Ron Villone
Well, it’s Christmas, so I guess you can’t blame Ron Villone for wishing.
“A two-year contract would be nice,” the 34-year-old said from his offseason home in New Jersey, “and I definitely would have to put Seattle on the top of the list.”
Among other things that would be “nice” for me this December:
Nikon 80-200 2.8
Epson 2200
VW Jetta V
I don’t have a prayer of getting any of these things for Christmas. I don’t even have the cajones to ask. Though, honestly, it’d be a better investment for the Mariners to buy me some new wheels than it would be to hand Ron Villone a two year contract. More fun from the article.
He appeared in 56 games, going 2-2 with a 5.43 ERA in 10 starts…
Okay, so, let’s be honest, he was awful as a starter. Awful.
and was 6-4 with a 2.95 ERA in 46 relief appearances.
But was a moderately effective reliever. All while posting mediocre ratios that point to the success being related to non-repeatable skills. Remember 2003 Shigetoshi Hasegawa? Meet the left-handed version.
The M’s bullpen for 2005 currently consists of Eddie Guradado, Shigetoshi Hasegawa, J.J. Putz, George Sherrill, Julio Mateo, and Scott Atchison. Is Villone significantly better than any of these pitchers?
Handing Ron Villone a two year contract would be a gigantic waste of resources. I’m not in favor of bringing him back at all, but if the team is required by law to have a left-hander over the age of 30, can we please limit the damage to one season?
Comments
30 Responses to “Ron Villone”
50 bucks Bavasi gives him that contract.
The M’s infatuation with Villone is curious. So he can start or relieve without complaining…so what? He was not a good starting pitcher, and was a decent lefty reliever that Dave warns could be Shiggy-like. He hasn’t posted a sub-4.00 ERA since 1997. But hey, let’s give him 2 years because he’s ‘versatile’. If you consider going from ‘good’ to ‘bad’ being versatile.
From the same mlb.com story: “The Athletics, who traded left-handed reliever Arthur Rhodes to the Pirates last week, reportedly have an interest in signing the much-traveled Villone”
I say, let Beane have ‘im! But knowing the M’s, they’ll see Beane’s interest as a sure sign of Villone’s value and will probably give him the 2-year deal.
This offseason is moving painfully slow.
Generally, the M’s consider anyone Beane wants to be damaged goods.
I’d be amazed if Beane wanted Villone, unless he’s again trying to buy ALL of the available lefties.
May the Yankees take him. Hey he lives awefully close so that should be on his top list.
I want a pony.
I saw Ron Villone’s first start this year. It was terrible, he had absolutely no control over the ball. He got pulled when he had exactly 42 strikes and 42 balls. Our group, being a bunch of geeks, were probably overamused by this, but the real amusement was that he didn’t even get credited with a loss.
He’s got amazing luck.
Probably enough luck to get him that contract he wants.
OT, but Jettas are awesome…
Anyways, if we re-sign Villone, I will be completely and thoroughly disgruntled. I trust Thornton/Blackley in the swing role more than Villone, plus Franklin is our likely swing guy next year anyway, right? So what do we need Villone for? I believe Thornton can post a 5+ ERA in relief, like Villone may.
Whoops, my last sentence was kind of an empty statement. What I meant to say was that I believe that Villone will post a 5.00 ERA or so, and Thornton can do the same.
Oh man! I’m rolling on the floor of my office laughing.
http://seattle.mariners.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/sea/news/sea_news.jsp?ymd=20041201&content_id=917616&vkey=news_sea&fext=.jsp
First, the press gives Bavasi credit for building the WS Angels. Now he and Evans and Boles get credit for building last year’s NL West winning Dodgers. Ha ha ha ha!
Great quotes abound:
“He [Evans] is credited with putting together the Dodgers team that captured the NL West title this past season.”
Credited by who other than Jim Street?
“Pat was more intuitive than I am,” Bavasi said. “I need more talent evaluation information and wanted as many guys as I can afford.”
So, what exactly are you good at then Bavasi?
I can’t wait to win the NL West Title since that’s what these guys are good at!
I really need to re-paint my car …. wonder if someone would just give me enough that I don’t have to go to MAACO?
If they’re looking for old relief pitchers Kent Mercker and Rheal Cormier are available… More seriously, I’d rather see them chase Kline.
On the Clement front, the Cubs are apparently taking him to arbitration so they get draft picks when they trade him…
Derek,
Last time you got a pony, your dad had to work that second job at the Kwik E Mart….
OT, but are Jeff, Trent, and Devin over at LFT OK? Their “account has been suspended”….
Well, I want to be a New York Met so I can possibly have a chance with Anna Benson, but that ain’t happening.
Let’s hope the M’s don’t sign Villone.
We’re working on it.
The status as of now is that none of us (including Ryan, who handles this kind of business) has any idea what’s going on. No advance notice or anything.
Re #15: I wonder if we can get Kris Benson and Omar Minaya to agree to a Willie Bloomquist/Kris Benson trade…
…just for Anna of course… I don’t actually want Kris as a Mariner…
What’s Jim Street’s exact affiliation with the M’s and/or MLB? Is he basically a PR guy for the team or just an ‘unofficial’ propogandist like Finnigan?
MLB employs beat writers for teams, and Street covers the M’s. He’s sort of like the Finnigan of MLB.com
Since you brought it up, the Mariners are hiring for a seasonal beat writer, presumably to share the load with Street. I know there are several professional freelance writers reading. I’d love to see someone from outside the current journalistic culture pick this gig up.
“* – Factual reporting; intelligent writing.
* – Nuanced analysis and insightful commentary.”
Just how seriously does MLB.com take its supposed responsibilities?
Hey, Villone led the team in wins (8).
Re 22, I guess I buy into the factual reporting (they say what they hear, just like everyone else), intelligent writing (it is grammatically correct), and insightful commentary (there is commentary. whether it is insightful or not is opinion)
but Nuanced Analysis????
My apologies to Dave and DMZ (and JMB! seriously!) for posting this here, but since this is where the most people will read my statement: L43 has been suspended since late this afternoon due to a rather hilarious account/purchase issue. It has since been resolved, but until someone at VortexHost gets around to re-opening the site, L43 will remain unavailable. Things should be all fine by tomorrow morning at the *latest*.
You may now resume your main discussion.
I want a Red Rider BB Gun for Christmas. And yes, I understand that I could shoot my eye out.
Re 25. Good job, Jeff. Glad it wasn’t something serious.
So Dave,
I’m with you on Villone; back in August after Ron V. didn’t get dealt at the deadline, I opined that his ’05 had a great chance to look like Shiggy’s ’04, and I continue in that view. He has been very inconsitent in recent years, and any expectation that he would put two years back to back even as good as last year is a major stretch based on his performance.
That said, if Villone _did_ by some miracle manage to repeat his stats, as a lefty longy he would be better than anyone Oakland had or has for that role; he would be better than most of the guys in the Cubbies pen last year, too; he’d be better than any lefty the Yankers ran out there on a consistent basis last year. That doesn’t make him GOOD, just better than what those folks had. Villone hasn’t been effective as a starter for some time, and should be viewed as only an emergency one—which is what he was _supposed_ to be when the Ms stuck him in the rotation last year after Freddy was dealt. The problem was that Villone was left in the rotation about twice as long as made any sense, and in his last five starts his numbers took a major kick in the ass, which seemed to surprise BoMel and B. Bavasi, but then if you learn slow you tend to be quickly surprised, yes.
Villone will be signed by someone, and he will be signed for ‘veteran grit,’ count on it; it’ll be in the press released when he’s inked. The ’05 Mariners have absolutely no business signing erratic, fading, gritty, 35-year-olds. It would be much more appropriate to put Thornton in the role and let him fail or succeed than to sign guaranteed mediocrity. Ron V. can play a role for someone, but this is a team that doesn’t have that role, so signing him would be, ahhh, thickheaded. —But a very telling leading indicator regarding whether or not Bill Bavasi has learned his lesson from last year.
Actually Giuseppe, I’d say the Dodgers were more Evans’ team than DePo’s last year–DePo did a good job getting Werth, Bradley and doing The Trade, but he didn’t really clean house except for that one deal which came after they already had gotten the division lead. Most of the players on that team were there because of Evans: he picked up Lima, made the deals for Weaver & Brazoban, and tendered Beltre instead of trading him, a move which most Dodger observers at the time were hoping he would do (something about him peaking, I believe). Some other people who agree–the LA Daily News (best local paper for Dodgers coverage, hands down) and Bob Daly:
http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200%257E28569%257E2445787,00.html
More than a little credit is definitely due.
You’re right in many regards Adam. It was more Evans’ team than Depo’s, I agree.
I won’t get much further into this as it’s a Mariners forum, but I also think many have undervalued or misunderstood the importance of Depo bringing in Finley and many others and getting rid of some of the other players Evans had.
Anyway, I agree. Back to Mariners…