Headlines

  • Bobby Jenks Passes Away
  • Braves Release Alex Verdugo
  • Clarke Schmidt Expected To Undergo Tommy John Surgery
  • Top 40 Trade Candidates For The 2025 Deadline
  • Rays Reinstate Ha-Seong Kim
  • Yankees Have Shown Interest In Ryan McMahon
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2025 Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Few Innings Eaters Remain In Free Agency

By Zachary Links | December 25, 2012 at 8:26pm CDT

You might think that finding an innings eater is a simple task, but there were ten teams last season that didn't have a single pitcher crack the 200 inning plateau*.  It helps tremendously to have a pitcher who can give you that level of output.  Statistically, the Blue Jays (73-89) had one of the weaker bullpens in baseball last season with a combined 4.33 ERA with 8.58 K/9 and 3.51 BB/9.  However, their relievers were asked to cover 527 and 2/3 innings.  Had they gotten more work out of their starting rotation, their pen would have had more time to rest and as a result likely would have performed better.

At this point in the offseason, most of the durable starters are off the market.  The Angels picked up on this last week when they flipped Kendrys Morales for Seattle's Jason Vargas, who has logged 611 innings across the last three seasons.  In fact, the only pitcher still available on the open market who pitched more than 200 innings in 2012 is Kyle Lohse, who delivered 211 IP for the Cardinals last season.  Obviously, Lohse will be expected to bring more to the table than just soaking up innings and his contract will reflect that.  Teams looking to get creative can look to a couple of other available names who have demonstrated the ability to go deep into games in years past.

Brett Myers was converted into a reliever in 2012 but says that he hopes to start (and, presumably, command starter money) again in 2013.  The right-hander logged 439 innings between 2010 and 2011 for the Astros.  Shaun Marcum missed a large part of last season with elbow issues, but he hovered around 200 innings in the two years prior to that.  Left-hander Joe Saunders missed the cut in 2012 (174.2 IP), but had no trouble earning the innings eater label in '10 and '11. 

At this time last winter, Saunders, Hiroki Kuroda, and Edwin Jackson stood as the only true innings eaters left available on the market.  There are even fewer free agent options this time around for teams hoping to ease the burden on their bullpen.

*Nationals' innings leader Gio Gonzalez came dangerously close as he pitched 199 and 1/3 innings.  The Rockies are one of the ten clubs, but it should be noted that they earned this distinction by design with their "Project 5,183" system.

Share 1 Retweet 19 Send via email0

Uncategorized

Poll: Which Top 50 Free Agent Will Sign Next?
Main
Quick Hits: Yankees, Royals, Orioles, Hochevar
View Comments (0)
Post a Comment

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Bobby Jenks Passes Away

    Braves Release Alex Verdugo

    Clarke Schmidt Expected To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Top 40 Trade Candidates For The 2025 Deadline

    Rays Reinstate Ha-Seong Kim

    Yankees Have Shown Interest In Ryan McMahon

    Brandon Woodruff To Start For Brewers On Sunday

    Royals Interested In Bryan Reynolds

    Rangers Option Josh Jung

    Kevin Pillar Announces Retirement

    Braves Place Spencer Schwellenbach On IL With Elbow Fracture

    Giants Exercise 2026 Option On Manager Bob Melvin

    Yordan Alvarez Shut Down Due To Setback With Hand Injury

    Astros Place Jeremy Peña On Injured List With Fractured Rib

    Tucker Barnhart To Retire

    Tyler Mahle To Be Sidelined Beyond Trade Deadline

    Reds Release Jeimer Candelario

    Dave Parker Passes Away

    Griffin Canning Diagnosed With Ruptured Achilles

    Pirates Reportedly Have Very Few Untouchable Players At Trade Deadline

    Recent

    Giants Activate Matt Chapman, DFA Sergio Alcantara

    Nationals Reinstate Mason Thompson From 60-Day IL

    Bobby Jenks Passes Away

    Rangers To Sign Rowdy Tellez To Minor League Deal

    Yankees Likely To Promote Cam Schlittler

    Astros Sign Hector Neris

    Dodgers Not Planning To Add Third Base Help Before Deadline

    Braves Release Alex Verdugo

    Clarke Schmidt Expected To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Blue Jays Place Yimi Garcia On 15-Day Injured List

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Sandy Alcantara Rumors
    • Luis Robert Rumors
    • Alex Bregman Rumors

     

    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version