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Golden State blew a 3-1 lead in the 2016 Finals
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There are some mentions of the Indians throughout his latest blog but pay attention to the last few paragraphs. We really do have a lot of options for closer even if we don't have a set guy named yet. Thoughts?
Here is the text of the article:
No panic over closer situations
posted: Sunday, December 17, 2006
It was near the end of spring training in 2002. The subject was the Twins' bullpen and whether or not they had a legitimate closer. LaTroy Hawkins was coming off a 28-save season, Eddie Guardado off a 12-save year, and coaches promised it would be all right because Guardado, who didn't have a save in nine minor league seasons and had 18 saves in 34 opportunities before 2001, would do the job.
Forty-five saves later, Guardado helped carry the Twins into the ALCS.
Two springs later, Everyday Eddie was a Mariner, and the people around the Minnesota spring training camp were concerned. Joe Nathan, who had come over from the Giants in the A.J. Pierzynski deal, was having a tough spring. The last week of spring training, Nathan was throwing 85-87 mph, and after all, in his career in San Francisco he had just one save in five opportunities.
By the second week of the regular season, Nathan was throwing 95 mph and on his way to 44 saves, a 1.62 ERA and three years of brilliance.
That's why you do not hear anyone with the Red Sox, Indians or Marlins, three teams that could well be strong playoff contenders in 2007, panicking about their bullpens. The Indians have added Joe Borowski, Roberto Hernandez and Aaron Fultz, Boston has acquired Brendan Donnelly, J.C. Romero and Hideki Okajima, and the Marlins are working on bringing back Armando Benitez.
They all know there is a long way to go, and that Fausto Carmona or Fernando Cabrera could end up closing in Cleveland, or that Craig Hansen or Bryce Cox could do the same in Boston. And any one of a number of young pitchers could emerge in Florida. The stuff is unquestionably there.
There was little bullpen help on the market, and anyway, history tells us that "an established closer" is often a myth. After all, Borowski was third in the National League in saves with 36 after going 9-for-15 in save situations the two previous seasons. Bobby Jenks was second in the AL with 41, 35 more than his previous career total. Hey, B.J. Ryan signed a five-year, $47 million contract and came up big for Toronto, but in 2004 he was setting up for Jorge Julio in Baltimore and was 6-for-18 lifetime.
In November 2001, the Dodgers were shopping Eric Gagne and Luke Prokopec. Most teams wanted Prokopec; Toronto took him over Gagne for Cesar Izturis, and Gagne -- whose career save total was zero -- went on to save 52 games in 2002, went 55-for-55 in 2003 and had 45 saves in 2004; he's pitched 15 1/3 innings since. Mariano Rivera, at age 26, began the '96 season as John Wetteland's setup man after posting a 5.51 ERA in 1995. Takashi Saito wasn't supposed to make the 2006 Dodgers as a 36-year-old who in 13 seasons in Japan had a single-season best of 27 saves. Yet he converted 24-for-26 save opportunities with a 2.07 ERA. Saito was 11-16 with an ERA close to five in his last three seasons in Japan.
If one defines an "established closer" as someone who saves at least 35 games, there are only four active pitchers (Trevor Hoffman, 10 times; Rivera, 9; Billy Wagner, 6; Jose Mesa, 5) who have accomplished that feat more than three times. And only another nine others (Nathan, Guardado, Jones, Benitez, Gagne, Jason Isringhausen, Roberto Hernandez, John Smoltz and Keith Foulke have done it thrice.
Look at the last six world champions:
• The 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks' leading closer was Byung-Hyun Kim, who had 19 saves, followed by Bret Prinz with nine.
• The 2002 Angels had a 40-save closer in Troy Percival -- who hadn't had more than a three-out save for five years -- and Ben Weber was their backup closer until Francisco Rodriguez arrived in mid-September and became their most valuable reliever. In 2001, Rodriguez was 5-7, 5.38 for Class A Rancho Cucamonga.
• The 2003 Marlins' leading closer was Braden Looper (28), but they acquired Ugueth Urbina for the stretch run, got six regular-season saves from him and used him at the end during the postseason.
• The one team in the last six seasons who used the same closer from Opening Day through the World Series was the 2004 Red Sox. Keith Foulke had 32 saves in the regular season and was their postseason MVP.
• The 2005 White Sox were led by Dustin Hermanson with 34 saves, but Bobby Jenks -- whom they claimed on waivers from the Angels -- took over in September, saved six games and was their postseason closer. In his minor league career, Jenks posted ERAs of 7.86, 5.27, 4.82, 8.76, 19.64 and 8.10.
• The 2006 Cardinals had one of the game's most reliable closers in Jason Isringhausen, but he had to step aside in September with arm problems. Adam Wainwright, who had never had a professional save opportunity, was 3-for-5 in September, then in the postseason had four saves, a win and did not allow an earned run in 9 2/3 innings.
To start with, it does no good to have an elite closer without premium starters and relievers who miss bats in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings.
What GM Ken Williams has done so well with the White Sox is obtain big arms -- Jenks, Matt Thornton, Mike MacDougal, David Aardsma and Andrew Sisco -- and turn them over to pitching coach Don Cooper, who has done wonders fixing deliveries. That has been the modus operandi of Mets GM Omar Minaya, who constantly tries to find power arms to put in front of closer Billy Wagner.
With Jonathan Papelbon going into the rotation, Boston is still in the market for another reliever who could open the season closing. But while they wait to see if Hansen, Manny Delcarmen or Cox rushes forward, they have Devern Hansack, Mike Timlin, Donnelly, Julian Tavarez, Romero and Okajima for different situations. Cleveland can close with Borowski or Hernandez, but they also have Rafael Betancourt, Jeremy Guthrie, Rafael Perez, Carmona, Cabrera, Edward Mujica, Jason Davis
In the case of both the Red Sox and Indians, much of the improvement in the bullpen will come from better starting pitching. Cleveland is counting on a full season from Jeremy Sowers, who was second in the league in ERA after the All-Star break, putting Paul Byrd into the fifth hole in the rotation -- that is, if Adam Miller (15-6, 157/43 K/BB ratio in AA) doesn't force himself in the door.
With Papelbon, Curt Schilling, Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Tim Wakefield, and Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz on the horizon, Boston hopes to have its starters stabilized. No, the Red Sox are not trading Beckett for a closer and, no, they are not after Roger Clemens unless he wants to end his career where it started for a fraction of what he made in Houston.
Matsuzaka? They think he's a Greg Maddux with early Maddux stuff, able to dial it into the mid-90s with six pitches.
The brilliant Bobby Valentine, arguably the most knowledgeable expert on the Japanese and American games, warns that Matsuzaka has to pitch his games.
"The problem is the old adage you don't get beat on something other than your best pitch," Valentine said in an e-mail. "And this guy has six really good pitches other than his fastball. So it is inevitable that he will give up hits on his other pitches and will get the radio hosts and all the other experts out there telling him to throw more fastballs. They must also understand that this guy is a pitching genius and what he did last time might not be what he should do the next time."
As for his health, Matsuzaka's MRI of his elbow and labrum were completely clean.
If Matsuzaka and Sowers are as good as their teams think they are and the rest of the Boston and Cleveland rotations remain healthy, come September, the closer situations will be resolved. And either team could go deep into October.
There are some mentions of the Indians throughout his latest blog but pay attention to the last few paragraphs. We really do have a lot of options for closer even if we don't have a set guy named yet. Thoughts?
Here is the text of the article:
No panic over closer situations
posted: Sunday, December 17, 2006
It was near the end of spring training in 2002. The subject was the Twins' bullpen and whether or not they had a legitimate closer. LaTroy Hawkins was coming off a 28-save season, Eddie Guardado off a 12-save year, and coaches promised it would be all right because Guardado, who didn't have a save in nine minor league seasons and had 18 saves in 34 opportunities before 2001, would do the job.
Forty-five saves later, Guardado helped carry the Twins into the ALCS.
Two springs later, Everyday Eddie was a Mariner, and the people around the Minnesota spring training camp were concerned. Joe Nathan, who had come over from the Giants in the A.J. Pierzynski deal, was having a tough spring. The last week of spring training, Nathan was throwing 85-87 mph, and after all, in his career in San Francisco he had just one save in five opportunities.
By the second week of the regular season, Nathan was throwing 95 mph and on his way to 44 saves, a 1.62 ERA and three years of brilliance.
That's why you do not hear anyone with the Red Sox, Indians or Marlins, three teams that could well be strong playoff contenders in 2007, panicking about their bullpens. The Indians have added Joe Borowski, Roberto Hernandez and Aaron Fultz, Boston has acquired Brendan Donnelly, J.C. Romero and Hideki Okajima, and the Marlins are working on bringing back Armando Benitez.
They all know there is a long way to go, and that Fausto Carmona or Fernando Cabrera could end up closing in Cleveland, or that Craig Hansen or Bryce Cox could do the same in Boston. And any one of a number of young pitchers could emerge in Florida. The stuff is unquestionably there.
There was little bullpen help on the market, and anyway, history tells us that "an established closer" is often a myth. After all, Borowski was third in the National League in saves with 36 after going 9-for-15 in save situations the two previous seasons. Bobby Jenks was second in the AL with 41, 35 more than his previous career total. Hey, B.J. Ryan signed a five-year, $47 million contract and came up big for Toronto, but in 2004 he was setting up for Jorge Julio in Baltimore and was 6-for-18 lifetime.
In November 2001, the Dodgers were shopping Eric Gagne and Luke Prokopec. Most teams wanted Prokopec; Toronto took him over Gagne for Cesar Izturis, and Gagne -- whose career save total was zero -- went on to save 52 games in 2002, went 55-for-55 in 2003 and had 45 saves in 2004; he's pitched 15 1/3 innings since. Mariano Rivera, at age 26, began the '96 season as John Wetteland's setup man after posting a 5.51 ERA in 1995. Takashi Saito wasn't supposed to make the 2006 Dodgers as a 36-year-old who in 13 seasons in Japan had a single-season best of 27 saves. Yet he converted 24-for-26 save opportunities with a 2.07 ERA. Saito was 11-16 with an ERA close to five in his last three seasons in Japan.
If one defines an "established closer" as someone who saves at least 35 games, there are only four active pitchers (Trevor Hoffman, 10 times; Rivera, 9; Billy Wagner, 6; Jose Mesa, 5) who have accomplished that feat more than three times. And only another nine others (Nathan, Guardado, Jones, Benitez, Gagne, Jason Isringhausen, Roberto Hernandez, John Smoltz and Keith Foulke have done it thrice.
Look at the last six world champions:
• The 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks' leading closer was Byung-Hyun Kim, who had 19 saves, followed by Bret Prinz with nine.
• The 2002 Angels had a 40-save closer in Troy Percival -- who hadn't had more than a three-out save for five years -- and Ben Weber was their backup closer until Francisco Rodriguez arrived in mid-September and became their most valuable reliever. In 2001, Rodriguez was 5-7, 5.38 for Class A Rancho Cucamonga.
• The 2003 Marlins' leading closer was Braden Looper (28), but they acquired Ugueth Urbina for the stretch run, got six regular-season saves from him and used him at the end during the postseason.
• The one team in the last six seasons who used the same closer from Opening Day through the World Series was the 2004 Red Sox. Keith Foulke had 32 saves in the regular season and was their postseason MVP.
• The 2005 White Sox were led by Dustin Hermanson with 34 saves, but Bobby Jenks -- whom they claimed on waivers from the Angels -- took over in September, saved six games and was their postseason closer. In his minor league career, Jenks posted ERAs of 7.86, 5.27, 4.82, 8.76, 19.64 and 8.10.
• The 2006 Cardinals had one of the game's most reliable closers in Jason Isringhausen, but he had to step aside in September with arm problems. Adam Wainwright, who had never had a professional save opportunity, was 3-for-5 in September, then in the postseason had four saves, a win and did not allow an earned run in 9 2/3 innings.
To start with, it does no good to have an elite closer without premium starters and relievers who miss bats in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings.
What GM Ken Williams has done so well with the White Sox is obtain big arms -- Jenks, Matt Thornton, Mike MacDougal, David Aardsma and Andrew Sisco -- and turn them over to pitching coach Don Cooper, who has done wonders fixing deliveries. That has been the modus operandi of Mets GM Omar Minaya, who constantly tries to find power arms to put in front of closer Billy Wagner.
With Jonathan Papelbon going into the rotation, Boston is still in the market for another reliever who could open the season closing. But while they wait to see if Hansen, Manny Delcarmen or Cox rushes forward, they have Devern Hansack, Mike Timlin, Donnelly, Julian Tavarez, Romero and Okajima for different situations. Cleveland can close with Borowski or Hernandez, but they also have Rafael Betancourt, Jeremy Guthrie, Rafael Perez, Carmona, Cabrera, Edward Mujica, Jason Davis
In the case of both the Red Sox and Indians, much of the improvement in the bullpen will come from better starting pitching. Cleveland is counting on a full season from Jeremy Sowers, who was second in the league in ERA after the All-Star break, putting Paul Byrd into the fifth hole in the rotation -- that is, if Adam Miller (15-6, 157/43 K/BB ratio in AA) doesn't force himself in the door.
With Papelbon, Curt Schilling, Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Tim Wakefield, and Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz on the horizon, Boston hopes to have its starters stabilized. No, the Red Sox are not trading Beckett for a closer and, no, they are not after Roger Clemens unless he wants to end his career where it started for a fraction of what he made in Houston.
Matsuzaka? They think he's a Greg Maddux with early Maddux stuff, able to dial it into the mid-90s with six pitches.
The brilliant Bobby Valentine, arguably the most knowledgeable expert on the Japanese and American games, warns that Matsuzaka has to pitch his games.
"The problem is the old adage you don't get beat on something other than your best pitch," Valentine said in an e-mail. "And this guy has six really good pitches other than his fastball. So it is inevitable that he will give up hits on his other pitches and will get the radio hosts and all the other experts out there telling him to throw more fastballs. They must also understand that this guy is a pitching genius and what he did last time might not be what he should do the next time."
As for his health, Matsuzaka's MRI of his elbow and labrum were completely clean.
If Matsuzaka and Sowers are as good as their teams think they are and the rest of the Boston and Cleveland rotations remain healthy, come September, the closer situations will be resolved. And either team could go deep into October.
