Philly, New York bullpens similar in construct
ByKen Davidoff has been blogging up a storm this week, and most of what he’s posted has been fairly interesting. One thing that caught my eye this morning was his look at the Phillies bullpen. It was meant as a message to Mets fans. As in, don’t think that throwing money at K-Rod or Fuentes or Joe Biemel or Juan Cruz will solve your bullpen problems. The Yanks tried to accomplish this by signing Kyle Farnsworth after the 2005 season, and we saw the results.
Instead, the Phillies have pieced together a bullpen by finding underrated pitchers who get the job done. When I look at their guys, I can’t help but think of how the Yankees went about building the pen this year. Let’s hope they stick to a similar strategy going forward.
| Philly | Salary | Yankee | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brad Lidge | $6.35MM | Mariano Rivera | $15MM |
| J.C. Romery | $3.25MM | Damaso Marte | $2MM |
| Ryan Madson | $1.4MM | Brian Bruney | $750K |
| J.A. Happ | $390K | Jose Veras | $400K |
| Scot Eyre | $950K | Edwar Ramirez | $400K |
| Chad Durbin | $900K | David Robertson | $400K |
| Clay Condrey | $420K | Dan Giese | $412K |
Paying for proven closers is one thing. Paying for middle relievers is quite another. This is likely why the Yankees haven’t yet committed one way or another on the Damaso Marte option. However, other than a hiccup in August, he’s been pretty solid over the past seven seasons. Perhaps he’s an exception to the rule. His history sure makes it look like he is.
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The Mason Williams Watch
when bruney took that spot start in KC in the poring rain for 2 innings, i knew he had turned a corner in his career, domination
yeah i really like bruney, i just wish he brought back the long creepshow hair haha
this stuff is really interesting. although i think no matter what the mets do their bullpen will implode, call it the curse of armando benitez if youre into that sort of thing
just thinking out loud… or on a keyboard; there isn’t much reminiscing of the current past seasons. even though it was not a successful ending to the last yr of the house, we still have a great team, and we should write some of the significant events of 08 and remember them together. that was my piece, peace
Alright, I’ll start it off.
Remember back when we signed Sexson and had him platoon with Giambi?
Good times, man….good times……
http://blogs.townonline.com/br.....downer.jpg
And remember when we signed Ensberg and had him platoon with Giambi. Good times…
to be fair, Giambi was coming off a poor season and was pretty brutal for the first 5 weeks of the season.
the Sexson thing was ridiculous, but early in the season, platooning Giambi wasn’t a crazy idea.
I think this also goes back to the Yankees draft strategy. They want to do to the starting rotation what they did with the bullpen. Sure, you might go out and sign a CC to be your ace but then you can have the rest of it filled out by Wang (for now), Hughes, IPK, Joba, ect who make very little money. Pitching is more overprice than hitting (most people feel anyway) on the open market and signing a free agent bat is more of a sure thing so this makes complete sense.
I think teams will come around that building a good BP is by throwing young arms and see if they can do the job. Draft young arms as relievers in the later rounds and see what he can do in the future alla Robertson and Melancon. Does Cashman gets credit for this? Nah.
In reply to both Chip and Ivan, it’s not just about draft strategy. While that plays a part, identifying viable pieces on the scrapheap plays a role, too. Bruney, Veras, Edwar, Giese. All had been around with other teams, but Cash picked them up and now they’re part of the bullpen solution.
Oh, but it was a terrible idea to sign Sergio Mitre, right LoHud commenters?
definitely that too as well Joe.
Signing Mitre is the worst idea the guy only gets groundballs 60% of the time
60% of the time he gets a groundball every time
jsbrendog, I’m not gonna lie to you, that smells like pure gasoline.
Smells like a baby’s diaper filled with Indian food.
Sergio Mitre fucking sucks. Why sign him to such a non-burdensome contract?
some nasty ass curry
Where’d you get your suit from, the… toilet… store?
Would you like to come to the pants party?
Fuckin Catalina Wine Mixer.
POW!!
it smells like Bigfoot’s dick!!
We have a saying in my country – the coyote of the desert likes to eat the heart of the young and the blood drips down to his children for breakfast, lunch and dinner and only the ribs will be broken.
even Abraham mocked his own readers for complaining about that. kindof funny.
Question Joe.
Do you think we’re looking too much into Bruney’s 34 IP? Impressive as they were, its still a tiny sample size. Who do you think is the best right-handed RP on the Yanks 40-man? Lets include minor leaguers.
i’m going to go with Mariano Rivera
You know how a lot of people say stats don’t tell the whole story? I feel that way with Bruney. The dude just looked so much better this year. So while it’s a small sample, I’m encouraged by what I saw this season. We know he has talent, and it appears he’s beginning to harness it.
To answer your question: Mo. But since you probably meant “best right-handed RP not named Mo on the Yanks 40-man,” I’m not sure. Plenty of talent there. I’m encouraged by Veras, despite his poor end of the season. He, Bruney, and Humberto probably have the most talent.
No Melancon? Dude was one of, if not the top college closer in the 2006 draft class who only fell to the 9th round due to well-founded injury concerns.
Not on the 40-man.
Reggie C — Joba because he is the 8th inning guy
Joba is a starter entering 2009. Drop him from any BP consideration. Lets stick to the righties who are expected to compose the pen. I’d like to see a couple poster’s top 5 if its not too much trouble.
I know lol it was a joke.. And like Steve said its Mo
in the times yesterday there was an article saying want to win? put joba in the pen…and even tho it wasnt the guy’s fault who was reading it i wanted to punch him in his mouth
Urge to kill… rising…
joba to pen and shoudlve made santana trade articles make homer something something
… go crazy?
Mo
Joba
Veras
Brackman
Hughes
In terms of pure stuff that is. Those last three all have curveballs to die for
Your telling me Veras has better stuff than Hughes ? Im not arguing or calling you an idiot cuz idk but really ?
Paying for proven closers is one thing. Paying for middle relievers is quite another. This is likely why the Yankees haven’t yet committed one way or another on the Damaso Marte option.
But, there’s a big difference between paying Kyle Farnsworth 15M over three years and paying Damaso Marte 6M over one year, no?
Is a one-year contract really “paying” all that much? Bad multi-year contracts become albatrosses. Bad one-year contracts are easily shed.
Which is why the Mets should just suck it up and pay Brian Fuentes. Not that he’s the sole solution to that club’s ‘pen woes, but 1 sure guy sure helps.
And apparently the word is that the only reason they wouldn’t pick up the option is to sign him to a multi-year deal……
That would be sad.
Marte on a 1yr 6M deal >>> Marte on a 2yr 12M deal
Agreed.
I really don’t understand these rumors. Hopefully they are just rumors.
perhaps it’s a 2 year, $9M deal?
i kindof doubt it, but they are obviously talking about something.
Fuentes is likely to make 30 million over 3. If not 10ML a year, Fuentes is going to make darn close to it. Not optioning Marte is only going to cost us more dollars (AAS) than the Yanks think. I wonder if they are not under-estimating the market on top reliever.
Exactly. Marte’s not negotiating to come down off that 6M to a lower 2009 salary…
And, even if he is:
Marte on a 1yr 6M deal >>> Marte on a 2yr 9M deal
If I were running the Mets I’d sign Fuentes and guys like Beimel, Correia, and try to trade Jonathan Niese to the Yankees for Edwar
And we will do what with Niese lol no room for a young unproven pitcher in the rotation we already have hughes waiting in the wings
Package him with Kennedy for Holliday or another trade target. And yes I do know this wont happen I was just responding
Why would you receive a player like Jon Niese and look to trade him immediately? He’s barely a week past his 22nd birthday, it’s not like it’s rotation or bust for him.
If it got me Peavy, I’d do it. Of course, that’s definitely NOT happening
I’m not arguing that. I’m arguing C. Panella’s notion that read, “And we will do what with Niese lol no room for a young unproven pitcher in the rotation we already have hughes waiting in the wings”. Just because we might not have a room for him on the Opening Day staff does not mean we should be deterred in attempting to acquire him.
no one pointed out that the Mets are not going to trade one of their top prospects for Edwar Ramirez?
http://riveraveblues.com/2008/.....ent-197685
Francesa says this afternoon that he “heard” that the Yankees are talking with the ChiSox about a Damon deal. Anybody know what that is about. Hayman says also the Yankees have more than a casual interest in Manny.
maybe swapping him for one of their bopper sin the OF. sure they wouldd play him in CF, played griffey their last year.
but its francesa so forget i wrote anything
Mike Francesa = Massive Headwound Harry
I don’t understand these rumors saying Swisher is on the block. They traded the farm for the guy and he had a terrible year. So they’re going to trade him for the IPK/Melky special… yeah I bet.
what i don’t understand is that i read some people wouldn’t trade damon straight up for swisher
I’d ask “Who said that dumb shit???”, but I don’t care, since it’s a total moot point as the Sox would never do that ridiculous shit in the first place.
For the Mets though, with Wagner probably out for awhile in 09 too, they probably do need a closer signing. but just one. Funetes would probably make the most sense. but they sure seem likely to K-rod.