What A Difference Five Years Makes
by Erik Hahmann on Feb 2, 2010 6:00 AM EST
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PrintFive years is a long time, especially in baseball terms. Just think, the top grossing movie of 2006 was the second installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean series, songs with titles such as "Laffy Taffy" and "Grillz" hit number one on the charts, and the Rays were giving players like Tomas Perez, Travis Lee, and Greg Norton 240+ABs and allowing Chad Harville, Brian Meadows, and Dan Miceli to toe the rubber for 30+ IP. It was a crazy time, indeed.
2010 marks the fifth full year that this current Front Office group has been in charge of baseball operations. It's amazing to look back at that 2006 roster and all of its shortcomings and compare it to last year's. It's like comparing apples that leave a bitter taste in your mouth to really, really, super-delicious, gigantic oranges. Nowhere is that more evident than in the bullpen (min. 30IP).
2006:
| Name | IP | xFIP |
| Ruddy Lugo | 85.0 | 5.23 |
| Shawn Camp | 32.0 | 3.87 |
| Travis Harper | 42.0 | 4.48 |
| Chad Harville | 41.0 | 4.46 |
| Brian Meadows | 69.2 | 5.00 |
| Dan "Meatball" Miceli | 32.0 | 5.87 |
| Jon Switzer | 33.2 | 5.60 |
2009:
| Name | IP | xFIP |
| J.P Howell | 66.2 | 3.47 |
| Grant Balfour | 67.1 | 4.21 |
| Randy Choate | 36.1 | 3.40 |
| Lance Cormier | 77.1 | 4.59 |
| Dan Wheeler | 57.2 | 4.13 |
| Joe Nelson | 40.1 | 5.36 |
The difference in those numbers is staggering. Obviously, the bullpen isn't the soul reason the 2006 team lost 97 or why the 2009 team won 84 games in a "down" year. I'm not saying that. What I am saying is that a good bullpen is not hard to assemble, and it's tough to be a very good team without one. Look at how the core pieces of the 2009 bullpen were acquired: Howell was traded for basically nothing, Balfour was picked off the scrap heap, Cormier and Choate werent highly courted free agent signings, and Dan Wheeler was traded for a very expendable part in Ty Wigginton. Joe Nelson was a pricy and overall disappointing signing and did not pitch after July 21st..
The offense has been given an enormous facelift over those same five years, but nothing as radical as the bullpen. This Front Office seems to have taken great pride in finding diamonds in the proverbial rough. With this looking like Dan Wheeler's last season in Tampa Bay, and Rafael Soriano signed to a one year deal, they're going to need to mine a few more diamonds out if they wish to stay competitive in the coming years.
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Of course he did
xFIP is less useful for relievers. The 11% HR/FB% does not hold true. Balfour for his career is at 8.1% while Wheeler is at 10%Ish.
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It doesn't mean its not useful, he could have picked any stat and had his point made clearly
To cherry pick xFIP for Balf vs Wheeler circa 09 would be dishonest. In truth though, many #’s favored Wheeler in 09:
tRA 4.23 vs 4.34
FIP 4.48 vs 3.77
K/BB 5.00 vs 2.09
ERA 3.28 vs 4.81
Wheeler is a useful unique beast:
Two years running at about a 55% Fly Ball Clip keep his BABIP hovering at the .200 level. Of course balls out of the park aren’t included in BABIP. You have to account for Wheeler’s HR habits at face value though.
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Wheeler's definitely undervalued by most of the people on this blog, mostly because his mishaps come at that absolute worst times.
Barty’s pretty obvious. It’s not that anyone dislikes him – it’s just a reaction to the outrageous MVP award and the idea that he was somehow solely responsible for the team turning around.
I see him for what he is
A useful reliever who will give up an above average amount of home runs. Love the K/BB though.
Once in awhile sure But hes solid as a pens #3 reliever which is how I view him. I trust him the most on the team to protect a 2 run lead, but not a 1.
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by FreeZorilla on Sep 23, 2009 6:53 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
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Jon Brett is not a large enough sample size to say this blog undervalues Wheeler
His contract is the the only real issue.
Follow Me on Twitter @FreeZorilla
Maddon also used him in the wrong situations last year, at times.
But that’s not really Wheelers fault.
Mira Sorvino...Paul Walker...T-Pain...Fall 2010...HEADSTONE MAFIA, A LOVE STORY OF REVENGE. "5/5 stars!!!" - DRB User "Andy Hellicksonstine"
by PlayOnWords on Feb 2, 2010 11:28 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
Wheeler is my favorite reliever.
by Erik Hahmann on Feb 2, 2010 11:04 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
Talk to this guy
A question and an opinion
1- Being as quantifying of a GM as Andrew is, why that awful three year deal to Wheeler?
2- DO NOT sign Grilli, he makes Wheeler look good
by Raymondo on Jun 7, 2009 4:27 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
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Actually, Balfour...
was acquired from the Brewers for Seth McClung, not picked off the scrap heap. Perhaps its semantics, but I would consider Pena picked off the scrap heap- signed to a minor league deal with an invite to spring training.
I glossed over that, but I think we can call McClung a scrap heap.
by Erik Hahmann on Feb 2, 2010 9:30 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
Noooooooooooooooooo
Don’t bring up the Laffy Taffy song, it will get stuck in my head and I can’t stand that song
You mean this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NXBgSCSrIk
Note: FUCKING CHRIST THIS IS AWFUL.
I miss George Steinbrenner. He was the man responsible for keeping the Yankees competitive.
one of the greatest line ever in a song...
“they call me a jolly rancher cuz I stay so hard!” That’s better then then “pants on the ground.”
Blah!
by thebaddancingraysfan on Feb 2, 2010 11:30 AM EST up reply actions
"A good bullpen is not hard to assemble"
I don’t agree with that one. A good bullpen is very hard to assemble, or else every team would have one. I think it would be better to say that a good bullpen can be assembled without a lot of money or investment….but it takes a lot of luck.
There are certainly some elite closers in the game, and some truly elite middle guys, but the truth of the matter is that many of these guys are in the bullpen because they couldn’t cut it as starters, either at all – or later in careers. Bullpen pitchers generally aren’t the best pitchers, and they’re not dependable on a year to year basis. That’s why they’re in the bullpen and only making hundreds of thousands per year instead of millions.
You can get good guys cheap, and you can pay a lot for guys that just don’t cut it in the year you sign them.
Assembling a good bullpen takes more luck than anything else with such an effect on the game.
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