10:38am: Nathan doesn’t appear to be considering retirement at this time, telling reporters (including Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press) that “I am preparing myself to be a major league player again. That is my goal.”
9:02am: Tigers righty Joe Nathan has torn the ulnar collateral ligament as well as a tendon in his right elbow, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports on Twitter. He will undergo surgery and miss the rest of the season, the team announced.
Nathan, 40, opened the year as Detroit’s closer despite a challenging 2014 season in which he posted a 4.81 ERA. He struck out just 8.4 batters per nine while walking 4.5 per nine, both of which were the worst marks of his career since he moved to the pen.
That was obviously not the output that the Tigers hoped for when they promised Nathan $20MM over two years through free agency. The club does hold a $10MM option for next season, but seems highly likely to instead pay a $1MM buyout at this juncture.
Nathan will undergo Tommy John surgery for the second time in his career, this time with the added complication of the tendon damage to account for. While it may be an uphill road at his age, that news seemingly indicates that there is at least some possibility that Nathan will attempt to resume his career.
Detroit probably did not expect Nathan to resume his once-dominant form in the closer’s role this year, but surely hoped he would at least be a valuable contributor and presence in the pen. As MLBTR’s Steve Adams explained in his review of the club’s offseason, the relief corps was a major question mark entering the year for the Tigers, and the team is certainly shaping up as a future acquirer of bullpen arms in the season’s early going.
Via Con Dios Jose!
Well at least Detroit wont have to deal with him blowing lead this year.
I don’t have them winning the central
Who do u have winning the central
royals or white sox
well then, I guess they will just have to go thru the motions and play the season anyway.
A big blow to the tigers bullpen, but I still don’t see them winning the al central, the royals or the white sox will take that away from them in 2015
While it stinks that Nathan had to go out like this, this is not really that big of a blow to the Tigers’ bullpen. I mean, couldn’t a minor leaguer do better than Nathan at this point? Or maybe, Rafael Soriano?
In fact he was precisely at replacement level last year. A minor leaguer call up probably does slightly worse than he did, although that person probably isn’t the closer, so lower leverage appearances. You’re correct in that it doesn’t hurt the Tigers that much.
With Rondon on the dl as well, I wonder if they go out and maybe sign soriano or maybe call the phillies about Papelbon.
I don’t know if Detroit has the necessary pieces to get Papelbon from the Phillies. They easily have one of the worst three farm systems in all of baseball. Papelbon may be expensive and a jerk, but he’s still good and the Phillies aren’t going to give him up for nothing.
Regarding Soriano, do you know if he turned down any minor league deals in the hopes of getting a major league guarantee? Because it would be a bit shocking if nobody at least offered him a minor league deal. I doubt he’d be much better than Nathan was last year, but considering the Tigers’ current bullpen, what do they have to lose?
Detroit could pull it off a real nice move with Phillies if they are motivated. While their top prospects are like other team’s middle prospects, two picks from their top 15 prospects, a lower tier lottery ticket, and that nice #34 compensation pick could net the Tigers; Papelbon, one of (Gomez, Garcia, Neris, McGowan, possibly DeFratus), and some 2015 cash to shore that bullpen up.
The one thing the Phillies have is good bullpen arms.
Yea the one good thing the phillies have right now, Giles Diekman & DeFratus , Garcia has been good until last night for them
I find it really hard to blame Garcia for last night. In addition to the atrocious ball/strike calls of the home plate umpire (all night, really – Cole should have been out of the 2nd before he had a chance to fumble that catch at 1B) the defense behind him simply imploded.
Phillies would dump his contract for a b level player. The reason he didn’t go to Milwaukee was not the players, but how much of the contract Milwaukee was willing to pick up.
Sure Detroit has the necessary pieces. The Phillies will take Miguel Cabrera straight up for Papelbon.
I doubt if the Phillies want to trade Papelbon to one of their division rivals.
They’re looking pretty good so far. This really isn’t a big blow. Soria will step right into the role. Nathan has been replacement level and was going the way of Valverde/Todd Jones/every other Tigers closer who has outstayed his welcome.
Down the stretch run, the innings from porcello and scherzer will be missed, which is why I think the royals or white sox win the central
Guthrie and Noesi really throw a lot of complete games.
Wow, I feel terrible for Nathan. Hard to see him coming back from this type of injury at his age. Tough way for the second greatest closer of his generation to possibly go out.
2nd greatest closer if you forget Trevor Hofman and Billy Wagner.
Not to mention Lee Smith,Dennis Eckersley,Bruce Sutter & Goose Gossage.
They are not “of this generation”.
What connotes this generation, what are the boundaries?
10-15 years?
Fair enough…F.Rodriguez,C Kimbrell,j Pappelbon,A Chapman…& that’s just active! without very much research .
Mariano Rivera?!
.. that is why he said “second”.
Ahhhh. I thought that was too easy.
That’s why everyone is starting this list of closers at 2.
He’s obviously #1, the poster stated # 2 for Nathan, which has rightfully been questioned.
Hoffman…I’d have to look at the numbers, but he is definitely either #1 or #2. Wagner…meh, he is at least a notch down.
Wagner meh? Look at the numbers. From 1998-2014 Wagner tops Nathan in ERA, WAR, FIP, SV, IP and K/9.
If you expand the sample in include 1995-2014 which gives you all of Wagner’s career and all of Nathan’s career its not even close. Wagner blows him away in every statistical category.
Yep. If Nathan hadn’t gotten hurt in 2010, he’d probably be as good or better than either of them. But while their individual seasons might have been slightly worse than Nathan’s, the fact that Wagner and Hoffman did it for such a long time pushes them well beyond Nathan.
Also, Mariano Rivera.
Are they considered of this generation?
He didn’t say THIS generation, he said HIS generation. And yes, they all pitched around the same time.
They’re of Nathan’s generation. Nathan’s career has been 1999-2015. Wagner was 1995-2010, Hoffman was 1993-2010. Overlap of 10-11 seasons with both. Plus, Rivera was 1993-2013.
Fair enough…John Franco overlaps for 6 yrs 424 saves, Troy Percival overlaps for 11 yrs 358 saves
Frankie K overlaps overlaps for 13 yrs 349 saves and counting…all I’m suggesting is that Nathan although a fine reliever is surely not absolutely the 2nd greatest reliever of his time….plus was in the post season 6 times with an 0-2 record with an 8.10 era.
Totally agree. Without injury, he’d probably have had a few more excellent seasons and would be in the conversation.
Joe Nathan never ever lead the league in saves, you’d think the 2nd greatest reliever of the generation would sneak through at least once.
I think that says more about the teams he has played for rather than his individual talent.
Alex in 12 of his 14 yrs Nathan played on winning teams, including above 90 wins several times at SF,Mn,Tx,Det…if anything he should have more saves, ….as has been numerated in these posts there are many relievers who complement his stats very efficiently.
That’s an interesting stat. I’d chalk it up to a statistical anomoly.
Alex…Or that Nathan is overrated?….The anomaly might be he was just a decent reliever, whom happened to be on of really good teams.
Honestly, I think he has always been very good. Just not a HOF like some may believe.
HOF …. I’d like to see these many believers? , he was a very good pitcher,….Before he ever gets near the doors of Cooperstown….Lee Smith,John Franco,Billy Wagner,Jeff Riordan.
I said some, not many.
Hoffman and Papelbon have been better than Nathan. Also, you have guys like Kimbrel and Chapman who look to be on pace to surpass what Nathan has done in his career.
Love the discussion, guys. Yes, there were a lot of great closers from say 2005-12, but if I had to build a team I would want Nathan as closer (if Rivera were not available).
More than Papelbon? Just using averaged stats, because of the Nathan injury. Pap’s got a higher ERA+ during that ’05-’12 span, a lower FIP, a slightly higher WHIP (0.057 points), a better BB/9 (barely – 0.1), a worse K/9 (barely – 0.1), a better HR/9 (barely – 0.1), a better K/BB (slightly – 0.08)…
The biggest difference is that Nathan had 2 good seasons before Papelbon came up, although he’s 6 years older.
Career ending. Unfortunately.
Soriano is still out there…but damn. His 2nd half last season was BRUTAL. I would take a pass, but DET always seems to have money to burn.
Soriano could be Nathan 2.0. I don’t see it…. but if the price tag is low enough, maybe.
A trade may be a better strategy.
With my Brewers being such a mess Frankiie Rodriguez might be available very quickly.
He won’t be pitching for a full season so worth a try.
Giving someone 10 Million dollars at the age of 40 is …. Well, just SMH!!
It’s been sad to see a guy who was elite for a good stretch of time in his career having all of these issues and it culminating with this. I wish him luck in his recovery but I don’t like the odds of a rebound all factors considered.
Could call philly about papelbon
Not a good idea. Stop selling.
It is almost as if Scott Boras has a voo doo doll. A few years ago when Prince Fielder had no suitors V Mart gets hurt and Prince has a 200 mil contract. Now Soriano has no suitors and Nathan goes down. Don’t mess with Boras….
At this point he probably won’t be signed until June 8th or whatever it is, when the draft pick compensation goes away.
Soriano didn’t get offered a QO so that’s not an issue.
My bad, could have sworn he did. I don’t know what the holdup is then with bullpens being all the rage now and so many teams needing relievers.
I really do not follow your logic.
Explain why after FAILING with Nathan, they would sign a guy that looks like Nathan 2.0?
The fact that Nathan failed should REPEL the Tigers from Soriano.
Nathan hasn’t been with the Tigers since the first game. They will roll with the seven they have plus Rondon and Alex Wilson for now.
Obvious fit for Pap
Pap is cancer in the clubhouse, and would want to be the closer. Soria is the closer. Tigers need setup help. Pap wouldn’t like that role.
As a Brewers fan, I strongly encourage the Tigers to trade for K-Rod.
Soria can close. They need a setup man, not a closer.
Absolutely. They should give Joba and Rondon a shot to win the job before going shopping.
The set up job that is.
Nathan doesn’t have to be considering retirement for his MLB career to be over, Bernie Williams just retired yesterday.
There’s no way he comes back from this. Coming off a major injury and a year without playing as a 41 year old who hasn’t been good in a while? I mean, I’m rooting for him, but we’ve probably seen the last of Joe Nathan in the major leagues.
“I am preparing myself to be a major league player again. That is my goal.”
Sing it with me, Joe Nathan!
I got Bills I gotta pay
So I’m gonn’ work, work, work every day
I got mouths I gotta feed
So I’m gonn’ make sure everybody eats
I got Bills
Rafael Soriano’s agent Scott Boras said Thursday that the calls on his client are “increasing.” lol.
From 0 to 1. And the conversation went like this: “Hello Scott, this is Dave. I was wondering about Soriano playing for the league min…” CLICK.
Nathan’s final stat line for 2015:
Save percentage: 100%
ERA: 0.00
WHIP: 0.00
FIP: – 2.92 (Yes NEGATIVE)
K/9: 27
Perhaps the best stat line in the history of baseball for one season.
Best of luck to Mr. Nathan. He’s had one heck of a fine career, so there’s no reason not to take this as an opportunity to ride off into the sunset and enjoy the rest of his life basking in his riches with his family.
Happy trails, Joe! You had some monster seasons with the Twins!
We have Papelbon for ya still if you want. Seriously though, Detroit’s bullpen is what ended up killing them in the playoffs this year. If I were them, I wouldn’t fool around. Go get a legit closer. Paps will be fine in the clubhouse of a winning team. He’s only bad when he’s losing. Granted he’s lost a couple of MPH on the fastball, but I think he’s more than proven he can still get the job done over the past year plus.
Allegedly he’s not even bad in the clubhouse of a losing team, just in the media.
Soria has been lights out in his absence. No need for a closer. We have one.
How will this affect the Tigers payroll in terms of Luxury Tax purposes??
Not at all, unless they go out and get another pitcher.
Would he come off the payroll for those purposes if he is placed on the 60-day DL (and thus off the 40-man roster)? As it is, I think that Joe Nathan has thrown his last major-league pitch. These injuries take about 18 months of recovery time, and that would put Nathan late in the 2016 season, when he is a few months of 42. The surgery might improve his quality of life, however, in retirement.
No. A contract is fully guaranteed, and counts for AAV purposes against the CBT, until such time as the contract ends, the player retires early or the player is suspended/banned.
It’s like releasing a player – he’s no longer on the 40-man roster then either, but the team isn’t free of his contract.
Giants finally look good for trading him.
He’ll get some gigantic disability checks each month from the Tigers. Lucky him.
I love how people are calling for Papelbon or Soriano, why is nobody talking about the THIRD return of Jose Valverde?
Because most of us are Tiger fans.
Soria has been lights out as a closer. Fans would have been in an uproar if Nathan came back and took over the closers job again.
The Tigers weakness was the back end of the bullpen. This fixes a big part of it. They need one more reliable set-up guy.