

Why? It is an increasingly left-handed world around home plate. In 2008, of the top 22 leading Major League hitters nine hit left-handed and five others switched, guys who ordinarily have less thump from the right side. The top three in homers and five of the top eight in RBIs were also left-handed hitters.

Only a rare few are able to consistently unplug such power. In targeting Miller, do you suppose Cardinals GM John Mozeliak was aware that Adam Dunn, David Ortiz and Jim Edmonds (0-for-7) are a combined 2-for-25 against him? Do you think teams courting Beimel can't get past the fact he dominated Barry Bonds (1-for-16)?

Atlanta GM Frank Wren, still waiting for a response on the offer he reportedly presented to Ohman a few days ago, doesn't sense a growing emphasis on left-handed relievers.

"They seem to be in high demand every year," Wren said. "This seems to be no exception."

Either you have someone man up on Ortiz (J.P. Howell) or Carlos Pena (J.C. Romero) -- or you have no prayer. Between the NL Division and Championship Series in October, Dodgers manager Joe Torre added a third lefty to his bullpen in specific response to such left-handed Phillies sticks as Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and No. 1 benchman henchman Matt Stairs; the fact it did not work out for Torre does not diminish his recognition of the need.

And there isn't a surplus of people qualified for the job, which requires the right blend of stuff, elasticity and throwing angle.

Some pitchers are just born left-handed, and go through their sporting lives getting outs without prejudice. Others are made into left-handed specialists, who feed on same-side hitters.

And these Kryptonites to lefty-hitting supermen are the ones who have emerged as the leads of this offseason's free-agent market.

This is an extremely difficult budget call for general managers. They recognize the performance value of a left-handed specialist. But how much coin do you allocate to someone who will have the ball for maybe 2 1/2 percent of your outs?

Break it down: The perceived top eight lefty specialists at the opening of this offseason's free-agent market (the ones already mentioned higher up in this article) worked an average of 56 innings, getting about two outs per appearance.

That makes them baseball's ultimate accessory, but the one that completes the outfit like no other can.

Free agency is always the visible 10 percent of the offseason iceberg but, even in the below-the-surface maneuvers, lefty relievers are foremost the pieces teams squirrel away. The reward of hitting big is too high.

So, the only player to change teams on waivers Thursday, when many of them were left unprotected as teams finalized their pre-Winter Meetings 40-man rosters?

Why, a left-handed reliever, Eric O'Flaherty, who drifted from the Mariners to the Braves. O'Flaherty had flopped in Seattle when given the featured role of lefty specialist at the beginning of last season, but the Braves are paying more attention to his 2007 work -- holding lefty hitters to a .183 average.

And trying to finalize matters with Miller did not keep the Cardinals from also signing to a Minor League contract, with a Spring Training invitation, Ian Ostlund.

Ostlund is 30. Nine seasons into his pro career, he has never appeared in the Majors. He spent all of 2008 in Triple-A in the Tigers organization.

But Ostlund is left-handed, and at Toledo last season he had a 2.45 ERA in 44 games, and walked 17 while striking out 77 in fewer than 70 innings. That's good, certainly worth a flyer.
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081121&content_id=3687865&vkey=hotstove2008&fext=.jsp

[redsfandan]

Now Weathers is a lock to net us a sandwich pick if/when he signs with someone else. We could use what payroll room that we have to pickup Ohman and maybe another decent reliever and we'd be in decent shape for next years draft with two sandwich picks between early 1st and 2nd round picks.

[Hondo]

Joe Beimel is the way to go boys... 31 and going to be in his Prime for the foreseable future... 3years 12 Million....

[Steviejoe]

I like Rhodes,Reyes,Beimel,Cruz,Ohman,Oliver,Springer.Acc ording to mlbtrade rumors,the reds have offered a contract to Rhodes.No numbers mentioned,probably 1 year.mY pick would be Beimel or Oliver.But i would like to see Weathers back and Mike Lincoln,he was great just over worked for a player with a four year layoff.Hawkins has done resigned with Houston,and like wise foe marte in New York.

[redsfandan]

Joe Beimel is the way to go boys... 31 and going to be in his Prime for the foreseable future... 3years 12 Million....

how about 1-2 years and then we hand his job to one of our (cheaper) prospects instead? i wouldn't want to commit 3 years to a player that could be replaced by someone we already have at a cheaper price.


I like Rhodes,Reyes,Beimel,Cruz,Ohman,Oliver,Springer.Acc ording to mlbtrade rumors,the reds have offered a contract to Rhodes.No numbers mentioned,probably 1 year.mY pick would be Beimel or Oliver.But i would like to see Weathers back and Mike Lincoln,he was great just over worked for a player with a four year layoff.Hawkins has done resigned with Houston,and like wise foe marte in New York.

cruz and oliver are type A FA's so they'd cost a pick. no thanks. any of the rest would be ok with me. i agree on lincoln. he put up MUCH better stats the first four months of the season. that his stats were worse the last two months shouldn't be a surpise considering how long he was out of baseball. i'd definitely take him back especially since he shouldn't be that expensive.

btw, i just wanted to welcome the members that have joined in the last week:
indyredleg
Steviejoe
Atlas Jobinson
and anyone else too

i hope to continue to see more of all of you here.

[Steviejoe]

Ok, after seeing that Oliver and Cruz are type a,i would go after Rhodes or Reyes.Noted the reds have made a offer to Rhodes and have spoke to the agent of Reyes.But who knows Walt will end up with someone never even mentioned.I still like Weathers and Lincoln,just be careful how thier used.

[brachial pleXUs]

I noticed everyone in ORG seems to be clamoring for Will Ohman. IMHO, I don't get it. The only thing I remember thinking about him is, "Oh, man! He just gave up another home run!" I used to get excited when the Cubs brought him in to face Dunn and Griffey. I understand that his numbers have gotten better, but I have a terrible gut feeling about him. Am I the only person who thinks this way, or has he undergone a magical transformation of late?

[tbball10]

RON VILLONE!! Bring back the '99 Reds!! We could even sign Steve Parris and Denny Neagle and see if they can bring the magic back.