http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2014/12/red-sox-to-re-sign-craig-breslow.html
One year deal at $2 million.
One year deal at $2 million.
It will be even more outstanding if he rediscovers the magic of that two seamer. As long as expectations are for him to be a notch above LOOGY I think he can be a great signing. If he rediscovers that pitch he can be a great 7th inning guy again.67WasBest said:Saw that coming. One year deal is outstanding
Butler?soxhop411 said:Who gets DFA'd?
With you on this. Minimal money for a LOOGY with a relatively known commodity. No big deal.67WasBest said:Saw that coming. One year deal is outstanding
You might want to look at the bigger picture. He's been a steady 4-4.5 xFIP throughout his career; '12 was an outlier in the right direction, '14 was an outlier in the wrong direction. I would imagine BC knows who he's signing.Hee Sox Choi said:Why oh why?
5.13 xFIP last year
4.37 xFIP in '13 (his 1.81 ERA was a mirage)
3.72 xFIP in '12 (1/2 time in Oaktown)
See where that's trending? Lifetime 4.39 xFIP. Watching him pitch last year was the worst part of the season. Maybe I'll get a urinary catheter to stick in me when he's pitching so I have something that's less painful to distract me from his 1/3 of an inning.
mauidano said:With you on this. Minimal money for a LOOGY with a relatively known commodity. No big deal.
Yeah, everyone knows this. But it's also a place on the 40-man and the opportunity cost of not trying out someone else.brs3 said:Jeez. Guys, we're talking about $2 million of someone else's money. It's not like that money was re-signing Lester.
Props for making your point in a colorful manner!Hee Sox Choi said:Why oh why?
5.13 xFIP last year
4.37 xFIP in '13 (his 1.81 ERA was a mirage)
3.72 xFIP in '12 (1/2 time in Oaktown)
See where that's trending? Lifetime 4.39 xFIP. Watching him pitch last year was the worst part of the season. Maybe I'll get a urinary catheter to stick in me when he's pitching so I have something that's less painful to distract me from his 1/3 of an inning.
exactly. don't see much risk here--but there is upside. If the Red Sox are right and Breslow was worn out by 2013 (as he himself has suggested), then they could get a serviceable (or perhaps better than serviceable) lefty in a pen that was short on lefties before this deal. If he can't rebound, they will hardly notice the cost if they have to DFA him. and what are the other options when thinking about lefties for the pen? I guess they could trade for someone, but that would mean giving up something of course. They could also try Britton (can can still give him a look in spring training), but I can understand why they are not super optimistic about Britton.Smiling Joe Hesketh said:It's 1/2 million. If he stinks they'll cut him. This isn't hard to figure.
He also came into camp with a sore shoulder last year, so they may believe with rest/rehab he'll be healthy and more effective.
Stan Papi Was Framed said:exactly. don't see much risk here--but there is upside. If the Red Sox are right and Breslow was worn out by 2013 (as he himself has suggested), then they could get a serviceable (or perhaps better than serviceable) lefty in a pen that was short on lefties before this deal. If he can't rebound, they will hardly notice the cost if they have to DFA him. and what are the other options when thinking about lefties for the pen? I guess they could trade for someone, but that would mean giving up something of course. They could also try Britton (can can still give him a look in spring training), but I can understand why they are not super optimistic about Britton.
Jesus, I knew someone was going to write that. It's not that hard to see what my point was ---> blowing games and getting losses in April or May is just as damaging as doing it in September. In 2011 we missed the playoffs by 1 game.sackamano said:Do you have some information that would prove Craig Breslow was blowing leads for the Red Sox in 2011, while he was pitching for the Oakland A's?
…ergo, never sign a pitcher who might blow a game in April.Hee Sox Choi said:Jesus, I knew someone was going to write that. It's not that hard to see what my point was ---> blowing games and getting losses in April or May is just as damaging as doing it in September. In 2011 we missed the playoffs by 1 game. If Bobby Jenks or Kyle Weiland don't blow 1 game earlier in the year, we at least tie or beat TB.
Some players who were good last year are going to stink next year, some players who stunk last year are going to be good next year. They'll never get any bargains if they refuse to take chances on players coming off bad years. Hopefully, there will be enough better options in the pen that they either won't need to use him in close games or he will earn his way back to being trusted in them.Jesus, I knew someone was going to write that. It's not that hard to see what my point was ---> blowing games and getting losses in April or May is just as damaging as doing it in September. In 2011 we missed the playoffs by 1 game. If Bobby Jenks or Kyle Weiland don't blow 1 game earlier in the year, we at least tie or beat TB.
Kyle Weiland didn't pitch in a game for the Red Sox in 2011 until July.Jesus, I knew someone was going to write that. It's not that hard to see what my point was ---> blowing games and getting losses in April or May is just as damaging as doing it in September. In 2011 we missed the playoffs by 1 game. If Bobby Jenks or Kyle Weiland don't blow 1 game earlier in the year, we at least tie or beat TB.
If Gustave sticks it will be with Kansas City.maufman said:So if Gustave (Rule 5 pick) sticks and Workman is converted to relief, the bullpen looks like:
Uehara
Tazawa
Mujica
Workman
Breslow
Gustave
Varvaro
I would rather have seen a true situational lefty than Breslow, but I don't know what the options were or what they would've cost.
Exactly. This is the flip side of, "Relievers are [supposedly] inherently volatile, so you should never give Andrew Miller a market-rate long-term contract." If relievers are [supposedly] inherently volatile, then you should always sign a few guys who had good track records and then a bad year, on the theory that the bad year may have been a small sample size fluke.judyb said:Some players who were good last year are going to stink next year, some players who stunk last year are going to be good next year. They'll never get any bargains if they refuse to take chances on players coming off bad years. Hopefully, there will be enough better options in the pen that they either won't need to use him in close games or he will earn his way back to being trusted in them.
interesting point. I didn't realize his numbers were so uninspiring against lefties. perhaps some of that is because he was just bad against everyone last year, but I see he wasn't tough on lefties in 2013 either. I still don't mind this deal based on the possibility he is a serviceable reliever coming in at a low cost. But I guess it doesn't really address the lefty in the pen issue. Relying on Layne or Britton is not inspiring.Savin Hillbilly said:
The problem with this logic is that Breslow isn't really a lefty in any meaningful sense. I mean, yeah, he throws with his left arm, but that's pretty much where it ends.
Among 40 LH relief pitchers with at least 150 relief appearances over the past five years, Breslow is 4th worst in OPS allowed to LHH, at .717. That OPS would rank him in the bottom third of right-handed relief pitchers in this split. He actually has a better OPS allowed vs. RHH (.704) over that five-year span.
In order for this move to make sense, the Sox must think Breslow is the best available reliever, regardless of handedness. Signing him because you need a lefty would be like signing Daniel Nava because you need a switch-hitter.
Drake Britton was worse for Pawtucket last year than Craig Breslow was for Boston.Hopefully they don't end up losing Britton to find out though.