EYES WIDE OPEN: SEARCH FO RELIEF(PHILLIES DEC 23)

December 23, 2009 · philliesmania · Jump to comments

It can be very frustrating as a GM to find reliable bullpen help. And yet it is very important. A better bullpen may have helped the Phillies beat the Yankees in the 2009 Fall Classic.

In 2008 the Phillies had a very good bullpen and yet the same nucleus was sub par in 2009. In fact that happens a lot. The demand on the arm that relief pitching exacts can be very tricky from year to year. Not too mention the injuries.

So what does Ruben need to do for 2010?

Let’s start from the back end and work backwards. The glaring weaknesses of 2009 for Philadelphia was closer and middle inning help. Chan Ho Park bailed you out but with Romero suspended/hurt, Condrey in and out, Eyre in/out, and Madson being put in and out of closer role it made the late innings suspect. And the Chan couldn’t pitch every single day for the 6th and 7th inning.

BRAD LIDGE: At this point he is still your best option for a closer. Face the music, even with a distasterous 2009 he still had 30+ saves. Now I am in no way suggesting he had a good year but 30 saves is more than many teams got from their closer. And he did have health problems to boot.

So is he washed up? I don’t know but I guess there is only one way to find out. The problem is you better, and I mean better have a Plan B and Plan C just in case he is done.

Who is out there? 32 year old Free Agent Fernando Rodney has been mentioned. Bringing him in for bullpen duty in general knowing he has closer experience.

2009 Season Stats (Rodney)
SPLITS	G	GS	CG	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	W	L	SV	HLD	BLSV	WHIP	ERA
Season	73	0	0	75.2	70	38	37	8	41	61	2	5	37	0	1	1.47	4.40
Career	308	0	0	330.0	300	172	157	31	170	314	15	30	70	0	0	1.42	4.28

He doesn’t wow me but who knows. It’s not the worst move you could make. Or is it? + 4 ERA? Not a good endorsement for me. Rodney went 37 for 38 in save opportunities in 2009 for Detroit. In fact he pitched way better as a closer than in non save relief. So this is an interesting choice. If you still plan on Lidge than Rodney is not a good choice for me. Because if Lidge does pan out than you got a guy who is not as good in a non save role.

Another name is 32 year old Mike MacDougal who had been pitching for the Nationals.

2009 Season Stats (MacDougal)
SPLITS	G	GS	CG	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	W	L	SV	HLD	BLSV	WHIP	ERA
Season	57	0	0	54.1	52	31	26	3	38	34	1	1	20	0	1	1.66	4.31
Career	314	3	0	312.2	311	168	142	21	165	266	14	21	70	0	0	1.52	4.09

Again with over 4 ERA. He did have 3 season where he saved 20 games. His best was 27.

36 year old Bob Howry has also been on the radar.

2009 Season Stats (Howry)
SPLITS	G	GS	CG	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	W	L	SV	HLD	BLSV	WHIP	ERA
Season	63	0	0	63.2	50	26	24	5	23	46	2	6	0	10	3	1.15	3.39
Career	731	0	0	752.2	684	330	306	85	240	639	44	49	66	0	0	1.23	3.66

The ERA is a little better here and he has had 66 career saves.

Kikon Calero is a 34 year old option who had a very good 2009.

2009 Season Stats(Calero)
SPLITS	G	GS	CG	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	W	L	SV	HLD	BLSV	WHIP	ERA
Season	67	0	0	60.0	36	13	13	1	30	69	2	2	0	12	5	1.10	1.95
Career	313	1	0	302.2	236	110	109	24	126	324	14	12	7	0	0	1.20	3.24

His career ERA is much better than some above options. He has less closer experience however. He does have a nice price tag. So you could bring him regardless of others.

Miguel Batista has been bandied about also. I don’t see this happening. He is a high price tag. He does have starter experience though which is another spot Ruben needs to look at.

2009 Season Stats (Batista)
SPLITS	G	GS	CG	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	W	L	SV	HLD	BLSV	WHIP	ERA
Season	56	0	0	71.1	79	37	32	7	39	52	7	4	1	14	4	1.65	4.04
Career	530	237	10	1761.0	1843	994	889	177	794	1128	95	108	39	0	0	1.50	4.54

Here is a total list of some available relief arms to choose from: Not one of them makes me salivate. But there may be a couple choices. Including guys from the Phillies roster in 2009. The Chan is the best long relief option on this list in my book. Notice some have been snatched up also.

Updated: December 23, 2009
Player	Age	Status	Old Team	New Team	Years	Dollars	Rank
Jose Arredondo	25	Non-Tendered	LA Angels	–			NR
Danys Baez	32	Free Agent	Baltimore	–			NR
Brian Bass	27	Non-Tendered	Baltimore	–			NR
Miguel Batista	38	Free Agent	Seattle	–			NR
Joe Beimel	32	Free Agent	Colorado	–			NR
Joaquin Benoit	32	Free Agent	Texas	–			NR
Rafael Betancourt	34	Accepted Arbitration	Colorado	Colorado			33
Chad Bradford	35	Free Agent	Tampa Bay	–			NR
Doug Brocail	42	Free Agent	Houston	–			NR
Kiko Calero	34	Free Agent	Florida	–			NR
Player	Age	Status	Old Team	New Team	Years	Dollars	Rank
Matt Capps	26	Non-Tendered	Pittsburgh	–			NR
D.J. Carrasco	32	Non-Tendered	Chicago Sox	–			NR
Bruce Chen	32	Free Agent	Kansas City	–			NR
Clay Condrey	34	Non-Tendered	Philadelphia	–			NR
Neal Cotts	29	Non-Tendered	Chicago Cubs	–			NR
Elmer Dessens	38	Signed	NY Mets	NY Mets		Minor Lg.	NR
Mark DiFelice	33	Signed	Milwaukee	Milwaukee		Minor Lg.	NR
Brendan Donnelly	38	Free Agent	Florida	–			NR
Octavio Dotel	36	Free Agent	Chicago Sox	–			NR
Alan Embree	39	Free Agent	Colorado	–			NR
Player	Age	Status	Old Team	New Team	Years	Dollars	Rank
Scott Eyre	37	Free Agent	Philadelphia	–			NR
Josh Fogg	33	Free Agent	Colorado	–			NR
Chad Fox	39	Free Agent	Chicago Cubs	–			NR
Mike Gonzalez	31	Signed (A)	Atlanta	Baltimore	2	$12,000,000	16
John Grabow	31	Signed	Chicago Cubs	Chicago Cubs	2	$7,500,000	NR
Kevin Gregg	31	Free Agent	Chicago Cubs	–			NR
Eddie Guardado	39	Free Agent	Texas	–			NR
LaTroy Hawkins	37	Signed	Houston	Milwaukee	1	$7,500,000	NR
Mark Hendrickson	35	Free Agent	Baltimore	–			NR
Matt Herges	39	Free Agent	Colorado	–			NR
Player	Age	Status	Old Team	New Team	Years	Dollars	Rank
Bob Howry	36	Free Agent	San Francisco	–			NR
Ryota Igarashi	30	Signed	Japan	NY Mets	2	$3,000,000	25
Jason Isringhausen	37	Free Agent	Tampa Bay	–			NR
Javier Lopez	32	Signed	Boston	Pittsburgh	1	$775,000	NR
Brandon Lyon	30	Signed (B)	Detroit	Houston	3	$15,000,000	45
Mike MacDougal	32	Non-Tendered	Washington	–			NR
Ron Mahay	38	Free Agent	Minnesota	–			NR
Seth McClung	28	Non-Tendered	Milwaukee	–			NR
Guillermo Mota	36	Free Agent	LA Dodgers	–			NR
Will Ohman	32	Free Agent	LA Dodgers	–			NR
Player	Age	Status	Old Team	New Team	Years	Dollars	Rank
Darren Oliver	39	Signed	LA Angels	Texas	1	$3,500,000	48
Chan Ho Park	36	Free Agent	Philadelphia	–			43
Troy Percival	40	Free Agent	Tampa Bay	–			NR
J.J. Putz	32	Signed	NY Mets	Chicago Sox	1	$3,000,000	NR
Jackson Quezada	23	Non-Tendered	San Diego	–			NR
Anthony Reyes	28	Signed	Cleveland	Cleveland		Minor Lg.	NR
Juan Rincon	30	Signed	Colorado	Colorado		Minor Lg.	NR
Fernando Rodney	32	Free Agent (B)	Detroit	–			41
Takashi Saito	39	Signed	Boston	Atlanta	1	$3,200,000	NR
Scott Schoeneweis	36	Free Agent	Arizona	–			NR
Player	Age	Status	Old Team	New Team	Years	Dollars	Rank
Brian Shouse	41	Free Agent (B)	Tampa Bay	–			NR
Rafael Soriano	30	Signed	Atlanta	Tampa Bay	1	$7,250,000	19
Russ Springer	41	Free Agent	Tampa Bay	–			NR
Jose Valverde	31	Free Agent (A)	Houston	–			36
Claudio Vargas	31	Signed	Milwaukee	Milwaukee	1	$900,000	NR
Jose Veras	29	Non-Tendered	Cleveland	–			NR
Ron Villone	39	Free Agent	Washington	–			NR
Billy Wagner	38	Signed (A)	Boston	Atlanta	1	$7,000,000	23
David Weathers	40	Free Agent	Milwaukee	–			NR
Jeff Weaver	33	Free Agent	LA Dodgers	–			NR
Player	Age	Status	Old Team	New Team	Years	Dollars	Rank
Kip Wells	32	Free Agent	Cincinnati	–			NR
Mark Worrell	26	Non-Tendered	San Diego	–			NR
Jamey Wright	34	Free Agent	Kansas City	–			NR