Indians’ GM Mark Shapiro went into the offseason looking for a closer. Now that the winter meetings are in full force, he’s still looking, but he has added depth to the Tribe’s relief corps. On Saturday, Cleveland signed right hander Roberto Hernandez and lefty Aaron Fultz, and today it appears they will sign former Marlins closer Joe Borowski to a contract. All three reportedly signed one year deals, giving the Indians the payroll flexibility that they crave.
Shapiro has pointed out that the ballclub is still looking for a closer. These three guys will simply give Eric Wedge more options in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings. And since they are all one year deals, there is minimal risk for the Indians. Which is important in that no one wants to get stuck with a three year deal (see Dannys Baez) if the guy can no longer be effective.
Hernandez is 42, but has been very effective the past two seasons as a set up man. His batting average against in those years were .228 in ’05 and .248 in ’06. He was valuable in match up situations last season, holding right handed hitters to a .219 average. He’s a guy who can pitch to a tough righty or pitch the 7th or 8th if righties are due up. He can also close, with 326 saves lifetime, although he has not been a closer since the 2002 season with the Royals.
Fultz is 33 and basically a match up guy vs. left handed hitters. He didn’t have a particularly good year in 2006, with an ERA of 4.54. However, he has held lefties to an OPS of around .650 for his career. He will be limited to facing one or two lefties in a game. He’s very comparable to former Indian Jim Poole.
Borowski will be 36 next season, and has saved over 30 games in a season twice in his career, including 36 with the Marlins in 2006. The right hander has held hitters to under a .240 batting average in four of the last five years. The only year he didn’t accomplish this was in 2004 when he had shoulder problems. That shoulder is the reason he is only getting a one year deal. His strikeout numbers did return the level they were at before his arm woes, so perhaps the strength has returned to the joint. He did benefit from pitching in the large ballpark the Marlins play in, but over the past five years, he has been a solid major league relief pitcher.
Some in the media want the Tribe to make a big splash in the free agent market and sign a big name. When you are dealing with relief pitching, that’s a dicey proposition. Outside of Mariano Rivera or Trevor Hoffman, you can’t name a back of the bullpen guy who is consistantly effective. They all have ups and downs. What Shapiro is doing is giving himself as many options as he can find to pitch the last three innings.
Besides the three free agents, Wedge can choose from Fernando Cabrera, Rafael Betancourt, Matt Miller, Tom Mastny, Jason Davis, Tony Sipp, Edward Mujica, Juan Lara, and Rafael Perez to make up the ’07 relief corps. They only need half of these guys to pitch effectively. If the GM can swing a deal for a closer, it should be a solid bullpen with alternatives and depth. That’s about the best you can hope for with middle relievers.
Tribe fans were spoiled by the success the bullpen had in the late 1990’s. Guys like Eric Plunk and Paul Assenmacher were good year in and year out. But think about how dominant Julian Tavarez was in 1995 and how he struggled in ’96. Jose Mesa was outstanding in ’95 and ’96, and then his career went up and down like a yo-yo. That’s the nature of relief pitchers.
Maybe these guys will work out and maybe they won’t. The same can be said for the high priced pitchers the Baltimore Orioles signed. The difference is that the Indians can release somebody if they don’t work out, Baltimore will be stuck with them for two more seasons. You tell me who’s making the better decision.
MW
Cleveland Sports Perspective 