Soup to Giants on NRI per Haudricourtâ?¦ Latest: Signed by KC to MiLB deal

[RockCoCougars]

I don't know what to say. I don't see how he would have any chance making the team unless it was as a Dave Burba type mop up man. I would think that he would stay back home or at the restaurant and count his money rather than risk embarrassing himself again.

[Invader3K]

They're bolstering that pitching that got them a World Series Championship.

[RightFieldCoder]

Maybe this makes Lincecum available? I'm willing to give up Wolf if the Giants eat some salary.

[crewcrazy]

Hey now, don't mock the Giants' front office. They did "prove Moneyball was a bunch of crap," after all. They know what they're doing.

 

At least he'd only be due $1 million if he made the roster, and if he's not on the roster out of spring training, he can (and probably would) opt out. Not bad for a replacement level pitcher, but you'd think they'd have someone with more upside available to step in.

[monty57]

So are they going to pull a Ken Macha and start him on opening day to keep the pressure off the young kids they have in Lincecum and Cain?

[JohnBriggs12]

My guess he was brought in because their hitters were complaining about having to hit off that staff during live batting practice in Arizona.

 

Now they will get needed confidence boost if not any actual game speed timing.

[trwi7]

I hope they have good pillows in San Francisco.

[BCZF]

Soup to nuts

[RyDogg66]

Here is the deal with Suppan. He was a complete victim of his own contract - and therefore his own doing. But without the contract, on an NRI, with no pressure and zero expectations, if he comes in, is the long man out of the bullpen and starts a few games in a pinch and goes 5 innings with 3-4 runs and keeps his team in it....given his great personality, he could be loved. He was set up for disaster here from the get go. He was bad, very bad, but without the contract he would not have been given the opportunities to be so bad and therefore would not be as disliked here as he is.

 

He is a great guy and I wish him lots of luck.

[chadomac]

Maybe this is the most obvious statement of the year, but boy is it embarassing that we paid this guy $12 million last year and he can't even find a major league deal the next season. Ugh.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Headline on JS was "Suppan is Giants insurance."

 

Loved this reader comment: "Like signing a tornado for home insurance."

[logan82]

Suppan could have been an asset to the Brewers last season. He was instead put into the rotation as one of our best 5 starters.

[Invader3K]

Suppan could have been an asset to the Brewers last season. He was instead put into the rotation as one of our best 5 starters.

Agreed. If he had worked out of the bullpen as was warranted by spring training results, the damage would have been minimized if he had been used as a mop up type guy.

[djoctagone]

the giants released jeff suppan.

[brettac1]

Here's hoping he just takes Mark A's money and goes away.

[JohnBriggs12]

Here is the deal with Suppan. He was a complete victim of his own contract - and therefore his own doing. But without the contract, on an NRI, with no pressure and zero expectations, if he comes in, is the long man out of the bullpen and starts a few games in a pinch and goes 5 innings with 3-4 runs and keeps his team in it....given his great personality, he could be loved. He was set up for disaster here from the get go. He was bad, very bad, but without the contract he would not have been given the opportunities to be so bad and therefore would not be as disliked here as he is.

 

He is a great guy and I wish him lots of luck.

Great guy? Perhaps. But the perception in Milwaukee is that he hung on to collect a paycheck. Spending a spring training in Arizona as a NRI doesn't prove he stayed in for "the love of the game" in my book.

 

Had he played in the era of year to year contracts, his career would likely have ended after the 2008 season.

[Invader3K]

The Royals have signed Suppan to a minor league deal. How fitting.

[endaround]

Is Suppan really close to being fully vested in the pension or something? Just seems that once you have the amount of money he has playing AAA ball for under six figures seems strange.

[Oxy]

Is Suppan really close to being fully vested in the pension or something? Just seems that once you have the amount of money he has playing AAA ball for under six figures seems strange.

Depends on what else he's got going on at home. I know he's got that restaurant, but he probably isn't involved much in the day-to-day operations. My guess is that he loves baseball and enjoys mentoring young men in the game, with a possible coaching career in the near future. He has a history with Yost-ie; perhaps they are good friends who like hanging out. There are dozens of motivations in life besides money.

[RockCoCougars]

This makes absolutely no sense on either end. First of all, Yost saw Suppan stink up the joint firsthand, and that was three years ago. You'd think that he'd talk the suits out of this (though an updated 2011 'Soup pitched great' soundbite would be awesome). Second, did Suppan lose his money in bad investments or something? I know that he owned a restaurant, and those can be a money pit- I wonder if he made some bad investments. Why else would someone of his age and current ability who has banked so much cash want to go back to AAA. He should be fully vested in the pension plan already.

[endaround]

Yeah but you would think he could get a coaching gig right now.

[Invader3K]

You can basically never have too many pitchers, even if they aren't good. This probably isn't costing KC much, and if one of their guys get hurt, they can call up Suppan if they don't have other options ready. And if he just flat out sucks completely they can just release him. Not much downside.

[RockCoCougars]

Soup has a 6.3 ERA with the Omaha 'Storm Chasers' (blatant marketing name even for the minor leagues- what's next, the 'Fresno Trekkies'?'). I don't understand his motivation to continue playing.

 

http://www.onionsportsnet...idents-with-offer,19959/

[trwi7]

I agree with that. He's 36 years old, he obviously doesn't have major league caliber stuff anymore and from the looks of it not even minor league caliber stuff. I would probably get tired of the bus rides and everything. He made his money, time to retire.

[Warning Track Power]

I actually admire the guy. Playing baseball is obviously something he enjoys doing and why not play as long as possible if you enjoy it? I doubt he has any unrealistic expectations about being in the Majors anymore and like you guys said, he's made his money. He's probably doing it because he just enjoys playing the game. Good for him. I'd do the same.