Links for Saturday night, as Alex Gordon continues to enjoy a productive spring….
- The contract Ron Villone signed with the Nationals is non-guaranteed and worth $750K, tweets SI.com's Jon Heyman.
- Padres chief executive Jeff Moorad has officially vested himself of the portion of the Diamondbacks he owned, reports MLB.com's Barry M. Bloom.
- Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com profiles a handful of prospects, including a pair of Royals, who could have an impact for subpar teams this year.
- One scout discussed Brad Lidge with ESPN's Jayson Stark: "If I were the Phillies, I'd be worried. He's having a tough time getting his arm strength this spring." 2011 is the last guaranteed year of Lidge's contract, with the Phillies holding a $12.5MM club option ($1.5MM buyout) on 2012.
- Ozzie Guillen says he doesn't care who emerges as the White Sox closer, since he has full confidence in both Chris Sale and the recently extended Matt Thornton, writes Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune.
- For the latest updates on the closer situations in Philadelphia, Chicago, and everywhere else, be sure to follow @closernews on Twitter.
I really thought Jesse Crain would emerge as the White Sox closer. Always liked him, hes got dominating stuff. Have they even tried him at closer?
To be fair to Lidge, hes only pitched 5 innings and is notorious for bad springs. I read somewhere after hes last outing this spring that he is solely working on his fastball location right now, which is understandable for this time of year. Even when he was real good the second half of last year, he was only throwing 88-91 mph, he was just locating well.
Yeah I’m not tremendously concerned with Lidge as a Phils’ fan, though I probably would be if they still owed him multiple years. I hope they’re not foolish enough to give him another multi-yr deal after this season – Madson is younger, better, and deserving of a chance to be a full-time closer. The whole “he failed when given the chance” thing is nonsense.
I agree. I think Madson’s learned his lesson on how to control himself in the 9th inning. (He told Mikey Miss that when he first started he tried to strike out the side with one pitch in his mind.) As long as he has a solid mental approach, I could see him being an all star caliber closer with the stuff he has.
Or perhaps Rafael Soriano will opt out of contract with the Yanks… not likely… but still…
I’m not worried about the fact that he’s getting lit up… most closers do since you don’t have any adrenalin. The velocity scares me a little bit but if he gets his control, I’ll be less worried…
I think though, definitely, this is Lidge’s last year on the team with Madson becoming the closer 2011-
I agree. I think Madson’s learned his lesson on how to control himself in the 9th inning. (He told Mikey Miss that when he first started he tried to strike out the side with one pitch in his mind.) As long as he has a solid mental approach, I could see him being an all star caliber closer with the stuff he has.
so good you said it twice
Interesting to see if Cholly starts putting Lidge in in the 8th with a short leash. I have a feeling Madson’s transition to closer will proceed rather quickly this spring. Fortunately, it looks like Bastardo, Mathieson and Stutes are all poised to take over in the set up role too. After 6 or 7 innings of finesse from one of the 5Aces, some wicked late-moving smoke from those guys should work.
Its amazing how many impressive young bullpen arms are finally ready to contribute for the Phils. Besides the guys you mentioned they also have Schwimer and DeFratus who might be the best of the bunch.
Jeez, they’ve got 5 aces now?
I don’t see Lidge coming back after 2011… Maybe if he has another 48-48… I just see Madson stepping up and having a phenomenal year. He’s been lights out since he broke his foot.
Lidge will be fine, at this time last year he hadn’t even started pitching. His velocity will never be the same as it was, but if he locates, he can still get the job done throwing just his slider.