Baltimore Bullpen Blows
June 18, 2007 by Geoff Young
Filed under Injuries, Stats and Analysis
I have a hard time imagining that this is what Peter Angelos expected when he laid out serious cash to “fix” his team’s beleaguered bullpen. I wondered at the time what Angelos was thinking, and with news that the Orioles have placed right-hander Danys Baez on the disabled list due to a “forearm strain,” Baltimore’s woes have reached a new low. Here’s how their three big free-agent signings from this past winter (Baez, Chad Bradford, and Jamie Walker) have fared to date:
| $M | IP | ERA | H/9 | HR/9 | BB/9 | K/9 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stats are through games of June 17, 2007, and are courtesy of ESPN. | |||||||
| Walker | 3.00 | 25.1 | 3.55 | 8.53 | 0.36 | 2.49 | 6.75 |
| Bradford | 3.00 | 26.1 | 3.76 | 11.28 | 0.00 | 2.05 | 5.47 |
| Baez | 4.00 | 29.0 | 6.52 | 8.38 | 1.86 | 4.97 | 5.28 |
| Total | 10.00 | 80.2 | 4.69 | 9.37 | 0.78 | 3.24 | 5.80 |
| AL average | – | – | 4.23 | 8.60 | 0.84 | 4.10 | 7.10 |
According to Cot’s Baseball Contracts, all three of these guys have deals that run through 2009. Next year, they will cost the Orioles a combined $12.5 million, and the year after that, they’ll cost $13.5 million. And they’ll eat up three spots in the bullpen as well.
The bad news is, Baltimore won’t be able to trade any of these relievers without absorbing some of the cost. (Same with Ramon Hernandez, but as a catcher, he falls under a different subcategory of Truly Awful Ideas). The good news is, Baez isn’t likely to collect the extra $1 million he would earn by being the team leader in Rolaids points.
same old story for over 10 years now
overpay for “established” mediocre people
get stuck with them for years
and have nothing to show for it
it’s obvioust that Angelos is and always has been behind it all
the team will never, ever change until he and anyone from his family is no longer associated with the organization
I wonder if the pitching and conditioning coaches are sound in Baltimore. They seem to have a lot of arm problems with their pitchers.
I sure didn’t think that Bradford would be so bad this year.