"Small" Budget Team Lighting Money on Fire!
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
I like Justin Morneau. I think the extension the Twins gave him was unnecessarily long and too big, but at least he is a decent player and is popular amongst fans. Same with Cuddyer.
Signing Craig Monroe to a deal worth almost $4m was definitely worse. As AG pointed out yesterday, there were seven FAs signed this offseason who were better for this role and COMBINED they are getting payed less then Monroe next season.
Now the Twins have signed Livan Hernandez to a deal that is reportedly worth somewhere between $5 and $6 million dollars and could be worth as much as $7m if some incentives are reached, which they almost certainly won't be. I'm sure the Twins think this will bring stability to their rotation, that like Silva before him he will be able to eat up a bunch of innings. It is far more likely that they are now paying a 33 year old washed up pitcher $5m+ to make the team worse.
Hare are the starting pitchers in the Twins organization (from best to worst) that PECOTA sees as being better then Livan next year:
Fransisco Liriano
Kevin Slowey
Scott Baker
Boof Bonser
Glen Perkins
Bobby Korecky
Kevin Mulvey
Jose Mijares (I know he's still hurt)
Anthony Swarzak
The Orioles chose to pay $.5m to buy out Kris Benson's $7.5m option for next year. The Royals bought out Odalis Perez's $9m option for $1.5m. Kyle Lohse was paid $4.2m last year. Josh Fogg was paid $3.7m last year. David Wells was paid $3m last year. Victor Zambrano was paid $0.5m last year. Do you know what all these pitchers have in common? They are all free agent starting pitchers who project as better pitchers then Livan Hernandez at this point. I don't mind that the Twins want to give their young rotation some veteran help. I just don't like that they picked a terrible pitcher and overpaid him because he has the reputation of being an "innings-eater!" Hell, Jeff Weaver's projection for next season looks better then Livan's.
Hernandez's xFIP the last three seasons:
2005: 4.56
2006: 5.38
2007: 5.62
And that is in the National League! Pitching against pitchers and generally weaker hitters! Ugh.
Posted bySL__72 at 12:43 PM
Labels: Bonfire, Livan Hernandez, Minnesota Twins
Sam - here is what I wrote over at sportingnews.com on their comment section this afternoon. I disagree with a guy who said, "Livan should become the staff filler that Minnesota lost when they lost Carlos Silva to free agency. He is a true workhorse and should keep Minnesota in ballgames.
"
More veteran crap
move0001 on Tue Feb 12, 2008 02:47 pm
I will have to disagree with you fkobayashi...Livan is clearly on the downside of his career. While he throws a lot of innings, he is coming off a terrible season and now he doesn't get the benefit of facing pitchers everyday. This is more high priced, below average veteran pitching brought in by the Twins when they have better, lower priced options already on staff. The Twins could have saved themselves close to 10 million by not signing below average veterans (Livan and Monroe) and using that money to bring in somebody who can have an impact on offense.
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Sam, this comment was over at ESPN and I thought it was funny...
ESPN Headline: Twins fill Santana's slot with Livan Hernandez.
Comment: This is like replacing Jessica Alba with Roseanne Barr.