Salomon Torres is retiring- Latest: Brewers pick up his option to retain his rights

[patrickgpe]

right now i'd give the job to seth mcclung, but i hope Melvin finds a better option.

[Harold Hutchison]

I think that with Dillard, DiFelice (often overlooked), Villy, Riske, McClung, Shouse, & Stetter, that's a pretty solid start to the 2009 bullpen.

If Sabathia and Sheets stick around, yes, that is a great bullpen. If not, then Dillard, McClung, and/or Villanueva could find themselves competing for spots in the rotation.

[Thurston Fluff]

I should mention (again) that I think the best RP should not be a team's closer, and I think Seth would be a decent fit (or at least worth trying). I'd rather not see him as a SP again, but he's not a terrible option if we have to fill out the rotation.

 

I think McClung would be fine as a closer because closers usually come in to start the inning but setup and middle relief guys don't have that luxury. The walks wouldn't hurt him as much as it would coming in with men on base or as the starter. I'd rather they gave Villenueva another shot at starting if it was between the tow of them. DiFelice is still an unknown to me. He is older and doesn't have great stuff. I don't know if he can repeat what he did last season or if it was just his proverbial career year. He certainly deserves a shot at it and could fit nicely as a long man until we find out if he really is major league caliber. Shouse is old and a free agent. He might find someone willing to give him ore years than we are and move on. The Brewers may also not be willing to pay a loogy that much considering they already have a cheaper one on staff with Stetter. If Mota or Gagne could be had for Torres type of money I don't think it would be all that bad of a signing.

[MJLiverock]

I could see the argument for average, but it surely wasn't above average, although they did pitch better in September besides Torres.

the brewer's bullpen era was 3.89. good for 4th in the 16 team national league.

that's well below average.

I took a stab at looking at a few of the Bullpen numbers for the Brewers

 

OPS against .722 14th in ML vs. Avg. of .729 (Cubs were only playoff team with a higher OPS against)

 

SV% 63% tied for 14th in ML vs. avg. of 64% (FYI worst among playoff teams)

 

Blown Saves 26 tied for 7th most; avg. team 22 BS (most Blown Saves of any playoff team)

 

Losses 24 tied for 17th most or(12th fewest tied with Cubs & Dodgers) average team's bullpen took 25 losses

 

WHIP 1.39 tied for 16th, ML avg. 1.39 (worst WHIP for any playoff team)

 

k/BB 1.80 tied for 22nd; ML avg. 1.99 (worst k/BB ratio for any playoff team)

 

k/9 7.34 tied for 21st; ML avg. 7.53 (worst k/9 ratio for any playoff team) the other 7 playoff teams were all in top 10

 

The Brewers Bullpen appears as average to below average in most stats. However it did stand out to me that they were by far the worst bullpen of any of the playoff teams since they were last in nearly every stat when compared to just the playoff teams. Troubling is the very low k rates, and K/BB ratios - - hard to get that big strikeout when needed. The number of blow saves really stood out as well.

[Invader3K]

I am really shocked by this news. Very disappointing - I really enjoyed watching Salomon pitch.

 

I have to imagine the Brewers were going to pick up his option. (Can you find any other relief pitchers who can go several innings and have closer experience for that price on a one year deal!?!) With that in mind, I am surprised Salomon passed up the money. I wonder if he has concerns about the new coaching staff.

I too am surprised. He's only, what? 36, I believe. You would have believed that after the high of making the playoffs, he would have wanted to stick around at least one more year to try again.

 

For what it's worth, Homer was talking this afternoon on 540 AM that the Doug Melvin had indeed planned to pick up his option. I am disappointed to see him go, but you have to respect a man who chooses time with his family over millions of dollars for one year of work, as crazy as that sounds.

[PeaveyFury]

I think this makes it a virtual lock that the Brewers will bite the bullet and go after a type-A free agent. They need arms and will be loaded with comp picks in all likeliness, so this is the year to do it.

 

Heck, if one of Hoffman or Fuentes isn't offered arby for whatever reason, I can see them making a run at them both.

[owbc]

I really hope they don't go for Hoffman. That would be a near-guaranteed Gagne-like disaster. He'll be 41 years old, his numbers appear to already be in decline, and he'll cost more than he's worth.

[Harold Hutchison]

The better option would be to keep Sabathia and Sheets - that gives the Crew a deep bullpen because guys like Villanueva and Dillard won't have to be tossed into the rotation mix.

[jjfanec]

I really hope they don't go for Hoffman. That would be a near-guaranteed Gagne-like disaster. He'll be 41 years old, his numbers appear to already be in decline, and he'll cost more than he's worth.

I really do not think that is true. His numbers last year were just as good as a lot of his other year including a nice K/9 and WHIP. The only number up was the amount of HR he gave up which could be an issue or a fluke. He a better save percentage than almost any other NL reliever including, Torres, Wood, Gagne, Cordero, Gregg, Gagne and was even with Velverde. His numbers were good do not let his age fool you. He only blew 4 saves in 34 chances. That is less than Torres, Gagne, and Riske

[crossface21]

Bring back Sheets as the new closer!!

[Baldkin]

150 innings > 65 innings.

 

There's no way they'd bring him back to close, especially at 18-20million a year.

[Mr QL]

That's too bad. I liked Torres, saved us from the true horror of Eric Gagne.

 

Makes Brian Shouse a must sign now tho. 8 year contract.

[mothershipconnection]

That sucks, and it sucks for the payroll as well. You aren't gonna find a free agent to sign a 1 year deal for that kind of cash that''ll go 80 IP with an ERA under 4.00.

[Ennder]

That sucks, and it sucks for the payroll as well. You aren't gonna find a free agent to sign a 1 year deal for that kind of cash that''ll go 80 IP with an ERA under 4.00.

 

Except apparently Trevor Hoffman who was looking at only like $4M and is better than Torres.

[mothershipconnection]

I thought Hoffman was insulted by $4MM.

[BrewCrewForever]

Kinda shocking news. Torres had a good year and proved he can still pitch, struggled a bit down the stretch but that should not overshadow his strong year. I wanted him back, not as closer but as that setup guy in the 7th and or 8th. Good luck to him and I hope he and his family enjoy the more time together now. Thanks for 2008 Sal!

[Marc Newfield of Dreams]

McClung for closer?

[patrickgpe]

well he would be my choice if we go inhouse but i'd hope we get an established choiser before we got to seth

[BREWCREW5]

There is no way we go into next season with Seth as the teams closer. That wont happen.

[owbc]

I agree that Hoffman is still a solid pitcher and hasn't seen much decline yet, but it will come soon and he will still be making Gagne-like money when it does happen.

 

I would hate to see the Brewers make McClung the closer. He would probably be good at it, but it would be such a waste of a good arm. Most of the time closers pitch in games when the game is already decided (95% chance of winning or better) and they only end of pitching about 4% of the team's total innings. He's shown that he's capable of going multiple innings effectively and he was decent as a starting pitcher. I'd like to see him in either a middle relief bullpen role or as a starter, depending on how he does in spring training.

 

I'm also not sold that he's going to be effective for a full season. He had a great September, but his 4.30 ERA and 1.4 WHIP aren't exactly excellent. He seemed to kick into an extra gear when it mattered, but I highly doubt he will have a 97 mph fastball in April and May. There's no doubt in my mind that he will improve, but just because he had a good September doesn't mean that he should suddenly be closer. Rickie Weeks had a great September 2007, that didn't help him much in 2008...Corey Hart's bad September means nothing for 2009...etc. etc.

[recte44]

From JSOnline:

 

"Melvin mentioned hard-throwing right-hander Seth McClung as an internal option to try as closer. He said he didn't plan to bid on high-priced free agent closers such as Francisco Rodriguez and Brian Fuentes."

 

Oh, that's good news. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[davego]

Dave Bush?

[Invader3K]

Dave Bush?

Uh...he's going to be our number 2 or 3 starter, the way things are going.

[Diskono]

I could see the argument for average, but it surely wasn't above average, although they did pitch better in September besides Torres.

Every team's fans think their bullpen sucks. Maybe they all do, but someone has to be relatively good, bad, and average in all of that.

[davego]

He maybe, and I understand that Dave has more value there...Just saying that given the opportunity, he might excel in the 'closer'.