Not Sure If You’ve Heard
Dave · January 20, 2010 at 12:00 am · Filed Under Mariners
But Felix signed a five year deal. He’s going to be in Seattle for five more years. He’s sticking around. He’s not going to Boston. Or New York. Or anywhere else.
I thought that was worth mentioning again.
best news of 2010 thus far.
Very nice link indeed. I’ve been looking at the possibility of a Sheets signing since at least December and it is a nice dream thinking about Felix, Cliff Freakin’ Lee and Mr. Sheets as our 1, 2, 3. But that’s increasingly becoming less likely and less delicious for me. First of all he doesn’t seem like the Zduriencik kind of player, and second really looking at it 8 to 10+ mill is a lot of money that I think could be spent towards many other, higher value, possible acquisitions considering Jack Z’s uncanny ability to surprise us with cheap and out-of-nowhere players.
According to that Bill James tool, this was Randy Johnsons projection just after his age 29 season.
Based on his age, your player can be expected to play for 6.5 more years, at an average of 14.2 per year. At that rate, he will finish at 136 for his career. He has a 0 percent chance to reach 300.
Yay Felix! But as for that #3 slot…
This just in: The Angels got Pineiro.
I’ve got bad news and I’ve got bad news:
The bad news: A division rival just snagged a quality pitcher.
The bad news: If we want Sheets, we’ll have to outbid a lot of potentially desperate teams (read: Mets).
If we could convince Sheets to bolster his value with a very pitcher-friendly team and ballpark for one year at a reasonable price, then maybe it would be crazy enough to work. But if teams are going to throw money at him just to see if it sticks this year even without health assurances, then there’s really no reason for him to want to do that.
So, we might just have to make do with Felix, Lee, and the other three. Oh wah. 🙂
Someone smack me with some knowledge regarding the risk of waiting a few more weeks and bottom feeding on what’s left of the pitching market? If the Value of Pineiro (puke!), Sheets, Smoltz, Pedro, Wang, etc.. are all relatively similar….Is it logical to expect at least two of these top 5 or 6 may get a little desperate as we get into mid February? Is Ben Sheets at 10 or whatever his number ends up being of better value to the 2010 M’s that say pedro and wang at close to the same number? Am i way off base on what these players will be expecting in terms of 2010 salaries?
I’ve got good news and more good news: The Angels signed Pineiro. The Mariners didn’t sign Pineiro.
He is terrible. Batting practice. I’m so glad we didn’t sign him.
Joel Piniero might find the AL West as unhospitable as it was when he left it. Perhaps he should have stayed in the NL with the pitcher hitting?
Hmmm, Piniero, did he not already have his career derailed by the AL? Welcome back to hell for Mediocre pitchers Joel. I am sure you remember the nightmares. I give him 6 starts max before he hits the wall.
Just fishing, but does it appear that noone wants to sign with the Mets?
Haha! That’s fantastic news! I’m guessing he won’t be welcomed back to his old American League home very well.
I couldn’t agree more. 6 starts seems fair, probably less but hey. Well see how he fares soon 🙂 .
First of all, the main point was that Sheets will be harder to sign now.
And yes, of course I remember Pineiro’s decline as a Mariner. And he might suck again. But to be fair to the guy, his recent success can’t be entirely discredited as an NL fluke. He has had a veritable fastball renaissance ever since he put some sink into it. Compare his fastball over the last two years, both with the Cards:
2008 — FB%: 58.4; wFB: -20.1
2009 — FB%: 71.0; wFB: +23.1
To compare, the highest Runs Above Average Sheets has ever had on his fastball was 19.2. Felix? 19.0. Was this a one-season spike for Pineiro? Probably. But a total fluke? I doubt it.
Pineiro is a very different pitcher than he was when he left Seattle. Last year he was the groundballingest pitcher in all of baseball… and it wasn’t even close. Over his five seasons with the M’s he had a GB% around 45%; with the Cards last year it was over 60%. That’s a huge change in his pitching profile, and as Jeremariner notes it seems to be mostly due to a fastball he now throws far more often (and effectively). Judging Pineiro based on your memories of his time here is misleading.
However, that was with the Cards, in the NL, and it was just one year. Will he be able to do it again, this time in the AL and (perhaps most importantly) no longer under Dave Duncan’s miraculous tutelage? The Angels clearly think he can, and they (unfortunately) aren’t a stupid organization; they also have a decent infield defense to leverage. It’s a gamble, but it’s not a bad one.
I wouldn’t chortle overmuch about this move. I look forward to seeing the M’s play against Pineiro, but it’s not without some trepidation.
favorite Hernandez moment?
heres a good one:
http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?mid=200806232991136
Did y’all see the freaking adorable picture of Felix in his fancy suit?
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/mariners/2010857214_mari22.html
Speaking of adorable pictures, remember this hair-and-hat combo, or more frequently non-combo?
What I most distinctly remember about that version of Felix Hernandez — aside from all the times I saw him in Tacoma looking bored at the non-challenge AAA batters were giving him — was him challenging Vlad Guerrero in that ST game… and blowing him away.