It would be hard to argue that R.A. Dickey wasn't the best minor league signing of the year in 2010. The knuckleballer posted a 2.84 ERA in 174 1/3 innings, establishing himself as a fixture in the Mets' rotation. He has since signed an extension, but hundreds of players are now in the same position Dickey found himself in a year ago. One month into the season, some of this year's minor league deals are starting to pay off and when it comes to pitching, the Yankees' minor league signings are standing out:
- Bartolo Colon, Yankees – Not only does Colon have a 3.00 ERA in 33 innings, he has the peripheral stats to back it up: 9.0 K/9, 1.6 BB/9, 48% ground ball rate, 3.16 FIP, 2.65 xFIP.
- Freddy Garcia, Yankees – The Yankees wanted low-risk starting pitching options who could eat innings and Garcia has thrived as a back-of-the-rotation starter despite posting his highest walk rate in years. The 35-year-old has a 2.88 ERA in 25 innings with 8.3 K/9 and 4.0 BB/9.
- Jason Isringhausen, Mets – Izzy has allowed 4 hits and 4 walks in 8 1/3 innings, striking out 6 for a 3.24 ERA after barely playing pro ball in 2010. Honorable mention to Tim Byrdak, who has 10 Ks through 8 innings of relief in the Mets’ ‘pen.
- Barret Loux, Rangers – The Diamondbacks selected the 6'5" right-hander sixth overall last year, but didn't sign him after looking at his shoulder. So far, the 22-year-old has a 2.88 ERA with 11.2 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 in the Rangers' system.
- Guillermo Mota, Giants – Mota has already pitched 19 2/3 innings and the results are excellent: a 2.29 ERA with 8.7 K/9 and 1.4 BB/9.
- Juan Cruz, Rays – Andrew Friedman had to take some chances on relievers after most of the Rays' bullpen signed elsewhere as free agents. Cruz has paid off so far, allowing 3 hits and 8 walks in 12 innings. He has 10 Ks for a 2.25 ERA.
- Dontrelle Willis, Reds – He hasn't appeared in a game for the Reds yet, but his Triple-A numbers – 2.10 ERA, 30 innings, 8.7 K/9, 2.4 BB/9 – show he's making a strong case for another chance in the majors.
- Rodrigo Lopez, Braves – The Braves got Lopez on a minor league deal after he logged 200 innings in 2010 and have stashed him at Triple-A, where he has a 1.67 ERA and three times as many strikeouts as walks through five starts.
- David Bush, Rangers – Bush has allowed just two earned runs as a swingman for the Rangers this year.
- Miguel Batista – Cardinals – Despite an ugly 9K/8BB ratio, the 17-year veteran has an astounding 0.64 ERA.
But can he pitch?
-Brian Cashman
Apparently, yes they can.
This statement puts entire offseason in perspective. Epic.
Remember when everybody was bashing Cashman for signing Colon, Garcia, et al… Good times!
The obvious caveat of course is “small sample size” and that’s a given. However, those two, along with Chavez and Martin have provided nice returns thus far. Let’s hope it lasts thru the summer.
………………so far.
Seconded. A bit early to be calling these deals winners. Now, given, getting a handful of quality starts out of any of this motley crew should be hailed as a monetary victory on the bang for your buck rationale, but it’s way too early to say these guys are going to work out.
I think the “small sample size” issue is obvious from the get go. But the writer chose the topic and if you’re judging ALL pitchers signed to minor lge deals this winter then those two are among the best. Keep in mind the whole premise of this post.
No love for Jose Veras.
The fact that he had a good year last year and the Pirates were still able to get a minor league contract makes me feel that it is better than some others on the list, which you can argue were pure luck.
22 K in 13.1 innings with just 4 walks
Same could be said about Veras. He’s always had a live arm, his problem has always been the walks and focus. Many a time he’s been electric and then walks the entire ballpark, loses focus and puts the ball on a tee and gets clobbered. If he can continue what he’s currently doing, hell be a big asset to the Bucs.
Otherwise, he’s a lucky signing,too!
I agree, the Veras signing was great. He is exactly the type of guy you want to bring in on a minor league deal. Even when he’s struggling, he’s hard to hit and has always had great stuff. It’s just that his control is up and down, and if he fixes it, he can dominate as he’s done this season. He did have a hiccup his last game though, but I felt he was worn down and shouldn’t have pitched that last inning.
Miguel Batista is garbage. He’s been lucky so far to have such a good ERA. His WHIP is over 1.7 and he’s given up a tremendous number of other pitchers’ inherited runs as well as many unearned runs (I know those aren’t counted against a pitcher for a reason, but if someone makes an error behind him, he can’t pitch out of the situation) having given up 6 total runs, with only 1 of them being earned.
As a Cardinals fan, when I see Tony LaRussa get Batista up, I worry about his ability to get guys out.
If I had more time, I would love to look at how many inherited runners he strands vs. how many he leaves out there than his fellow bullpen guys strand for him. I’d imagine it would also paint Batista in a pretty negative light.
Took the words right out of my fingers. Miguel Batista only has a low ERA because the other guys in the bullpen have picked him up. He has not done the same for those guys.
That 2-seam fastball is unhittable. Back when the signing took place there were a lot negative comments and now that colon has had success this thread is empty. Just apologize.
Decided to look on fangraphs for more. Sorry to dump on the guy, but here’s some more stats to show Batista’s horrid pitching despite a sparkling ERA:
xFIP: 5.32
K/9: 5.79
BB/9: 5.14
Opponents OBP: .387
Only 14 Qualified NL batters and 11 AL Qualified AL batters have a better personal OBP than Miguel Batista gives up.
The only saving grace for the guy is that, despite having a career worst Groundball ratio (at least since either espn.com or fangraphs.com have kept track of those stats), the guy hasn’t given up any home runs or been left in long enough to be hurt by his own bad pitching. I wouldn’t count on all his flyballs continuing to stay in the park though. This guy’s bad, and sadly, just like the writer of article didn’t see it, so far neither does Tony LaRussa.
The Yankees’ signings have looked great so far as Colon has provided more than anyone could of hoped for, and Garcia has looked very good as well. Martin is in a different boat as he was a major league signing and he’s been very productive. I guess this goes to show there’s value in signing a bunch of cheap arms and seeing who pans out.
I agree that most of the criticism of these signings weren’t serious, as people who know a thing or two about baseball know these moves won’t cripple the team if they don’t pan out. I liked the Garcia signing but felt the others were pointless. However, I still think Cashman’s detractors have a valid point in wondering how their playoff rotation will look this year, as guys like Colon and Garcia were brought in to be back end guys, and they can’t expect them to keep up this performance. I guess they will worry about the top of their rotation when the time comes, (trade deadline).
two things:
1) the yankees made a thrifty minor league signing? what is this world coming to?
2) glad to see dontrelle willis coming back. he might make a heart warming comeback story later this year. gotta love those. speaking of which, how about lance berkman, right?
Why in the hell did Rodrigo Lopez sign with the Braves? If I’m gonna take a minor-league deal, I’m choosing a team where I at least have a chance to reach the majors. Lopez has Hanson, Hudson, Lowe, Jurrjens, Beachy, Minor, Kawakami and possibly Teheran ahead of him. Plus Kris Medlen when he returns. So much would have to go wrong for him to make more than one or two spot-starts, and even that’s somewhat of a long-shot.
Medlen most likely won’t be back this year. It wouldn’t surprise me if the Braves trade Jurrjens or Lowe at the deadline, then bring up Minor to take the empty spot. Lopez would then be in line as the 6th starter, assuming Teheran and Delgado aren’t quite ready for the show just yet.
Jamey Wright could qualify for this list. He resigned with the Mariners on a minor league deal. 14ip 2 ER 4 BBs 11 Ks
D-Backs will regret not signing Loux. He looks like a stud right now with that strikeouts to walks ratio and his pitches are nasty. And you gotta love the #1 starter potential he has.