Just two days after pronouncing himself unfit to close games for the Milwaukee Brewers, Eric Gagne says he's ready to be the team's closer again.
"I want to go out there as soon as I can,"
It's safe to say that there are Brewers fans who wish the overpaid pitcher would keep his mouth shut. After raising many eyebrows by signing Gagne to a one year $10 million contract, it's become evident to everyone except Ned Yost, Bob Melvin, and Eric Gagne, that Gagne simply isn't a very good reliever any more.
Middle relief certainly doesn't appear to be a spot the former all-star, and HGH user fits very well either. With the Brewers leading 8-1 in the seventh inning Monday night, Yost put Gagne in the game. He pitched a scoreless seventh but struggled in the eighth, giving up a run as he allowed two hits, a walk and a wild pitch.
So what do you do with a reliever who has a huge pricetag, but couldn't get ME out? You sugar coat the ever loving crap out of the situation. Brewers Manager, Ned Yost, who continues to prove he doesn't deserve a job in major league baseball said it was a good sign that Gagne wanted to keep pitching.
"A lot of times, when a guy's been struggling, you get him through a real clean first inning like that and let him get away with a good feeling," Yost said after the Brewers won 8-3. "But you know, he wanted to work, he wanted to go out a second inning and I wanted him to go, too."
Certainly the fact that the team had a seemingly insurmountable lead helped Yost make the decision to keep Gagne in, but one has to wonder how long until the team pulls a Turnbow on the former Cy Young winner.
I say why not let Gagne try his hand at starting? The Brewers starting pitching is an absolute mess, and Gagne began his career in the Dodgers rotation. He no longer has the 97 MPH fastball, but his stuff MIGHT be good enough to throw 5 or 6 innings of respectable baseball.
By the way, being a cubs fan, can I just say how much I love watching the Brewers' closer suck?
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Gagne Opens the Door to Closing Again
Jim Hendry Either Had, or Needs a Lobotomy
Most of the Chicago papers today are reporting that once former Padre and Cardinal Centerfielder Jim Edmonds clears waivers Wednesday, Cubs General Manager Jim Hendry will swoop in and offer the broken down 37 year old a contract.
So my question is, did Jim Hendry fall down and hurt his head? What could a guy who's production has dropped off exponentially, who hasn't been healthy in 3 years, and is 37 years old possibly bring to a team who is seemingly hitting on all cylinders right now?
This move also appears to be yet another signal that the Cubs brass have all but given up on a player who 2 years ago was considered to be a can't miss, 5 tool, superstar in the making in Felix Pie. Certainly Pie has looked lost at the plate a good portion of the time he's spent in the majors but is Jim Edmonds at this point in his career really an upgrade?
This move reminds me an awful lot of last year's decision to sign Cliff Floyd about 5 years after Floyd was actually a positive addition to a roster. Hendry has obviously been a fan of Jim Edmonds for years, and Edmonds apparently would love to play for a team in the NL Central, so that he can try and beat the Cardinals, but that hardly earns him a spot on a roster.
Edmonds was hitting a robust .160 before being cut by the Padres, a team that is far from stocked with offensive weapons and has undoubtedly lost a step on defense as well. The Cubs keep talking about how they need another left handed hitting outfielder, all the while ignoring the fact that outside of Carlos Zambrano, the starting rotation has been....inconsistent to put it nicely.
This move does nothing to improve the club, and probably sets back a young outfielder who probably still has SOME trade value. How many years are the Cubs going to go into a season with Pie listed as their top prospect before he becomes an unmitigated disaster?
Friday, May 9, 2008
Dropping the Boom: Baseball's Big Winners, Losers For May 8th
Florida Marlins: Second straight day the Marlins are in the "Big Winner" column. Yesterday they finished off a sweep of the rumbling, bumbling, stumbling Brewers and thanks to Brandon Webb handing the Phillies a loss, the Fish sit alone in first place in the NL East.
Milwaukee Brewers: For the 2nd straight day the Brew Crew sit in the "Big Losers" column after being swept by the Marlins. The Brewers have now lost 6 straight, and sit 6 games out of first in the NL Central. You can almost see the noose tightening around Ned Yost's neck
Kyle Lohse: In my opinion, no one on the St. Louis Cardinals embodies the smoke and mirrors of their team more than Kyle Lohse. Lohse started the year 3-0 with a 2.36 ERA, but in his last two starts (both 9-3 losses) Lohse has given up 15 runs over 10 innings pitched. That's a 13.50 ERA over his last two outings. I expect Lohse to continue his tailspin into mediocrity, and I expect the Cards to begin theirs any day now. They've lost two in a row, it's possible they've already begun.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Dropping the Boom, Baseball's Big Winners, Big Losers for May 7th
The Florida Marlins: Florida continues it's improbable run, handily beating a floundering Milwaukee Brewers squad. The share first place with last year's NL East Champion Philadelphia Phillies.
The Oakland Athletics: Many people assumed the A's were waving the white flag before the season even started by trading their Ace (Danny Haren) and arguably their best player (Nick Swisher) during the winter. Instead the A's are tied with the Angels, and Redsox for best record in the American League after notching a walk-off win the 10th inning yesterday.
Placido Polanco, and the Detroit Tigers: While the Tigers appear to still be working to find their identity, scoring 2 in the 9th after blowing an 8-4 early lead to win can't hurt. Especially when you score those two off of Uber-Closer Jonathan Papelbon. Polanco did his best to break out of what has been a season long slump after raising his average from .238 to .270 by going 5-6 with 3 RBIs including the game winning hit.
Cliff Lee: I mentioned yesterday the kind of season Lee has gotten off to, and it's appearing all to obvious that it's not fluke. Entering the game with a 0.96 ERA, Cliffy actually lowered it to 0.81 as he threw 7 shutout innings and notched his third straight start without allowing a walk. Lee now has surrendered just 2 base on balls, in 44 innings while going 6-0.
Carlos Gomez: I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the young Twin's night. Gomez was the centerpiece for the Twins in the Johan Santana trade, and so far wasn't impressing people all that much. Gomez blew up expectations when he hit for the cycle in a 13-1 win over Mark Buehrle and the Chicago Pornstars....Err, Whitesox. It was the first time a Minnesota Twin had hit for the cycle in 22 years, and now Gomez' name will forever be mentioned with the likes of Legendary Twin, Kirby Puckett
San Diego Padres: What in the name of god is wrong with the San Diego Padres? A complete lack of any power is certainly a culprit, but the pitching hasn't been nearly as dominant as many expected it to be either. The Friars sit alone as not only the worst team in the National League, but in all of baseball. This is a team that many saw as improved over a squad that was one Trevor Hoffman blown save away from beating the eventual NL Champion Rockies out for the National League Wild Card last season.
Barry Zito: Zito returned to the starting rotation from the bullpen, after never having actually pitched in relief, and picked up right where he left off, falling to 0-7 on the season. In Zito's defense, this loss was on the Giants offense, or lack thereof, than his pitching, but when you notch seven losses in seven starts, you get mentioned in this section.
Ned Yost and the Milwaukee Brewers: Will Ned Yost be the first manager fired this season? I say yes. After looking like a lock to win the NL Central going into August last year, the Brewers failed to make the playoffs. This season a team that is chock full of young talent is floundering in the middle of the pack after dropping five straight and falling to 16-17.
Jason Isringhausen: The fact that his team is surprisingly in first place will probably afford a longer leash than some of the other struggling closers this season, but Izzy has 3 blown saves already this year, and is sporting a 6.60 ERA after taking part in allowing 4 runs to the Colorado Rockies in the bottom of the 8th inning last night.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Cliff Lee is a Freak of Nature
Lost in the mediocre start to the season that the Indians have given their fans is the insanely good start Cliff Lee has brought to his team. This is the same Cliff Lee who spent part of the season last year back in the minor leagues because of his up and down, but mostly down performances for a team trying to make the playoffs.
It appears whatever Lee figured out in the minors has stuck, as he's already equaled his win total of a year ago, a managed a microscopic 0.96 ERA. Lee, who is considered a crafty veteran, despite the fact that he is only 28, thanks to the fact that he made the major leagues at a very young age, and joining the rotation full time in 2004. He won 14 games for the Tribe that year, and followed that up with 18 wins in his second full season. However Lee started to regress, going just 14-11 in 2006, and managed just a 5-8 record with a 6.29 ERA in 20 starts last year. Lee is 5-0 this season, meaning he has accounted for a third of his team's 15 wins in the early going.
But it's not his record, or his ERA that makes Cliff Lee a freak of nature. In 37.2 innings pitched spanning 5 starts, all going over 6 innings, Lee has walked exactly 2 batters. Let me lay this out there again. He isn't averaging a meager 2 walks per outing, as that would be plenty impressive in today's game alone. But for the entire season, Lee has walked two batters. He's now gone two starts in a row without issuing a single base on balls.
If Lee continues to pitch like this, not only are the Tribe a serious contender for the playoffs, but he's a serious contender for the Cy Young award.
Welcome to Baseball Boom
This is my inaugural posting on Baseball Boom.com and while the site still isn't completely operational, I felt it was time to launch. Here at Baseball Boom I will cover all things baseball, this means Major Leagues, Minor Leagues, and College. Heck we'll even cover High School baseball assuming someone asks me to.
What qualifies me to write about baseball? Well, first of all, I've been doing it off and on for quite a while. I cut my teeth writing about the San Diego Padres on San Diego Spotlight and wrote about the Nebraska Cornhuskers for Big Red Analysis, as well as covering other teams like the Cincinnati Bengals for StripeHype.com
So without further ado, I hope you'll sit back and enjoy the ride that is Baseball Boom.com, I welcome frank and earnest contribution from any readers I should happen to pick up along the way. If over the course of your time here, you see something you need to weigh in on, don't hesitate to do so in the comments section. Much like April 1st, or March 31st, depending on your team, it's opening day here at Baseball Boom, PLAY BALL!
