4
2013
Marlins On Verge Of Signing Jose Valverde?
An article by Hojo's Mojo
Former Detroit Tigers closer Jose Valverde is on the verge of signing with the Miami Marlins according to Enrique Rojas of ESPNDeportes.com. However, Jon Heyman reports that Valverde is still talking with a number of teams, including the Marlins, and that nothing is imminent.
The Mets were reportedly pursuing Valverde as an option to try and replace Frank Francisco as the team’s closer. The Mets front office has deep concerns about Francisco being able to close for them this season.
Last night, several sources reorted that the Mets were close to signing Brandon Lyon as an option to close, but the Daily News followed with another report that Lyon is still negotiating with other teams.
This Valverde deal could serve as a benchmark for a Brandon Lyon deal if it were to get done first. We’ll see.
Original Post 2/1
Alderson is pursuing Jose Valverde to compete — or more likely unseat — Francisco as closer, a baseball source told ESPNNewYork.com.
The deal with Scott Boras over Valverde would have to be on the Mets’ terms, though. That means it would probably be akin to the contract to which Shaun Marcum agreed — $4 million base, with a similar amount in incentives based on games finished or saves, in Valverde’s case.
Valverde, 34, went 3-4 with a 3.78 ERA and produced 35 saves for the Detroit Tigers last season. He earned $9 million in 2012.
I can’t see Valverde signing for anything less than $7 million guaranteed, but I credit the Mets for trying.
Sandy Alderson expressed some serious concerns about Frank Francisco and the front end of the bullpen last night, which Joe D. wrote about here.
About the Author: Rob Johnson
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NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 24 | 18 | .571 | - |
| Nationals | 23 | 20 | .535 | 1.5 |
| Phillies | 20 | 23 | .465 | 4.5 |
| Mets | 16 | 24 | .400 | 7.0 |
| Marlins | 11 | 32 | .256 | 13.5 |
Last updated: 05/18/2013
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Given Alderson’s recent comments, it’s frustrating that the $ seems to be available, but he just loves doing everything on the cheap.
Valverde has his ups and downs, but when the guy’s on he’s among the best. Given that very, very few closers are consistently great from year-to-year, I’d really like to see this guy replace Fat Frank. On the other hand, maybe Francisco has a better year than last year…guess that wouldn’t be too hard to top
10.0 H/9
4.5 B/9
5.53 ERA…
He could have a below average season and still surpass his numbers lol
Lets pretend there was money this year, what closer options were really viable and worth the money spent?
There was money this year. Sandy said so and stated that he chose to not spend it. Payroll has decreased by 60% over the last two years. The house is in order they are choosing to sit.
excuse me meant to say 40%…
partly depends on how much. And Sandy certainly strikes me as a guy that will always hold some in reserve for moves down the road (ST, or mid season). That, and as a guy that is willing to pocket some if nothing worth spending it on comes along (that is, won’t spend it just because it is there).
and if the money available is $5mill, that barely qualifies as an emergency fund. If he happens to have a legit $20mill or so, well then he certainly should be out trying to get a few more “real” players.
Any signing in ST is going to be a 4A or cheap scrub filler to replace some other scrub filler that failed….
If he does make a deal Midseason he won’t need a lot of money because he will likely have made a trade involving kids where the other team is paying most of the players salary….
coulll be a ST trade, or a mid year one that requires taking back some salary.
remember, I am talking about having say 5% in reserve, so maybe 5mill at this point. So not like you are shopping in the superstar aisle with that anyway.
Rocking the negativity Metsie. You are one agry dude.
Tell me what name you used to post under before you got banned?
As for being angry?
Well if your fan of the team (as opposed to the GM and his philosophy) you should be angry too because once again you have a baseball empty summer to look forward to.
Available FA closers – Soriano, costing big bucks and “perhaps” #11 pick, not an option. Wilson, Madson, Soria all coming off TJ. Madson wanted to pitch in his home state CA, Soria would surely select a team proven playoff caliber team. Wilson is iffy by first hand analysis. Valverde and KRod are probably only two healthy experienced closers left, each coming off a subpar year. But, signing either one is probably the overall best move this offseason given what was available, so if Alderson lands one I will give him credit. It is imperative that they lengthen the pen from the back end in order to support the young starters, and to sprinkle in the young bullpen arms when they are ready starting with low leverage situations. I have no problem with Mejia and Familia beginning the yerar as either a starter or closer at AAA. They are still real young and need continued development on command and secondary pitches.
Brandon League.
Were you going to ” waste, ravage, sack, destroy” (the verb definition of your name) LA in order to get him to leave the Dodgers?
You didn’t answer the question.
“Lets pretend there was money this year”
LOL While we are at it lets pretend we have a GM that knows what he is doing and likes to spend!
Joakim Soria, without question. Everyone thought he was gonna sign with the Yankees and he ends up with the Rangers under a good deal.
agreed.
IMO I believe that if there is any position that you need to tread lightly and perhaps “be cheap” it would certainly be for a closer. We’ve all seen firsthand how big money and long contracts can go bad when a closer is involved. I would say more of those go bad than any other position.
well, other than a few “freaks of nature”, closer does seem to be a position with a relatively short shelf life overall.
and usually by the time a guy hits FA, they have a lot of mileage on them. And are not particularly young
so combine the 2, and your odds of a FA closer signing not working out all that great are pretty good.
Yup, by the time they hit FA they do have a lotta miles + they probably worked that arm the hardest on that contract year to get the best results so threres added wear there too.
Theres a few closers that were lights out then disappeared f-a-s-t.
I wish I had a better memory to make a longer list, but heres a few:
Broxton
Street
B. Wilson
Gagne
Putz
Nathan – although he lasted a while longer
Nen
John Rocker. Burst onto the scene as a closer at 24, pretty well washed out at 27.
Yeah. yeah, I almost forgot about that crazy redneck racist !
I would be very happy if this were to get done. I have no desire to see FF back in the closer role. He has failed in that role in the past before he became a Met and I was never happy that we signed him. Valverde is not an elite closer, but he’s a good and effective closer and that’s fine for us right now as a rebuilding team. He would be a good stopgap until one of the kids are ready to take the reins.
I dislike Valverde and krod, but they need one of them. They will make the bullpen better plain and simple. The reason I dislike them is more for their antics on the mound. Closers that load the bases and give up two runs, but still get the save and act like they won the world series is like someone scratching up a blackboard to me. It is idiotic, Mariano saved more and bigger games than these two characters, and never does that kind of stuff.
Also Valverdes k/9 went has gone down every year in his career, but took a significant dip last year, if he does not pitch well and does those antics I might find myself shutting off games in the ninth inning. Hopefully if he is signed he produces like he has most of his career and does not use ridiculous antics on the mound after saving a game that he almost blew.
“Closers that load the bases and give up two runs, but still get the save and act like they won the world series is like someone scratching up a blackboard to me.”
That is most of them, it seems. What is really stupid is the importance that spot is deemed when in fact, the outcome is all but decided by the time they arrive.
Why can’t we groom one of our own like Edgin or Familia to close. Edgin closed in minors. Other teams do it with their minor leaguers.
I say go the other direction and don’t designate anyone as closer. Let TC send out his best available pitcher for the situation instead of saving his supposedly best guy for a situation in which the game is all but decided.
Not sure I see (or want) Terry reinventing the wheel (how closers are used) at this point.
But, I would love to see them not designate a closer to start, and let a few guys have a shot, and if someone steps up to grab the job, run with him. Consider it an extended try-out period.
I like your thought on this. First month have Edgin and Famila switch off right vs lefty and see who takes it, The last we had rookie closer was McDowell sharing with Orosco in 86.
If we are going to grow our own lets use our own. (new Slogan?).
“Not sure I see (or want) Terry reinventing the wheel (how closers are used) at this point.”
Except he wouldn’t be reinventing thew wheel. Closers have only been a thing for 20 years or so. Before that, you had “fire fighters”. Top notch closers you could bring in whenever you needed them. Guys like Gossage who didn’t care if it was the 9th or 7th inning.
The reality is, teams are losing leads (and subsequently games) in the 9th inning at greater rates since the closer role became the standard.
“But, I would love to see them not designate a closer to start, and let a few guys have a shot, and if someone steps up to grab the job, run with him. Consider it an extended try-out period.”
I do like that, but the only reservation I have is that relievers work in such small sample sizes. A guy can have one bad day (it may not even be his fault) and get discarded.
GAH! That should read “top notch relievers”
It has been tried and doesn’t work….
Because of how quick they need to get ready to pitch it is a huge help to know when to start getting yourself into game mode for a possible appearance….
It hasn’t been tried in earnest for 15+ years. the Red Sox tried it a few years ago, but outside of Papplebon that year, their pen sucked. Lousy players give a lousy result no matter the system.
Plus, the Sox didn’t even commit to it.
“Because of how quick they need to get ready to pitch it is a huge help to know when to start getting yourself into game mode for a possible appearance”
Game mode? Get up and pitch. They do so now on short notice. They did so before specialization was so rampant. Get your best pitcher on the mound when it counts the most.
And by “Papelbon” I meant “Foulke” whici is still wrong. Byung-Hyun Kim was their closer in 2003 when they started the season doing closer by committee.
Which just proves my point that their pen sucked.
I wasn’t really thinking a true closer by committee, though using a couple of guys mix/match at first would work the same way I guess. But the goal (certainly to Terry) would be find a guy to give an extended shot to. maybe you can do this in ST, but I think it will require some real game action.
Metsie, in terms of getting ready, if the guys are all short relievers, they will be used to getting up and getting ready quickly. heck, in the current closer model (9th inning, and nothing but!) the closer is the only guy that actually has the luxury of a defined time to warm up (before the 9th), and lots of time to do it.
I would love to see the bullpen handled that way but you know Collins will go with defined roles until the grave comes calling. He’s too much by the book.
I agree, I say resign Rauch and let all those pitchers fight it out in ST for their respective positions.
Isnt Valverde the one who takes like 2 minutes to make each pitch? If I recall, he makes Steve Tracshel look fast.
Although these are the types of signings that make sense for us because if were not competing they become chips I don’t like it. He is just a very annoying player to watch & I cant stand his celebration.I remember reading Alderson was going to watch wilson throw again in 3 weeks which would be next week. Leaking this information is probably just posturing on his end. I cant imagine him signing Valoverde. Personaly I wanted Marcum, Lindstrom & Wilson it’s still possible to end up with 2 out of those 3. I’m starting to feel like the play is wilson & SA is trying to do a 1 or 2 mil guaranteed plus incentives. Maybe it’s just wishful thinking it seems like the Mets put all this crap out there to keep the fans from from going nuts by debating cause no moves are happening. Every couple of weeks it’s leaked who there after but truely they are after squantis maximus. They will snag wilson on the cheap if possible & they should cause he has tremendous upside n can be a nice chip. After that I cant see them giving more than 1 or 2 mil to anyone.
Dude, if you don’t like Valverde’s antics, I don’t get how you can be down for the Beard.
Valverde’s K/9 per season:
12.7
11.5
10.2
12.6
10.9
10.4
9.3
9.0
8.6
6.3
Notice a trend? I’d rather they go out on a risk with Wilson.
Yikes. Nothing some PEDs can’t fix.
Wait for him to get tested (ST?), then immediately pump him full. By the time he gets tested again, and they can go through the paperwork to suspend him (and he appeals), you might be done with the season anyway. So a win win!
Sign the beard ! This guy is one of the very best. He can be had cheap. Only prob is waiting for him to get his arm strength back. No way they should give valverde 7mm. Krod? pigs will fly before you see him in a met uni again.
I’m pretty sure they won’t be signing Valverde if his price tag is 7 MIL.
I would stay away from Valverde- he clearly is in decline and probably has seen his better days. Maybe Brandon Lyon makes more sense even though he obviously has less of a closer resume, although it’s been rumored Lyon is nearing a deal with the SF Giants.
No. I’m tired of watching overpaid veteran pitchers fall apart. Play the AAAA types that are currently under contract.
Awesome. A pitcher who’s on an obvious decline. His K/9 from 2008-2012 look like this 10.4, 9.3, 9.0, 8.6, and 6.3. He’s coming off his highest WHIP since 2006 and highest ERA since 2007. Plus he turns 35 in March. He’s far better than any other option the Mets have, but this guy is going to want more money than Alderson is willing to spend and he is probably right in not spending much on this guy…not to mention, a closer doesn’t matter if your team is losing in the 9th inning anyway. Forget about any big name players, the Mets don’t need them nor will they want to come here.
benitez revisited
benetiz had the best regular seasons of a met closer. ever. if they could get someone to do what he did for them overall through a full season it would be a miracle.
no doubt you are right. but admit it—you hated his gutless ass.
I don’t have any problem with them going after Valverde (would much prefer Wilson Myself)
But at this point I don’t buy ANY names being thrown out there since every name that is mentioned will eventually get an update here that says the Price too High….
I’m hoping they’re trying to put pressure on Wilson by “going after” Valverde.
I was hoping the same thing there Hank….
I much prefer Wilson….We need some personality on this team….
And he is the most likely to become an elite closer again…
That said I would be happy to see them sign BOTH!
They won’t but then again I stopped waiting for them to make me happy the day they let Reyes go without an offer! LOL
I still like Rauch over FF, and Rauchs price must be way down there at this point.
rauch did have a very solid year except for when his knee was acting up. Which would have to be a worry for this year (the knee).
Still, finishing the year with a WHIP below 1 is impressive.
BTW: Why would the MARLINS need a closer???
How many close opportunities would he even get w/them??
Do they plan on having many leads into the 9th ???
Im not abdicating for Valverde to be signed by the Mets or not, I would actually rather see Wilson & Rauch, but we must also take into account that although Valverdes numbers may have been slipping, you can NEVER discount the league switch when talking about pitchers coming to the softer line-up NL.
Whether its actual or not, the mind pysche that accompanies a pitcher coming from the AL is that he will be able to dominate hitters in te NL more effectively, and that goes a long way into it becoming reality.