Indians Officially Sign Borowski

[chiefwahoo]

http://www.cleveland.com/weblogs/pdsports/index.ssf?/mtlogs/cleve_pdsports/archives/2006_12.html#212565

11:25 a.m.

Lake Buena Vista, Fla. — The Indians have reached a one-year, $4 million deal with right-hander Joe Borowski. The deal includes a club option for 2008.

Borowski, 35, is the third free-agent reliever the Indians have signed in the last five days as GM Mark Shapiro tries to rebuild a bullpen that was last in saves in the big leagues in 2006.

It’s unclear if Borowski will close for the Indians, but he saved 36 games for the Marlins last season. He is 80-for-101 in save situations for his career.

Shapiro wanted to change the dynamics of last year’s pen and he’s done that. He signed veterans Aaron Fultz and Roberto Hernandez on Sunday.

Borowski doesn’t throw hard, but a scout described him as “gutty and savvy. If he doesn’t close, he can pitch the seventh or eighth inning.”

Last season Borowski went 3-3 with a 3.74 ERA and coverted 36 saves in 43 chances. He threw 69 2/3 innings, striking out 64 and walking 33.

The Indians also officially announced the signing of outfielder David Delluci, who passed his physical Tuesday.

— Paul Hoynes, phoynesplaind.com

 

[cdt]

Whoopedy do..this is a big spending off season let me tell ya..

 

[PIP]

:uhh:

 

[KingJamesMVP]

Good signing

Almost as good as the Brewers bringing back Craig Counsell :chuckles:

 

[Cavs1]

if he fully recovers from his injury this is a real good signing. quit ****in complaining guys...you wanted bullpen help and we've signed 3 or 4 guys to fit that need.

 

[chiefwahoo]

I'm not complaining at all. Shapiro has done a nice job with the budget he has to work with. If they can come together like the pen did in 2005 we will be looking very nice.

Buster Olney had this on ESPN Insider today:

Rise of the Tribe
posted: Thursday, December 7, 2006 | Feedback | Print Entry

The Indians haven't spent the most dollars or landed the biggest names, but they have quietly had a very nice offseason so far, augmenting a team that could be very dangerous next season.
Some scouts believed that at season's end, Cleveland was playing the best baseball of any American League club. The Indians ranked third in the AL in ERA in August, fourth in September, and they finished the year ranked second in the majors in runs scored, behind the Yankees. Cleveland went into the winter as one of the very few teams with its starting rotation -- C.C. Sabathia, Cliff Lee, Jake Westbrook, Jeremy Sowers and Paul Byrd -- basically set, and in good shape.

Cleveland needed bullpen help and a second baseman, and right away the Indians landed second baseman Josh Barfield from San Diego without giving up any of their frontline guys.

In the last five days, the Indians have signed three veteran relievers who aren't necessarily dynamic but will provide Cleveland with a bullpen framework and give the young Indians relievers, like Tony Sipp, some time to develop. Cleveland grabbed Joe Borowski, Aaron Fultz and Roberto Hernandez on short-term deals, and those guys will be at least OK in handling the end of games -- perhaps good enough for a team with a good rotation and a powerful offense.

And the Indians were able to do this without committing to big-money, long-term deals, in keeping with their modest financial constraints.

"We have added some depth and experience to the bullpen," Cleveland general manager Mark Shapiro wrote in an e-mail late Wednesday. "Hernandez with over 300 career saves and Borowski with back-end experience and 36 saves last season give us some back-end stability. I feel better about our bullpen now, but still would like to add one more guy who has had some closing experience if possible.

"Knowing this bullpen market was thin and had some risk to it, we felt it important to add as much depth as possible in order to give us the best chance to build a quality bullpen for the '07 team."

If the bullpen can be at least stable, and if Lee can take the next step and become a consistent force, the Indians could be poised for a breakthrough season in '07. We'll see.

The Indians are looking for one more veteran reliever, writes Paul Hoynes; I bet they wind up signing Octavio Dotel, too.

link: http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?name=olney_buster

 

[cavincali]

We need to get lucky like the red sox did and get some youngster to come out of nowhere and be dominate, than the closer role would be sealed up.

 

[cdt]

We need to get lucky like the red sox did and get some youngster to come out of nowhere and be dominate, than the closer role would be sealed up.

We had one and Wedge threw him to the wolves and matched him up with David "Clutch" Ortiz and he belted a 3 run Johnny and the guy absolutely lost all confidence..

Wedge is a miserable coach...

TGFGS/TH

 

[crazedcav333]

Eric Gange is available right now for probably 7 M a year.

Not too shabby it's worth a look for sure. Can you imagine Eric Gange, even at 80% (hasn't pitched 20 games in two years) closing out games in Cleveland?

 

[SportMcAllister]

We had one and Wedge threw him to the wolves and matched him up with David "Clutch" Ortiz and he belted a 3 run Johnny and the guy absolutely lost all confidence..

Wedge is a miserable coach...

TGFGS/TH

if you mean Carmona he was giving up walk offs to players other than Ortiz....

besides a closer is going to have to get the Ortiz' of the league out - or at least recover enough to try again the next day

Carmona showed he could do neither

Carmona is not a closer

 

[cdt]

if you mean Carmona he was giving up walk offs to players other than Ortiz....

besides a closer is going to have to get the Ortiz' of the league out - or at least recover enough to try again the next day

Carmona showed he could do neither

Carmona is not a closer

You slowly work him into the role you don't just throw him to the wolves and hope he limps away...that was stupid. A Pitchers confidence is as important as anything...if they believe they can strike you out they are that much more dangerous.

If they're just trying to make it into the catchers mit and cringing during the windup that isn't really a recipe for success.

I'm not saying he's a closer...I'm just saying he was improperly handled..

ala Brandon Phillips...his first season up he struggles and we keep him up too long...next season he comes back up struggles and gets jerked immediately and dealt..

Then becomes an all-star the same season..Wedge is trash

 

[chiefwahoo]

ala Brandon Phillips...his first season up he struggles and we keep him up too long...next season he comes back up struggles and gets jerked immediately and dealt..

Then becomes an all-star the same season..Wedge is trash

I agree about Phillips. That was all Wedge's call. Shapiro was still supportive of Phillips because of the Colon deal. (By the way, what a steal by Shapiro when you look back on it. Sizemore/Lee/Phillips for Colon/Tim Drew.)

Hopefully Barfield works out and we can try to forget about the Phillips mishandling. I'm sure Wedge is hoping this works out or it might be his ass. Don't we have Showalter on the bench now too?

 

[crazedcav333]

Guys one signing is not gonna change this club around. (A true closer would help though) This gives us a great set-up man and an option at closer. I love the club option for next year as well. Gange is key.

Borowski and Gange along with the pen is a very nice improvement. Shap better not screw this one up.

 

[SportMcAllister]

You slowly work him into the role you don't just throw him to the wolves and hope he limps away...that was stupid. A Pitchers confidence is as important as anything...if they believe they can strike you out they are that much more dangerous.

If they're just trying to make it into the catchers mit and cringing during the windup that isn't really a recipe for success.

I'm not saying he's a closer...I'm just saying he was improperly handled..

Uh dude, Carmona was set up guy for a good part of the season - perhaps he should have stayed set up guy for the full season (my own personal opinion is his upside is Julian Taveras - not necessarily a bad thing, just not what the Indians seem to think he is) but you make it seem like they plucked him from being a starter at Akron and said - ok, you are going to be the closer now, and thats just not true.

ala Brandon Phillips...his first season up he struggles and we keep him up too long...next season he comes back up struggles and gets jerked immediately and dealt..

Then becomes an all-star the same season..Wedge is trash

Of course you overlook Phillips' little idosyncracies like yelling at a member of the front office or calling his mgr at 4 pm the day of a night game and asking what time to go to the stadium.

You also overlook the possibility, regardless of how slight it may be, that Phillips actually woke up with the trade to the Reds and decided to finally use his god given abilities.

Nah its just easier to blame it all on Wedge. (Oh and did you ever think if Shapiro really wanted Phillips on the team Phillips would have been on the team?)

Don't we have Showalter on the bench now too?

No. Showalter was hired for basically the same job that Mike Hargrove and Terry Francona had - more of a FO advisory capacity. He is supposed to be in uniform in ST, but very doubtful he will be in uniform much if at all during the season.

Guys one signing is not gonna change this club around. (A true closer would help though) This gives us a great set-up man and an option at closer. I love the club option for next year as well. Gange is key.

Borowski and Gange along with the pen is a very nice improvement. Shap better not screw this one up.

Ok then just exactly how high do you go for a guy who has had multiple surgeries and who has pitched, what, 15 innings in the last two years? Rumor has it the bidding is at $6 million guaranteed. Do you really want the Indians to spend that much money on someone who is that big of a risk?

(I love these comments of "Shap better not screw this one up" without anything backing up saying - ok, this is what i would do.)

(Personally speaking i am of two minds on this:

1) i would like getting Gagne or Foulke as a supplementary piece - Borowski and Hernandez both have experience closing, so if the Gagne/Foulke experiement backfired then the team isn't completely up sh!t crick....

2) however, the pen is getting extremely crowded as it is, and i really don't know how they can fit one more arm into it)

 

[crazedcav333]

Philips had to go. Carmona doesn't have a place yet. I hate Byrd, but he's probably the 4th starter with Sowers being the 5th. If it stays that way Carmona could be used as a long reliever 1-2 times a week in injury or blowout situations.