Don’t count on Lidge
Mar 19th, 2007 by Rob Bradford
This from Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com.
“I was asked about Lidge the other day by a Boston scout,” Astros general manager Tim Purpura told FOXSports.com on Sunday. “I didn’t say, ‘No.’ I said, ‘Hell no.’”
Thoughts …
15 reader comments to “Don’t count on Lidge”
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1Anonymous said:
So we’ll take Qualls or Wheeler. I know the Sox love their minor leaguers and guys about to break through (hopefully) such as DelCarmen and Hansen. But if they really think one of these guys on another team could be THE closer - Wheeler, Qualls, Tankersley, Broxton, ect - then give up Hansen or Delcarmen (or both), or one of them plus a solid starter type (Gabbard, Snyder, Hansack Bowden). I have less of a problem trading pirtching 2 for 1 if you are giving prospects/fringe guys up for someone who can get the job done right now.
I still say just give Bryce Cox the ball and let em throw. Can’t be any worse than what they have (and if he is, then you send him to Portland and let him work it out).
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2Anonymous said:
Rob,
What about Hansack? The guy seems to have ice water in his veins and solid stuff with good location. Not the typical withering fast ball of most closers, but he hits the mitt wherever the catcher puts it. And his slider is filthy. Speaking of great location, any word on why Breslow and his 0.00 spring ERA was sent down? He seems like another guy who, every time I see him, has nothing flashy or smoking, but just gets guys out without giving up walks.
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3Anonymous said:
Since relief pitching has been such a glaring weakness in Theo’s tenure, why haven’t they just gone after someone who does know it well - say the chief scout of the Twins, Angels, or As? Not like the Boston front office couldn’t give this person a better offer and title than what he has with any of those teams. True, the Sox seem to have a raft of great pitching prospects in the minors, but if they aren’t going to trade some of those guys for proven talent, they should swallow some pride and get some proven talent at evaluating what’s out there (and I don’t mean Allard Baird -nice of a guy as he is, he came from the Royals, which didn’t exactly impress with their pitching depth (Runlevys Hernadez anyone?)).
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4Miles said:
What was Purpura supposed to say? “I was like, ‘Dude, we’re DYIN’ to get rid of that guy. Make us an offer!’”
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5Anonymous said:
I’m glad the Astros want to keep Lidge. The Red Sox are better off developing their own prospects than giving them up to take a chance on a guy that may never pitch effectively again. It makes no sense to make a deal right now anyway. The Sox should keep what they have and see how the beginning of the season goes. If the guys we have suck, you can always trade for someone else later.
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6Anonymous said:
Rob,
Given Theo’s history with reclamation projects, how can the Sox be looking to go this route yet again? Benitez? Lidge? Cordero? Making a move like this at this point in the season reeks of panic. If I remember correctly, the last panic move this F.O. made left us saying, “gee, why can’t we get guys like, er… Cla Meredith?”With cheap(ish), in-house guys like Pineiro, Snyder and Hansack, and their promising stats (.525 OPS against in Inn. 1 for Snyder in 06, .213 avg. against as a reliever for Pineiro) you have to be optimistic. Thoughts?
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7Piney said:
There’s been a lot of guys seemingly doing a pretty good job this spring. Kyle Snyder seems to have taken over the final spot which seemed from the start to be Manny Delcarmen’s to lose. Devern Hansack has looked really good. Gabbard has quietly had a great Spring Training, as has Bryan Corey. But then again, let us remember how Keith Foulke really did horrible during Spring Training 2004 and come the regular season it just seemed to all click. So who knows really.
Relievers are a crapshoot to begin with. You get lucky when you find a guy like Mariano Rivera, Joe Nathan, and Trevor Hoffman among others who just year after year go in and do their jobs and do it well. It’s hard to pinpoint a good closer because while someone may have the mentality, they may have the stuff and while someone may have the stuff, they don’t have the mentality. It’s just way too unpredictable year to year.
Actually I think the Red Sox’ bullpen can be a really good one. Note hte word CAN. Doesn’t mean they will but they got the right pieces in there for the most part. A living breathing closer would be great though and I think once they can get that(whether it be in house or not), then they are living on Easy Street with that pen.
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8Mike said:
The Red Sox are doing what they should be doing. Scouring the reliever market for any possible option.
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9Anonymous said:
Tavarez has a 3.5 ERA, and that’s with .227 BABIP, and he’s averaging 3.6 K/9 and 5 BB/9 which is beyond atrocious. Obviously a small sample size, but not confidence-inspiring.
His HR rate is .7, however.
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10griffin said:
To quote Dorothy Gale: “If I ever go looking for my heart’s desire again, I won’t look any further than my own back yard.”
The Red Sox closer resides in the Red Sox system. I don’t want Theo trading half the farm system for some mediocre reliever just because he carries the “closer” label.
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11yankees76 said:
That doesn’t sound like bluster to me. The Sox could always make a blow-them-away offer, but it doesn’t seem like Lidge is there for the taking.
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12Anonymous said:
The way Lidge has thrown since the 2005 postseason, acquiring him would be a huge mistake.
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13Dusty Pagoda said:
This post has been removed by the author.
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14Dusty Pagoda said:
Why would we want a flame-throwing, 6′5″ RHP whose formerly wicked slider is no longer an effective out-pitch, when we already have Craig Hansen?
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15Steve said:
Rob -
I hear Schilling on EEI today and he seemed, maybe perturbed, that the Red Sox had no closer. He mentioned how much the payroll is and they still didn’t have a closer. When asked if he knew who would take the ball from him in the 9th (really, how often does Schilling go 8 anyway), he said no, I have no idea.
How does not having a closer play on the psyche of good starting pitching - can they block it out?
