=== Try, Try Again Dept. ===
Before last season, the Mariners brought in a relief pitcher who matched Chris Ray in the following departments:
This relief pitcher being Chad Cordero, of course.
Dr. D has a real averson to "reclamation" projects on closers who never should have been closers, so his POTD on Cordero was short and sweet: fuhgeddaboudit.
A guy who has saved 30 will get look after look. Dr. D's fear is that those 30 saves, four years ago, are the reason for the look...
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=== Reality Check Dept. ===
Sensei Shandler blows Chris Ray off with a wave of the hand, projecting a horrible relief line of 4.55 ERA, 6.0/4.1/1.2 and advising a $2 bid for 2011.
Dr. D concurs heartily, agreeing that all of Ray's luck factors were freakishly good in 2010:
In other words, Ray's questionable 3.72 relief ERA last year was achieved by ... a 25-mph wind gusting in out of the OF, by having five infielders and four outfielders in every game, and by having Rollie Fingers follow him in every game.
"Plummeting DOM and BPV" tell the real story, sez Sensei Shandler, and that DOM (strikeouts/game) is down to 5.0 now.
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=== The Rationale ===
Tony Blengino explained the M's rationale on these guys, when asked about Jesus Colome.
Sez Tony, hey, we need org depth anyway, and sometimes a confluence of factors -- coaching, a lucky week, whatever -- will get a guy on track.
Specifically with Ray? He is back to 94 mph, so they want to see if he's "regaining his command," which is what somebody will be wondering about David Aardsma in four years. Same thing there: They had command? Say what? No, they had a couple years where everything went right.
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Fair enough. You're going to bring in a handful of vets to see if one of them magically rocks you like a hurricane, and it's either Chris Ray or somebody else. They picked Ray.
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Fine. But with the arms in this org, I wouldn't be real quick to roadblock real talent for a dude who saved 30 games once, five years ago.
In real life, SSI will be rooting for Chris Ray. In Arizona, not so much.
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Cheerio,
Dr d
Hey just becoming a member, glad to be here! I appear ahead to partcipating and have read a great deal so far, so hello!
Sooo anyways, enough about me, see you close to and hello once more haha.
BTW where is the option to change the little picture thingy like some people have, I like it but can't figure it out haha
Chad Cordero has pitched only 13 or so innings since 2007 and was ALWAYS just trickin' em up there anyways (FB velocity when HEALTHY = 89 mph, yuck).
Chris Ray on the other hand was a legitimate MLB pitcher as recently as '09, granted his ERA was terrible, but he was still striking guys out, but had a terrible BABIP and lost some control (probably because he was sinking down the drain and started over throwing). However he throws a legit 94 MPH and it isn't like we are asking him to come in and be our closer. Someone is going to have to come in and pitch when Pauley or French or whatever meatball we stick in the 5 spot can't get out of the 5th inning, might as well be a guy with a 94 mph FB, and a chance to strike someone out :)
Seriously the pool of young, fairly healthy, FREE and willing to sign a minor league deal mlb relief options really is not as deep as you portray, plus we want to save the real talent (Lueke, Cortes, etc.) for the important innings (7, 8, 9 with the lead). It is always good to have a bunch of mud to throw at those mop up innings to see what sticks! This move really has ZERO downside.
Who knows the year before he became dominant all Putz had was a 95 mph FB, bad control and gopheritis ;) They should hire easy eddy to come in and teach all NRI relief pitchers we acquire his super splitter :)
I like this pick up too. The important thing is that hes free and he has some upside (even if unlikely to reach it).
Worst case scenario hes bullpen stop-gap stacked in AAA to avoid giving innings to guys like Sean White.
Not mirror images to be sure ...the template in common is "relievers with closer tag who never should have had it"...
These guys have a mystique that keeps them recycled as teams try to find that elusive Magic Sparkle Dust that was never, in fact, there in the first place...
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Ray is preferable to Cordero, to be sure, chiefly because (like Aardsma) he is still lighting up a radar gun... what he ever accomplished with that velo is another question...
But the Ray optimist certainly is entitled to see Ray as a shot at Aardsma II...
Has it occurred why Ray signed the deal he did? :- )
Aardsma
League
Kelley
Cortes
Leuke
Wilhelmsen
Pauley
Beaven, Robles, and anybody in ST who's good, who doesn't make the rotation, and who is going to serve as Swing Man
Everybody I'm forgetting
That's an offseason 20-second list... am sure that G-Money can think of any number of Scott Patterson/Jose Flores/Cesar Jimenez types who deserve a chance to serve as a #12 pitcher before a 5k/4bb ML retread...
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But, as youse guys are aware, there is no harm in adding to the org-filler reservoir...
Baker is all over the "Ray not Wright" call, too: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/marinersblog/2014767906_tough_endi...
It's one thing to want the pen to have "roles," but don't you have to put the right guys in the right roles?
Let's hope Ray doesn't sniff an 8th-inning lead ever again.
Wedge isn't worried about Lueke maxing out at 92 again, but I am. I don't think that's the pitcher that stormed through the minors without walking anybody.
Can you shout people out on their own blog? Well, I guess we've done it to Spec on his blog (this one).