Joaquin Benoit was the top right-handed setup man available on the free agent market, but with him off the board teams now appear to be turning their attention to Jesse Crain. MLB.com's Peter Gammons tweets that a total of nine teams – the Rays, Rockies, Dodgers, Diamondbacks, Mariners, Orioles, Cubs, Nationals, and Blue Jays – are "already in" on the former Twin.
Crain, 29, has returned from a 2007 shoulder surgery to post a 3.70 ERA with 7.7 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9 in 182.1 innings over the last three seasons. In 68 innings this year, he posted a career-high 8.2 K/9 and a career-low .215 batting average against. Minnesota offered the Type-B free agent arbitration, so the club will receive a draft pick if he signs elsewhere even though the signing team will not have to give one up.
So glad to hear the Jays are in on Crain. He’s from Toronto! At best, he’s got the skills to be the closer and at worst he would make a very good setup man. Come on AA!
nationality shouldn’t be a significant component when signing a free Agent but there is no harm in it …….
i mean we need bullpen arms and he won’t cost us a pick, he ll be competing for set up man job or 7th inning guy
And when we sign him we will lower other teams options , therefore there maybe a chance that frasor decline Arb and look for a good deal .. maybe he gets one too …
Nationality should not be a component at all, but Paul Godfrey has gone on the record many a times stating that he wants more Canadian players for whatever reason. I think the real thing is that Crain is young, wants to close and would be given a chance to do that. Regardless he is very skilled.
Who else is going to close if all of our FA’s leave ?
And you are right. AA signed Gonzalez away from Boston last year to limit their choice to Scutaro and signed Buck and Molina which lessened the supply which helped make Barajas more attractive, so the strategy has worked in the past.
Purcey, Janssen, Stewart, Rzep.. Jays have arms within that they can have a closer by committee or run with someone
When you look for a closer your looking for a guy who limits the walks and shows no decernable splits when facing lefty’s as opposed to righties.
Purcey gets hammered by righties and has a walk rate above 4 and over 5 to lefties (guess they wont chase his slider). Stewart is our best pitching prospect and I hope we don’t pigeon hole him as a relief pitcher when he has done so well as a starter; Rzep I admit is a good option; Jansen simply isn’t good enough, but I can’t point to anything except for his medicrity(he doesn’t walk as many guys as any of the aforementioned guys but both sides of the plate hit at least .270 against him.
So yah, if we don’t get anyone else I can see us flailing around with a closer by committee thing until we get desperate and call up Stewart. Either way, the bp should be interesting this year.
Paul Godfrey? The guy who left the Jays organization over 2 year ago?
True ! Got me there!
Beeston’s the one I was thinking of. He comes on the fan and talks to McCowan. During the draft he said when faced with an american player and a Canadian of similar skills that he wanted the Canadian one chosen instead. He says similar comments to regarding the major league roster.
Paul Godfrey? The guy who left the Jays organization over 2 year ago?
Would have loved to see the Mets go after this guy
Same here. I’m surprised the Mets are not persuing this guy. They need as much help in their bullpen as they can get and Crain would be a start.
He’s perfect for the Mets regardless of the direction they go in, in terms of age, talent, the need for bullpen arms, being a Type B free agent, and probably in terms of the amount of money they could spend.
Don’t understand why my Sox aren’t getting in on relievers. Yes, the last time they spent big on a reliever it was Linebrink *barf* and we all know how that panned out. But they are so thin behind Thornton and Santos (Putz likely gone, Jenks gone and Sale will start), and if they have any desire of competing they need a RP.
That being said, I think Kenny may have finally realized he isn’t going to contend next year. After missing out on V-Mart, I think he may realize he’s come to the point where his trading of prospects finally left the cupboard bear, and he needs to restock to contend at the next possible chance.
It’s because he learned the lesson of Linebrink – overpaying for relievers is a terrible way to build a team. Smart teams (like Tampa and San Diego) are consistently able to generate quality bullpens by being judicious in their spending on bullpen pieces. Only spend money on elite, sure thing relievers (Soriano, Hoffman for those teams; guys like Rivera and Nathan otherwise). If a guy isn’t a sure thing (like Crain) then don’t waste the money – try to find bargains, projects and prospects. Look at the Yankees – they spent on Park, Marte, etc but got most production from untouted guys like Robertson and Logan and a wise trade in Wood.
One of the nicest guys I’ve met…a tremendous pitcher, I just wish him the best…But I’d like to see him stay with the Twins.
Of course he’s nice, he’s Canadian!
I think out of those 9 teams, the Jays would be the best fit. As the closer.
i donno if he is closer material cuz i havn’t seen much of him and of what i have seen ( against the homer happy jays) he looked OKish … maybe a set up man at best but not a closer
anything as a closer will be better than Gregg’s late inni blow up’s costing us 6 blown saves combined with frasor 3
I don’t see how Crain would be an upgrade as closer over Gregg.. and everyone seems to be happy he’s gone.
He may have been born in Canada, but that doesn’t make him Canadian. He grew up in Colorado.
Dear AA please get this guys name on a contract
Signed every jays fan!
It would be great to see more Canadians on the Jays!
The mariners are always interested in everyone!!!
hey Sandy Alderson, we could use some bullpen help…
What kind of money is this guy going to be commanding?
6/140
Only if Dave Dombrowski or Ed Wade is interested in signing him.
Only if Dave Dombrowski or Ed Wade is interested in signing him.
If anyone signs Crain as anything but a setup man they are going to be kicking themselves later. He was definatly solid most of this year but everyone quickly forgot the month or two to start where the old song of get rid of crainwreck was playing yet again. He has always been a very streaky pitcher though it will be interesting to see if that settles down some now that he has changed his approach. This season was turned around when he started throwing his slider way way more in every count and situation and keeping the fastball in his pocket for the right moment, he had always been a power pitcher but a 92-95 mph fastball that is straight as an arrow can get hammered often when you throw it almost every pitch. Best of luck to him but I wont be that distressed if he signs elsewhere and I never have to watch another crainwreck.
Well, he did go to high school in Denver, so I guess it would be cool to have him on the Rockies. But they already have a pen that is pretty much set. Maybe they plan to use Belisle in a trade?
Is it just me or do Jays fans think they should only have Canadian players?
considering there’s no Canadians on the current roster. . and jays have never really had a Canadian star. I don’t see the harm in Jays fans requesting/hoping to have one Canadian on the roster, he is a free agent after all and we need vets in the pen. Not exactly outrageous.
As a Jays fan (and Canadian), I would much rather see them sign/acquire/draft/whatever the BEST available player rather than just getting a Canadian because the jays are “Canada’s Team”. I don’t understand how watching a potentially less talented Canadian player is better than watching a guy that was the best available talent and gives the team the best opportunity to win.
As a Jays fan (and Canadian), I would much rather see them sign/acquire/draft/whatever the BEST available player rather than just getting a Canadian because the jays are “Canada’s Team”. I don’t understand how watching a potentially less talented Canadian player is better than watching a guy that was the best available talent and gives the team the best opportunity to win.
…isn’t Scott Richmond on the roster?
They don’t push for Canadians any more than Braves fans bring up the fact that someone’s a “Georgia boy” or LA/San Fran fans say that someone is a “West Coast guy”. People like to see players they can identify with on their team, and geography is one of the ways they can identify with the players.
For The Jays that are having to build a bullpen if AA gave Jesse Crain a Deal he would get a A to start off the offseason
For The Jays that are having to build a bullpen if AA gave Jesse Crain a Deal he would get a A to start off the offseason
id love it as a jays fan if A.A signed Crain. i dont care that hes canadian or not, i just want to win. its a bonus that hes canadian but not a necessity. he would definitely be an upgrade over frasor. i dont think hes closer material though. set up man at most. go get him A.A
he doesnt really get in during the 9th and really hasnt had his chance to prove that he can close.I would give the man a chance at least you never know he could surprise us
i agree. he still deserves a chance but my early prediction is that he is not a closer. i think the jays will be doing a closer by commitee this year. i still like the idea of going after j.j putz
I would love to get Chad Qualls.but J.J would be fine by me he has real dominate stuff and would blossom again in toronto but do take into consderation he is getting old
i checked out Qualls’ numbers and i dont know why everyone is so high on him. what is it that u like about him? hes 32 also.
cause he has real good stuff.and doesnt crack to easy under pressure i think he would be a nice piece to the pen.just remember were gonna have to build a whole new pen this year
his 7.32era and 85 hits in 59IP kind of scares me but i dont know enough about the player to judge. even his number in 2009 werent that great. lots of people like him though so maybe im wrong. i still wouldnt want him closing based on those numbers. did u want him to close or just middle relief?
it really didnt matter i know he can do all but as for those numbers ya know every pitcher has at least 1 off year.
yea u might be right. are u jays fan living in the u.s? i see you are a seahawks fan.
yes sir I am.Im in Vegas so I get to follow the 51’s alot now lol.but the main thing I wondering how AA is gonna solve is the 1st base issue. what do you think?
i now follow u on twitter. my name is TdotsFinest. sooo good to hear we have the support of americans in the u.s and especially in vegas. how did u end up a jays fan? in regards to lthe first base issue, i would love to see Lind develop there. this is still another rebuilding year technically and there is absolutely no reason why we cant give him the chance to prove himself cuz he deserves it. cito should have done this last year but he was too busy putting Overbay in every game so that he can get a good contract. that definitely pushed back the development of the team.
I became a Jays fan cause I lived in Toronto for 6 years.I would like to give Lind a Shot at 1st base but my gut tells me we would be better if we got Adam LaRoche as our first baseman.im just not nuts about bringin Manny to Toronto just yet
i totally agree with adam laroche. he had a great year but is he a free agent? id also like to see AA pull of a move to aquire casey mcgehee. if we can aquire either of those guys then lind at DH im fine with
yepp he is a type B so we dont have to give up a pick. Mcgehee is a good player but something tells me that Bautista will man 3rd this year.The only thing that puzzels me bout AA is he has all these pitching prospects but really isnt willing to trade any of them for players.
sorry i forgot mcgehee is a 2nd/3rd baseman not 1B
the only pitching prospect that im willing to trade is zack stewart. he might turn out just as good as drabek. i just think that drabek will have a great major league career. unless we can get adrian gonzales for drabek and a package, i dont want to give him up.
anyone can play first though but when it comes to the brewers i would take prince fielder with open arms lol.btw some people call me crazy when i say this but for a low $ contract would it really be bad if we signed Bill Hall
prince is great but i think AA wants more athletic players. A-Gon would be my first choice. I dont think i agree with you on bill hall lol sorry
Bill Hall is beasty lol just sayin dude I just thought about it do you think K.C. Hobson can get throught the system.Prince is athletic for a big guy he runs at a decent speed and his defense is kinda sharpe
i dont really know much about Hobson except that he was a really late pick 2 years ago i think. im not even sure what position he plays but hes young so hes still a while away. what level is he at in the system now? im excited to see the development of jake marisnick and alan farina.
Late??? Hobson got picked in the 6th round he is a 1b/OF he was in A ball last year.Marisnick wont make it to the jays he is gonna be a player who gets traded but dont get me wrong i would like to see him in the bigs as a Jay
yea isnt 6th round late? lol
why are u so confident that marisnick will be traded before he plays with the jays?
6th round out of 50 isnt late.Marisnick is highly talked about prospect among other clubs someone will pry him away from us
i guess if ubase it on 50 rounds then sure it isnt late. well if marisnick can get u something of value thn im all for it
Bill Hall is beasty lol just sayin dude I just thought about it do you think K.C. Hobson can get throught the system.Prince is athletic for a big guy he runs at a decent speed and his defense is kinda sharpe
he probibly can.back to free agency though where do you think some of our needs are and how would you fill them??
Crain was the Twins best reliever this year and deserves to be paid.
Ok – let’s say he costs 7 million for 2 years. By fangraphs valuations he’s been worth 3.5 million in salary only once in his career back in 2006 (though in fairness he was close to that last year). So you’re going to be paying a guy who over the course of 7 years has accumulated 3.0 total WAR (worthy of, roughly, 12 million or so in salary on the opening market for all 7 seasons combined).I think almost every team would be wiser to pick up 6 or 7 guys each season for around the major league minimum or a rule 5 pick and gamble that one becomes a productive asset.
While I agree with you that few relievers are actually worth their salaries, you have to look beyond the numbers IMO. With a bullpen is as shallow as the Sox, you need to overpay a bit for a decent reliever so you don’t end up in a disaster similar to a team like the D-Backs last year. If you dig deep into the Sox system, you just realize there are not guys who have potential to even be a decent reliever next year.
I think that’s a reasonable point – but if you’re going to spend 3.5 mil or so why not a guy with a better track record of success or higher upside? I don’t get the reason why Crain would be such a tremendous upgrade over Clevelan Santeliz or Miguel Socolovich (who would cost the minimum)? Why not sign Juan Cruz for roughly 1/3rd (or less) of what Crain will cost and see what he can give you (pitched well in a small sample last season, very good in ’07 and ’08)?I don’t have a problem with paying for quality. But Jesse Crain isn’t quality. He’s a usable but unspectacular relief pitcher (by all accounts a good guy too) who has precisely 2 ‘good’ seasons to his resume in 7 years and has had awful seasons (sub replacement level) as well. If I’m going to throw 3.5 million at Jesse Crain, I’d rather just up the offer a bit and throw 4.5 or 5 mil at Putz who has simply been a better pitcher over the course of their respective careers.
The D-backs of ’10 are going to be thrown around by agents and supporters of paying relief pitching in free agency, but the fact is that their ‘pen suffered *historic* suckitude on unprecedented levels. The D-backs could sign no relievers of note and still wind up with a better ‘pen in ’11 than they had in ’10, likely by a large margin, just from scrap-heap finds.
The D-backs of ’10 are going to be thrown around by agents and supporters of paying relief pitching in free agency, but the fact is that their ‘pen suffered *historic* suckitude on unprecedented levels. The D-backs could sign no relievers of note and still wind up with a better ‘pen in ’11 than they had in ’10, likely by a large margin, just from scrap-heap finds.
I’d much rather pay 4.5 Million to Putz, but he’s gonna ask for more unless he’s guaranteed a closer role. But actually, I’d rather have you’re idea of paying Cruz on the cheap than either of those, as 4.5 is a lot for a reliever, especially when Putz will likely want a 3 year deal, and 3/13.5 is a lot for what he will be at the end of that.
Completely true – hell, they could parade the exact same array of schmucks in 2011 and would almost certainly end up with better results.