In a piece inspired by early-season injuries to key relievers Tom Verducci of SI.com points out that closers tend to be inefficient investments. "No one wants to admit it," he writes, "but the modern bullpen is a failure." Here are the rest of today's links…
- Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria told Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports that he likes what he has seen from manager Ozzie Guillen despite last week's controversial remarks. “He’s very good for here," Loria said. "Excellent. Not only for here, for any team."
- When the Yankees signed Derek Jeter to a three-year, $51MM contract two offseasons ago, they felt it was an overpay, Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes. But the shortstop played tremendously down the stretch in 2011 and has started the 2012 season well.
- ESPN.com’s Buster Olney suggests the Giants will likely want to see Tim Lincecum rebound from his early-season struggles before offering him an extension at market value.
- Indians manager Manny Acta told Jim Bowden on MLB Network Radio that top prospect Lonnie Chisenhall remains Cleveland's future third baseman and won’t become trade bait this summer (Twitter link, audio here).
If I’m the Giants I’m letting him walk, just way too much of a risk esp considering they just signed Cain and Bumgarner to a ton of dough. Unless the Giants want a $100 MM rotation.
It is a good thing you aren’t in the Giants front office. You simply don’t let him walk, you trade him for a some offensive pieces if you don’t want to sign him.
Oh man, could you imagine if Lincecum got flipped to the Nationals for Bryce Harper? The Nats would probably have the best rotation in baseball (Strasburg, Lincecum, Gio, Zimmermann, and E-Jax), and all of a sudden, the Giants would have a formidable offense, especially if Brandon Belt could start hitting the ball like he’s supposed to.
Also, to haters on both sides, I know it would never happen. However, as my team continues to dent rock bottom, I will continue to dream.
the funny thing is you truly cant argue that as a bad deal for either team. Obviously the Nats would need to get something in terms of out field help somewhere else, possibly trade rendon for an OF..but that type of deal is something that could easily start a conversation.
Throw in Melky Cabrera with Lincecum? That clears a spot in the OF for the Giants too – then they’ve got Huff, Pagan, and Harper across the outfield.
The mere idea of this trade borders on the absurd, but you’re right, it’s not a bad deal for either team.
Wow I was just thinking of the exact same trade earlier, very unlikely to ever happen however, but if lincecum is at his best and the giants were to trade him they could demand a ridiculous amount in return and who better than harper….still 99% chance it won’t happen
Not really trying to spoil the fun here lol….. BUT, it wouldn’t make any sense at all for the Nationals. Lince is a free agent after 2013, Bryce Harper is a cost controlled player for six years and arguably the most hyped prospect of all time. The idea doesn’t really make an ounce of sense for the Nats.
Agreed. As a Giants fan, I’d do it in a heartbeat. (Even before Tim’s early season problems)
That would be a crazy trade. Nats would be insane rotation. Strasburg is a beast, and putting him with lince, edwin, gio, zim……
Harper would be a great piece in the bay.
Lincecum has been viewed as a risk his whole life. Maybe if he had a more conventional delivery you would trust him more, although it’s probably that funky delivery that gives him Cy Young numbers.
Jeter’s contract is an overpay no matter how well he plays. They paid him to be the Jeter of last deacade, despite the fact that he is the Jeter of this one. Hall of Famer, but he needs to realize where his career is at. Fortunetly for his ego, he played chicken with the Yankees front office and won.
He realized that he was in a unique position of leverage, in that he is the captain and Yankees fans would riot if he jumped ship to another team. It’s no secret that there is a lot more contributing to what Jeter is worth to the Yankees than just his on field performance. It really was one of the oddest contract situations I can remember, seeing as Jeter would’ve had a tough time securing an annual salary of half of what he got from the Yankees with any other team.
The Jeter overpay was 2x as bad as Rollins was and Rollins 3/33m was awful. Paying him 50m+ to have 2 step defense and be a pedestrian offensive player was awful and everyone knows it. They gave him that to get his 300th hit as a reward, just like they gave ARod 300m to hit (hopefully) close to 800HR will all those 6m bonuses coming up.
I can understand wanting a team icon to retire with the same team, my all time favorite was Yaz and it meant a lot for him to stay with Boston his 23 seasons and 2nd favorite Dwight Evans leaving his last year and going to Baltimore hurt a lot after 18 stellar seasons, so can understand where NYY fans are coming from.. Just putting on that uni from day 1 to the last day is important, but overpaying as blatantly awful as they did just goes to far for that honor.
Pretty sure he got his 300th hit 15 years ago hehe
2x as bad as Rollins? Really? Jeter, while terrible at defense, is still a good hitting SS, and he also can DH time to time (like last night), so while his defense is bad, his bat can make up for it
I’m not saying it wasn’t a bad contract by any strecth, but I think you’re going overboard when you’re saying it’s 2x as worse as Rollins. Both almost equally bad but I suppose more so for Jeter.
54m over 3 seasons and 33m over 3 seasons was where got it from and you really don’t want a light hitter getting paid 17m to play DH.
His value is as a SS, good hands is one thing but you want a SS getting paid good money to have superb range. Rollins still has the range +hands + arm + stolen base ability, just not really the bat.
I really agree with everything you say here, it was such a unique situation. The Yankees had to pay that much to keep him, and they are the only team he was worth that much (let alone anything) to. The fact that they ended up paying so much to keep him is on Jeter himself, he should know where his value lies. I won’t fault a guy for getting the most out of his paycheck, but if he had the Yankees best interest at heart (and he better have because they are the ONLY team that has a real use for him) the contract talks wouldn’t have gone on as long, he’d have accepted less money and he’d be open to moving away from shortstop at some point, because those are the things that the TEAM needed (I don’t know if the Yanks have any legit shortstop prospects that they could’ve promoted).
Have to disagree here: Everyone knows Jeter won’t play like he did in the last decade, but who does? What athlete exceeds (non-steroids) their 23-33yr accomplishments when they are past 35?
They are paying their shortstop for being DEREK JETER. In his 20’s, Jeter was one of the top 3 shortstops in the game. Now, he is one of the top ambassadors of baseball (think Cal Ripken). The Yankees aren’t just paying him for what he does on the field.
The SF Giants pay Willie Mays for being WILLIE MAYS. He hasn’t gotten a hit in a Giants game since 1972. Its the same thing. Very select players become legends before they stop playing, & Jeter is one of them.
The Giants still pay Willie Mays?
(seriously, I’m asking — I had no idea…)
As the face of the Giants.
“Jeter’s contract is an overpay no matter how well he plays.”
I get what you meant, but you might want to re-think the wording.
Lincecum to Clevland for Lonnie and some b level prospects.
B level prospects for Timmy? orly??
Lincecum will not be traded, contending teams are more content with letting guys walk than getting the extra prospects, that’s what they draft is for. Just like Philly will never trade Hamels even though he’s as good as gone if nothing is done midseason. Unless the Giants tank it, they will probably just take their chances with one of the best rotations in the league. And hell if Lincecum doesn’t get his act together, they may not want to sign him to a new contract.
Who’s to say the Giants are still contending in July? If they’re 35-47 at the All-Star break, maybe they’d consider a trade.