Dodgers reliever George Sherrill, who earned $4.5MM in 2010, might not be offered arbitration this winter. In other news, I might not receive consideration for the 2011 Pulitzer Prize.
With all due respect to Sherrill and his past accomplishments, which include a fantastic second half of 2009 in Los Angeles, his 2010 numbers indicate that he's not worth another year at a similar rate. However, Steve Dilbeck of the Los Angeles Times offered up a defense of the left-hander earlier this week in which he pointed out that Joe Torre often used him in the wrong situations. Sherrill, who shines against lefties, faced 85 left-handed batters and 95 right-handed batters. His stat line for the year was a 6.69 ERA with 6.2 K/9 and 5.9 BB/9, though lefties batted just .192/.286/.288 against him.
Sherrill won't be offered arbitration but he could certainly be a solid value for the Dodgers or another club looking to take a small gamble on a strong left-handed specialist. Dilbeck predicts a "serious pay cut" and perhaps even a minor league deal in the 33-year-old's near future. When utilized properly, however, one has to think that Sherrill can deliver results worthy of a guaranteed deal. The only question is, will the market force a team to offer one?
These polls are so much better than the other awful ones you have been using. Good job!
Hey – you guys got it fixed so we can see the number of people who voted AND the percentage. Most excellent!!
I believe that the Orioles will sign George as a left-handed specialist in 2011. He had a good run in Baltimore and will again.
Sherrill would be an excellent addition to the Orioles pen as a LOOGY. He should be able to get a split minor league/major league contract with an invite to ST.
agreed most definitely a great fit for the orioles, unless the other lefties get taken off the market early by smaller market teams looking to compete with protected draft picks, sherrill shouldn’t be a name to start a miniature bidding war over, so the orioles should sign him earlier.
someone will probably give him a 1yr/1million sort of deal.
Agreed. The risk is so very small on a 1/1 contract, it doesn’t make sense NOT to do it.
I’ve already said I want the Indians to sign him. I want them to sign him with the idea that they are going to flip him at the deadline. Their bullpen is not so loaded that they can’t use him-their lefty relief has been unreliable. They have experience in helping pitchers bounce back and Sherrill is clearly a bounce back candidate in my mind. Then they trade him mid season to a team in contention desperate for lefty relief. I see it as win/win.
I would never want Sherril as my closer, but no way should he be in the minors. Any team would like to have him as their left handed specialist, but at maybe 2-3 million a year. Would love to see him come back to Baltimore, the fans really liked him.
It would be a good signing!
more then a bounce back…… say hello to the 2011 Cy Young
He would look good as the Padres second lefty out of the pen.
In the past Sherrill has been a good LHP who can pitch to righties. Now he’s just a good LHP. His production vs. righties has decreased enough that he needs to be a LHP specialist. Given that, we might see a season of two more from him with ERAs in the 2.00s and strong sub-.250 BAA, all coming against LH batters. It’s not insignificant when you’re talking about a contending team who needs a critical out in the 7th ot 8th inning of an important game. Those outs are hard to come by.
Sherrill is JUNK! He was the worst reliever the Dodgers had (Troncoso was a very close 2nd). He blew just about every oppurtunity he was given. good riddance!
St. Louis
Philadelphia.
Boston.
i wasn’t encouraging the signing, just seems like the MO, pursue a guy, miss out, get him 5 years later when he’s no longer in demand.
Los Angeles (not Anaheim)
Los Angeles (not Anaheim)
Certainly possible, especially considering Boston probably doesn’t want to surrender a first rounder for Scott Downs.
I think he’ll take a minor league deal. He had a very similar year to Brian Tallet (in the sense that they’re both lefties, both sucked, both were heavily misused, and both are very effective against lefties) and Tallet is likely to have to take a minor league deal, and he even has the ability to be an emergency starter, whereas Sherrill doesn’t. If Sherrill costs anything more than a minor league deal, I’d be looking at Tallet as an alternative.
Well, Sherrill’s best years were better than Tallet’s best years. I would be quicker to give Sherrill a major league deal than give one to Tallet. They are both likely to be value signings, even at the ML level.
fair enough but if they’re both just LOOGY’s at this stage in their career, they might have very similar seasons in 2011
yankees could use a reliever,if they can’t get feliciano, sherrill could be helpful. If he gets back to his old form, maybe he could set up for them too.
A 5/$50M contract ought to do it.
I was thinking a 7 year deal to take him into his prime 40s
I think they’ll go with the cliff lee approach and give Sherrill around 30 million a year over 5 years so he can be satisfied with more money than Sabathia. I could be wrong and thy could do the years though
Very funny, Jeter. But you’re not fooling Cashman that easily.
If he can limit the number of walks, he’d be a good addition to any bullpen as a LOOGY. Reminds me a lot of what happened to Kiko Calero last offseason. He was coming off of a good 2009 season and couldn’t find a major league job, and ended up pitching poorly in AAA. With the way Sherrill pitched in 2010, I think teams will be wary to give him a major league deal.
If Sherrill is released (which seems almost certain) he’ll get invitations to spring training, if nothing else. One lousy season following several very good ones does not suggest that he’s already washed up.
Especially when you’re talking pitchers. I was POSITIVE that Colby Lewis was never going to break through-and then he went on to be one of the best pitchers in baseball last year. I was sure Shaun Marcum was through too-his rehab didn’t seem to go all that well.
GM’s must lose a lot of sleep over pitching decisions; they know everything and they know nothing at the same time. Countless pitchers have been written off only to be written back in.
That’s why I would be reluctant to kick Sherrill to the curb. He really fought to make it the big leagues; he’s going to fight to stay there.
I agree. Sherrill was more than good down the stretch in ’09, he was brilliant. Short of something major wrong physically which we haven’t heard about, he will be viewed by many GMs as a top bounce-back candidate, and I sure wouldn’t mind if the Dodgers took that chance. But he was booed by the fans at Dodgers Stadium so often last season I can’t see him deciding to come back to LA if he gets another opportunity.
RPs are so bipolar, wouldn’t surprise me at all if Sherrill performed at a high level next year. Any team who likes to carry an extra arm in the bully could use him.
Dilbeck has a point about Torre. If there was one thing everyone seemed to agree on with him it was that his biggest fault was his bullpen management. That’s probably a big reason Broxton inexplicably tanked in the 2nd half. Torre’s retirement, alone, could help the Dodgers bullpen bounce back this year.
I hope the White Sox take a shot at him, we need another lefty.
I think Sherrill wants to stay. I think he likes it here in L.A. He had a gruesome first half of the season, but he started to get it turned back around at the end. He probably should be non-tendered, but hopefully he will resign with us anyways. He is alot better than the way he pitched last year.
I’ve heard nothing about him liking LA, but thats possible. Torre sorely misused him and i hope he does return. Hopefully Mattingly didn’t learn to use the bullpen from Torre though.
yeah, I dont remember how I heard it, but he likes it here. He mentioned something about wanting to stay here in LA. It was before the start of last season, I think, when the non-tender decision wasnt such a no-brainer. My wife and I really like him, because he took time to take pictures with my Daughter, my Wife and I in spring training. Just a genuinely nice guy. I felt really bad for the guy last year.
Pirates could get him, then flip him at the deadline if he rebuilds some value.
you know, i’m of the opinion that SEATTLE needs a Lefty Specialist. One of which who is cheap, has expirience, and could bag a couple young players at the 31’st trade deadline.
He’s a LOOGY, and thus should never be used to get RHH out.
Hey Rex.. so whats a LOOGY? Im lost after the L.. :) Ive read it, before on TBLA. Enlighten me!
Hey Rex.. so whats a LOOGY? Im lost after the L.. :) Ive read it, before on TBLA. Enlighten me!
40/7,000,000,000
should take him into his late 70s