It Still Pays To Be Left-Handed
on January 22nd, 2012 at 5:30 pm
Oliver Perez
I guess it’s old news…. If you are left-handed and can reach home plate with a baseball, someone will give you a shot at a pitching job.
I nearly fell out of my uncomfortable yellow computer chair when I saw this on the MLB transaction list a few days ago….
- 1/18/12 – Seattle Mariners signed free agent LHP Oliver Perez.
Oliver Perez!?!? It’s the old attempt at “catching lightning in a bottle” I guess, whatever that means. I’m a New York Mets fan, so I can tell you, Mr. Jack Zduriencik, that Oliver is finished. Don’t waste your time and sour your spring training clubhouse. This is the same guy that the Mets left to rot in the bullpen for weeks at a time between appearances. He refused minor league assignments while his WHIP was over 2.00 and was as big a factor as any in Omar Minaya’s firing.
Ron Mahay
Or how about this doozy….
- 1/13/12 – Cincinnati Reds signed free agent LHP Ron Mahay.
Ha! Mahay? He’ll turn 41 this year and will still be looking for his first good season as a major leaguer. OK, that’s a little harsh. He did put together two straight solid years for the Texas Rangers in 2003 and 2004.
The list goes on. Names like John Grabow, Brian Burres, Rich Hill, Matt Chico, Aaron Laffey, Jo-Jo Reyes, and Hideki Okajima will grace the pitching mounds of MLB’s spring training facilities.
Then, there are the guys that signed guaranteed multi-million dollar contracts….
Chris Capuano is guaranteed $10M from the Los Angeles Dodgers over the next two years. Capuano threw 186 innings in 33 games (31 starts), posting a 1.35 WHIP and 4.55 ERA for the Mets last year to earn his new contract. Prior to that, he missed almost three full seasons of baseball after undergoing TWO Tommy John surgeries.
Bruce Chen is another shocker. He’ll be making $9M over the next two seasons from the Kansas City Royals. This is not a new guy named Bruce Chen, this is the same one that has been around since 1998 and has a career WHIP of almost 1.40.
Dontrelle Willis
Here are some more left-handed signatures written on contracts that I simply don’t understand….
- Paul Maholm – 1 year, $4.75M, Chicago Cubs
- Darren Oliver – 1 year, $4M, Toronto
- George Sherrill – 1 year, $1.1M, Seattle
- Dontrelle Willis – 1 year, $850K, Philadelphia
- J.C. Romero – 1 year, $750K, St. Louis
It’s hard to believe that these guys wouldn’t be easily replaced by a cheaper alternative.
Then there are the budget busters, C.J. Wilson and Mark Buehrle. These two signed for a total of $135.5M over nine combined seasons. Buehrle will enter 2012 at 33 years of age, while Wilson will play the season at 31. These deals could get pretty ugly in a few years.
Buehrle’s soft-tossing style leaves him constantly toeing the line between being effective and allowing 300 hits in a season. Basically, his production comes down to the fact that he quick-pitches hitters and is allowed to get away with it.
Jamie Moyer, changeup grip
Wilson is a late-blooming converted reliever that may have to prove his durability in the next few seasons. He has thrown over 200 innings in each of the last two years, but before that he hadn’t even eclipsed the 100 inning mark since he threw 106.3 frames in 2005.
Then there is Jamie Moyer, who is in a class by himself. Moyer turns 50 years old in November but will still be reporting to Colorado Rockies spring training camp. He is also making a comeback from Tommy John surgery. It’s hard to imagine Moyer in a bullpen role, so expect the Rockies to give him a legitimate shot at breaking camp with their young rotation. That is, of course, if he can still reach home plate with his fastball.
