Betancourt Signs Multiyear Deal

Another funny comparison:

Aaron Heilman (one of the best NL relievers over the past 3 years) and the Mets agreed on a $1.2MM deal to avoid arbitration.

Jorge Sosa? He wants $2.75MM and the Mets are offering $1.7MM.

Jorge Sosa is going to make more than Aaron Heilman in 2008. That's pathetic.

hopefully they can get a multi year deal done... i dont think he is the future closer though (Jensen Lewis)

Yeah, between Betancourt, Lewis, Perez and darkhorse’s Mujica and Mastny, they seem to have plenty of options for the closer role…

I cant imagine other teams aren’t looking at Betancourt and drooling over the possibility to put him in the closers role though ~ that I would have to imagine makes his FA years more expensive… And I also wouldn’t count him out for the Tribe’s closer role because he is the only one with continued dominance and success under pressure to this point. The others are just kids and who knows how they will fare in the long run ~ where are ye Fernando Cabrera…

But, keep this in mind: A like 2 or 3 years ago, Cleveland tried Betancourt as the closer and that didn't work out so well. I believe it was just before the Bob Wickman project. He was great in the 8th inning, but just didn't do as well in the 9th. So, as I recall, they got Wickman and moved Rafy back to the 8th, where he's been productive ever since.

Now, pitchers mature, and he may be better suited for 9th inning work now, but I think that a) the Tribe remembers this and is reluctant to use him as the closer and b) they appreciate the James Theory that you want your best reliever when you need a key out, not in the arbitrary spot in the line-up that comes in the 9th inning-- as that's how they used him this year and with tremendous effectiveness.

Well…

Betancourt was used extremely randomly in the closers role in 2004 ~ his first real year in the majors. It was the year Wickman went down with injury and the team tried Riske, Jimenez (ugh, I hate that name), and even Kyle Denney in the spot ~ Rafael would just get the save chance after one of those guys tanked it… His save chances came like 3-4 weeks in between eachother though ~ he wasn’t really given a try that year…

Otherwise Betancourt really hasn’t been tried in the closers role much at all. In 2006 after trading Wickman they wanted to see if they could find a future-closer out of the minors going with Matsny and Carmona mainly. (BTW, kind of surprised they did that, you don’t use call-ups in the closer role! They should know better than that…) By the end of the year, Betancourt was pretty much the closer; saving the teams last 2 chances…

Do agree with B though… The team has seemed to worry more about set-up men than closers over the years. Most times its by choice, sometimes its because of dumb luck though (in the case of Hoffman and Ryan for 2006)

Raffy Right as we like to call him here in Cleveland should definately be given a long term extension. Cleveland hasn't gone to arbitration with a player since 1991 so I see them working something out. Maybe 3 years and 12 million I would think. He is probably a top 2 or 3 setup guy in baseball.

I think with them signing Kobayashi it would take some pressue of him as well and he may be even better this year. I know it is hard to judge a guy in the bullpen, but he is going to be much more valuable than what the WhiteSox have in Linebrink whom they vastly overpaid for.

He's 32 years old and has only really pitched for 4 years so he seems to have a lot left in the tank. Cleveland will get this one done!

The duration of the 9th inning would be likely as long as when Jo-Bo is out there... Borowski has like 20 minute 9th innings because he always loads the bases, Betancourt would have 20 minute 9th innings because he stands on the rubber for 25.5 seconds, but hey, if you can maintain a sub 1.50 ERA then do what you gotta do.

"It's funny how a dominant setup man can earn significantly less than a mediocre closer."

Overall, I agree. The recent signing of Dotel to the WS would aurgue to a point. He got a nice deal. Good gamble for Williams, but a bit costly I think.

Sosa and Heilman can't be compared - Sosa has more service time and nearly twice as many IP.

Next year for Heilman should be comparable to this year for Sosa. Probably a bit higher actually.

In other news, Cesar Izturis is making more money than Ryan Braun. The nerve of these baseball teams!

2 year deal at 5.4 million with 3rd year $5 million option.

http://www.cleveland.com/sportsflash/tribe/index.ssf?/base/sports-32/1201106011166470.xml&storylist=indians

Someone please explain to me why he would take a small contract like that? we just signed scott linebrink to 4/19. I think linebrink will be good, but I think I would rather have Betencourt for those numbers, and he makes less.