Affledt signs with the Giants

[757690]

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2008/11/giants-sign-jer.html

At least the Reds get a sandwich pick for him

[Az. Reds Fan]

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/

We get a sandwich pick

[schmidty622]

I'd take the meatball sub. But a Chicken Salad or a Club would be good too.

[TheBigLebowski]

I don't like this at all. I badly wanted to re-sign Affeldt.

[schmidty622]

Per MLBTRADERUMORS:

2:39pm: MLB.com's Mark Sheldon says it's a two-year, $8MM deal for Affeldt. Nice signing!

Nice signing Indeed.

[redsfandan]

well at least we have the pick.

this is the 4th day that FA's can be picked up by other teams and this is the very first one to be picked up. hopefully the pace picks up.

[Jerry Narron]

Do the Reds even have a plan this offseason?

[redsfanmia]

Do the Reds even have a plan this offseason?

Does it matter? I hope the plan is to do nothing much maybe sign a cheap bat to play left field and go into 2009 looking to contend in 2010. The Reds have a good nucleus and I for one hope that Walt and Big Bob stay the course that Krivsky set.

[Mitri]

$4MM/year is a lot spend on a middle reliever, especially when you're giving as much as the Reds are to their closer. If Coco weren't in the picture and Burton were closing, Affeldt would've been easier to sign.

I'm guessing he wanted back on the West Coast and the Giants are giving him a shot at closing games. The Reds likely offered him the same money, but this choice was a no-brainer for Affeldt.

Time to move on a find cheaper guys. Spend the money elsewhere.

[markymark69]

Not surprised that he is not back with the Reds, based on what I heard and read. I am surprised to as to why. He was very effective. It is still very early in the free agency period and off-season, so I'm willing to wait to see what Jocketty actually does.

I'm anxious for him to get started. I will miss Affeldt, good luck with the Giants except when they play the Reds.

[Emin3mShady07]

$4MM/year is a lot spend on a middle reliever, especially when you're giving as much as the Reds are to their closer. If Coco weren't in the picture and Burton were closing, Affeldt would've been easier to sign.

I'm guessing he wanted back on the West Coast and the Giants are giving him a shot at closing games. The Reds likely offered him the same money, but this choice was a no-brainer for Affeldt.

Time to move on a find cheaper guys. Spend the money elsewhere.

I completely agree. Affeldt was very good THIS year striking out 9.2/9 innings, and walking 2.9/9 innings. However, this is Affeldt's first year in the pros where he struck out more than 7.1/9 and walked less than 3.6/9 so while there really isn't any luck driving his stats this year, they are way better than his career norms. Affeldt had a 3.40 xFIP this season and his previous low was 4.38 which is quite a disparity. I personallu believe that $4 million was too much to gamble on whether the reds would get 2008 Affeldt or career Affeldt.

http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/stats/players/index.php?lastName=affeldt

[757690]

It is very rare for middle relievers to have long careers. The best bet is to load up on cheap throw aways and youngsters like Lincoln, Burton, Santos, Coutlangous, Todd Jones, in spring training and see who excels.
St. Louis is famous for running through a ton of relievers year after year. They never seem to spend big money on middle relievers and always have a solid pen. This goes back to even before Duncan, when Herzog was running the show. They understand that if you run a halfway decent arm out there for one inning at time, and use them properly, it will take at least half a season for the league to figure them out. Once the league does, they just replace him with a new one.
I see no reason why the Reds need to spend any money on bullpen arms. With Cordero, Bray and Burton as the late inning guys, they can fill the rest out with Massett, Herrara, Manuel, Roenicke, Adkins, Viola and whoever they find off the dump heap in spring training. It is more important to have a depth of decent arms in middle relief than great arms.

[Mitri]

Well they still need another lefty who can strike guys out. I hope they don't think Bray will take on all the lefty relief work. At least I'm not sold on Bray.

Any ideas as to who could be had for a cheap one-year deal?

[Stephenk29]

Ohman will make about the same amount of dollars. Why not go after him now?

[robmadden1]

Giants bolster bullpen with Affeldt
Club lands sought-after free agent with two-year, $8 million deal

By Chris Haft / MLB.com

SAN FRANCISCO -- Acting quickly on their vow to strengthen their bullpen, the Giants signed left-hander Jeremy Affeldt to a two-year, $8 million contract Monday.

Affeldt, 29, became the first of 171 free agents to make a deal since the open signing period began last Friday. "They didn't mess around too much. That's what my agent, Mike Moye, and I were really impressed with," said Affeldt, who didn't sign with Cincinnati last offseason until Jan. 23 and wanted to avoid a similar delay. Affeldt added that the quality of the Giants' starters hastened his decision. "With that starting rotation, the bullpen won't get burned out," he said.

After a season in which their relievers tied for 14th in the National League with a 4.45 ERA and allowed the third-most home runs (62) despite pitching the fourth-fewest innings (487 1/3), the Giants knew that bolstering their bullpen was essential. So they turned to Affeldt, who drew interest from eight to 10 teams.

Signing Affeldt won't slow the Giants' pursuit of other relievers, although general manager Brian Sabean indicated that they'll focus on right-handers. "That'll be the next list we work off of," Sabean said, noting that the Giants have a full complement of left-handers in Affeldt, Alex Hinshaw and Jack Taschner.

Among free-agent right-handers, Bob Howry has drawn interest from San Francisco. Juan Cruz is also believed to be on the club's shopping list, although his agent, Barry Praver, refused to confirm that. And Affeldt endorsed David Weathers, his former Cincinnati teammate who served as a mentor and more. "That guy's one of my best friends, so I'm a little biased to that scenario," Affeldt said.

Affeldt brings several assets to San Francisco.

"He's characteristic of a guy who's coming into his own," Sabean said.

One quality is versatility. Though he'll probably fill a late-inning setup role, his background as a starter enables him to pitch multiple innings with relative ease.

Durability is another. Affeldt led Cincinnati with 74 outings last season, finishing 1-1 with a 3.33 ERA and recording a 2.23 ERA in his final 34 games. In 2007, Affeldt made a personal-high 75 appearances for Colorado.

Accuracy is a third strength of Affeldt's. In 78 1/3 innings last season, he struck out 80 and walked 25 -- a ratio of better than 3-to-1. That's a welcome trait for the Giants, whose 652 walks were the NL's second-most.

"We know how much the bases on balls hurt us," manager Bruce Bochy said.

It wasn't always thus for Affeldt, who struck out 281 and walked 178 from 2002-06 with Kansas City. His improvement began after the Royals dealt him to Colorado in a four-player trade on July 31, 2006.

Rockies coaches, said Affeldt, "felt I didn't pound the [strike] zone enough."

So he focused on refining command of his curveball. Meanwhile, he gained velocity, probably as a result of relieving full-time. With Kansas City, he made 142 appearances as a reliever and 42 as a starter.

Affeldt blossomed with Colorado in 2007, posting a 4-3 record with a 3.51 ERA. He made seven postseason outings for the NL champions, including appearances in all four World Series games against Boston. He accumulated three shutout innings against the Red Sox.

This year, opponents batted .260 and amassed nine homers off Affeldt, but those were largely results of pitching 41 games at hitter-friendly Great American Ball Park. Affeldt permitted seven homers and a .302 average at home, compared with two homers and .203 on the road.

Affeldt owns a 26-28 record with 18 saves and a 4.55 ERA in 360 lifetime appearances.

http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081117&content_id=3682358&vkey=news_sf&fext=.jsp&c_id=sf