Doubled his yearly salary, New England guy, drafted by the Sox...It's probably where he want's to be with a nice raise to continue doing what he's doing.I…do not understand why he’d sign this. I suppose the lives of relievers are fickle and strike while the iron is hot, but seems like a great deal for Chaim!
I almost suspect he knows he’s hurt or something.
I can't find a link to verify it, but I remember reading that Pedro Martinez once advised Papi to not sign where he could get the most money, but to sign where he'd be the happiest. I'm probably being naive, but I'd like to think that maybe Matt Barnes just really likes being a Red Sox and likes Boston. In any case I'm really glad one of the 2018 Red Sox is staying around for a while.I…do not understand why he’d sign this. I suppose the lives of relievers are fickle and strike while the iron is hot, but seems like a great deal for Chaim!
I almost suspect he knows he’s hurt or something.
I don't think the money is *that* low. I get that Liam Hendriks just signed a 3/$54, but Blake Treinen's 2/$17.5m deal with LAD is a decent comp, also, in terms of age, success, and role.I…do not understand why he’d sign this. I suppose the lives of relievers are fickle and strike while the iron is hot, but seems like a great deal for Chaim!
I almost suspect he knows he’s hurt or something.
I have a lot of respect for this point of view, even more so if the money works for him and his family. I hope both sides are happy and it works out well for everyone.This is a good deal for both sides. Sounds like Barnes really wanted to stay.
View: https://twitter.com/alexspeier/status/1414240345072746505
This is such an irrelevant point. Who gives a shit who drafted him and when?
I know you said career, but some notable BB/9 rates, 2021.That’s seems way too much risk for a relief pitcher with a career walk rate approaching 4/9
Treinian was a year older when he signed and was coming off two subpar seasons. If CB convinced Barnes’s agent that Treinian was a relevant parallel he’s a helluva negotiator.I don't think the money is *that* low. I get that Liam Hendriks just signed a 3/$54, but Blake Treinen's 2/$17.5m deal with LAD is a decent comp, also, in terms of age, success, and role.
Yes, but Treinen's year before those subpar years was way better than anything Barnes has done, and I like Barnes a lot: 80 IP with a 531 ERA+.Treinian was a year older when he signed and was coming off two subpar seasons. If CB convinced Barnes’s agent that Treinian was a relevant parallel he’s a helluva negotiator.
Totally agree that Hendricks isn’t a relevant comp. I was thinking more along the lines of Kimbrel’s current deal (3/42), or maybe Will Smith (3/40). Barnes doesn’t have the rep those guys do and therefore wouldn’t have gotten $40M on the market this winter, but I think $30-35M for 3 guaranteed years was well within reach, even assuming some regression in his second-half numbers.
This is a refreshing take for SoSH. SoSH's general refrain of players should take the most money, it's just a business decision, etc. gets tiring. Unless you're broke or poor (which Barnes is probably neither) there can be more to life than money. Happy for Matt.I have a lot of respect for this point of view, even more so if the money works for him and his family. I hope both sides are happy and it works out well for everyone.
It is a refreshing take and one I wholeheartedly agree with, but I think the prevailing notion around here isn't the players should get the most money they can so much as we can't begrudge them chasing the most money they can get. Too many fans want every single player to have Barnes' point of view despite it being very much the exception to the norm. He should be celebrated for it. Players who chase big free agent dollars shouldn't be castigated for doing so.This is a refreshing take for SoSH. SoSH's general refrain of players should take the most money, it's just a business decision, etc. gets tiring. Unless you're broke or poor (which Barnes is probably neither) there can be more to life than money. Happy for Matt.
Well stated.It is a refreshing take and one I wholeheartedly agree with, but I think the prevailing notion around here isn't the players should get the most money they can so much as we can't begrudge them chasing the most money they can get. Too many fans want every single player to have Barnes' point of view despite it being very much the exception to the norm. He should be celebrated for it. Players who chase big free agent dollars shouldn't be castigated for doing so.
If there are incentives based on games finished, isn't Olney incorrect when he says "paid the same no matter the role"?
I can see where Olney is going with that, and I imagine Barnes is the type to not get worked up about his exact role as long as he's clearly a trusted part of the team. But at the same time, it sends a weird message that after he is finally elevated to the high profile role and he succeeds with it, you hand him a generous but under-market extension then go out and immediately get a guy to push him out of that role.
Kimbrel would be great as the relief specialist, non-inning specific. Just based on matchups and situation and trim and extra inning off the game.I can see where Olney is going with that, and I imagine Barnes is the type to not get worked up about his exact role as long as he's clearly a trusted part of the team. But at the same time, it sends a weird message that after he is finally elevated to the high profile role and he succeeds with it, you hand him a generous but under-market extension then go out and immediately get a guy to push him out of that role.
I wouldn't complain if the Sox got Kimbrel back for the rest of this season. It would be kinda fascinating to watch how Cora deployed the two of them. Does Barnes get "demoted", do they split the closing opportunities, or do they go back to a true "committee" fashion without a designated closer and just play matchups?
I don’t have the actual numbers handy but from recollection, Kimbrel struggled more in non-save situations than when he was trying to close out a game. So maybe he wouldn’t be so great at that.Kimbrel would be great as the relief specialist, non-inning specific. Just based on matchups and situation and trim and extra inning off the game.
Agree. 1B is absolutely the priority.If they're going to make one key acquisition before the deadline — and Bloom doesn't seem the type to part with multiple prospects — I'd rather they get a bat to extend the lineup than to double-down in an area that's been a strength thus far.
Is that true, though? Prior to last year's shortened season, he had four straight years of 60-70 IP, and only about 10 more innings over the course of this year will likely be high leverage vs medium leverage, it's not like he was just a mop-up/white flag guy in the past, he has generally been a pretty important bullpen piece even if not the closer. He has terrible August numbers for his career, not just this year, but better Sep/Oct numbers, so hopefully this is just part of some pattern of focus or dead arm that will continue to hold true, and vanish when the calendar rolls over. I'm just not sure that his workload this year versus previous years is the culprit.Wasn't watching -- was he really booed off the mound last night?
If so, that bums me out. Barnes has always been a good soldier. I'm disappointed he's pitching so poorly, but I think it's pretty clearly the consequence of his being worked way beyond all prior experience this season.
I'm no softy -- I never gave into the Buckner forgiveness (probably shame on me) or the Clemens reclamation (definitely shame on him). And I wouldn't want to hold myself accountable for what I might say to Tony Graffanino or Ian Kinsler for their post-season errors. But it's easier for me to see that Barnes is just paying the price for so many high-leverage innings where he did deliver.
Funny, nobody ever forgave Mike Torrez. On reflection... is that fair?
My guess is Barnes was using some gunk. Marked dropoff after the rule changes; he's seen spin generally increase by month in years previous.Per baseballsavant, Barnes' average spin rate on his four seamer is down this month. (His velocity is steady.)
View attachment 43737
I still think that some missed locations middle-middle is more the issue — not to mention some shoddy IF defense — than his spin rate going from good to merely average, but I'm just putting that out there.
He needs to get the fastball above hitters' bat paths. If he doesn't, he's just throwing good fastballs down the middle. But maybe the declining spin (for whatever reason — sweaty hands in the August humidity?) is contributing to his inability to do that.
That's tough to say; my initial guess is that hitters hadn't figured out how to exploit the diminished spin yet. I don't think spin can account for all of Barnes's woes, but I imagine it has exacerbated them. Perhaps it is as simple as the hitters have figured out Diminished Spin Barnes, and DSB hasn't figured out how to adjust.I think you're probably right about the gunk — Barnes lost ~150 RPM, which is in line with the general results of the rosin and sunscreen crowd — but it doesn't really line up with our chronology.
For that to be a satisfying explanation for his struggles, we need to somehow account for the ~15 IP of 1.15 ERA baseball he pitched, with a 17/4 K/BB ratio, between the late June substance enforcement change and his recent skid. He arguably improved for several weeks after June 21st.
Interestingly, Barnes's 15-Game xFIP- shows the effect of the rule change pretty dramatically; game 30 is 6/22, one day after the change:That's tough to say; my initial guess is that hitters hadn't figured out how to exploit the diminished spin yet. I don't think spin can account for all of Barnes's woes, but I imagine it has exacerbated them. Perhaps it is as simple as the hitters have figured out Diminished Spin Barnes, and DSB hasn't figured out how to adjust.
Of course, we can't ignore the deal he signed and the scrutiny of the ninth inning spotlight. A confluence of DSB, psyche, and bad luck seems a plausible explanation.
Ooh! Good find. That is interesting. So do we think he was just lucky results-wise for 10 appearances or so and then everything went off the rails?Interestingly, Barnes's 15-Game xFIP- shows the effect of the rule change pretty dramatically; game 30 is 6/22, one day after the change:View attachment 43747
My reading of the xFIP- is that it picks up on the K/BB changes; the two are more or less inversely proportional. I throw in FIP- to show the difference from xFIP-.Ooh! Good find. That is interesting. So do we think he was just lucky results-wise for 10 appearances or so and then everything went off the rails?
He's only been truly crappy (in terms of outcomes) this month. Bad games only:Ooh! Good find. That is interesting. So do we think he was just lucky results-wise for 10 appearances or so and then everything went off the rails?
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/10/16/sports/red-sox-reliever-matt-barnes-anything-that-could-go-wrong-did-go-wrong-last-six-weeks/The first four to five months, I mean, I knew I could go out there and put 98 wherever I wanted, whenever I wanted with a breaking ball,” said Barnes. “And then I go through a stretch where I’m throwing a ton of games in a really short span, kind of lose it, try to find a way to create more — which is never the right answer, but it just, it’s hard not to do that.
“So then we start trying to figure out, ‘OK, how do I get back?’ As soon as we’re getting close, I get COVID,” said Barnes, who suffered a breakthrough positive infection at the end of August. “I have COVID for three weeks and wasn’t completely corrected [on the mound]. So now when I come back, it doesn’t just come back. I’m still working. And then all of a sudden I cut part of my thumb off.”
Come again?
In late September, Barnes was chopping a pepper while making an omelet when he sliced off the tip of his left thumb. He’s wearing a bandage on the digit, with a hard plastic casing inside his glove so he can catch the ball without pain.
“The last six weeks, I feel like everything just has been crazy,” said Barnes. “The first four months, five months, everything was perfect. The last six weeks anything that could have gone wrong has gone wrong. It’s just been a crazy year. It really has.”
Well all of that might explain things just a tad.This may be why Barnes has struggled as of late
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/10/16/sports/red-sox-reliever-matt-barnes-anything-that-could-go-wrong-did-go-wrong-last-six-weeks/
Matt Barnes recently sliced off the tip of his left thumb while chopping a pepper.