Who Is Going to Close Games?
December 10th, 2008 Posted in Brian Fuentes, Kerry WoodIt appears that my off-season dream for the Tigers has died. Kerry Wood, who would have been absolutely great at the end of the game for the Tigers, is on the verge of signing with the Cleveland Indians.
It has been reported that the Indians are offering Wood a two year deal to be their closer over the next couple of seasons. The Indians, like the Tigers have had a shaky closer situation the past two seasons. The Tigers “relied” on the Todd Jones while the Indians gave the ball to Joe Borowski to slam the door.
I don’t think Wood signing elsewhere would have upset me so much, but signing with a division rival just makes this one a little tougher to swallow. Instead of having Wood in the Tigers bullpen, they will now apparently have to face him at least ten times per season. Yikes.
I should stress that this deal is not a sure thing just yet. ESPNs, Peter Gammons says that the Indians are still talking to other alternatives. Rumors tend to run wild this time of year. However, I’m betting that this deal eventually gets done and that’s bad news for the Tigers.
John Perrotto of Baseball Prospectus reported yesterday that the Indians have already signed off on Wood’s less-that-stellar medical report and should announce the signing at some point today. Crap.
I am not quite sure where this leaves the Tigers and their closer situation. The top free agent closer available is Brian Fuentes of the Colorado Rockies. The Tigers had not been linked to Fuentes all year up until yesterday. Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports has noted that the Tigers are now interested in Fuentes. If these talks get more serious I’ll give up some information on Mr. Fuentes, for now this just appears to be at the rumor stage.
Over at Bless You Boys, Ian is left with the same root question: What do the Tigers do now? Billfer tackles the same question at the Detroit Tigers Weblog.
6 Responses to “Who Is Going to Close Games?”
By Sean on Dec 10, 2008
Yikes.
I too was hoping for Wood - wait, that came out wrong.
-s
By Smoking Loon on Dec 10, 2008
What about Huston Street? What would it take? Would Zumaya and Clevlen be enough?
By Blake VandeBunte on Dec 10, 2008
I don’t think the Tigers are in a great spot to deal Zumaya. He is still has the potential to be a great pitcher for years to come. If the TIgers were to trade him now it would be at his lowest point in value. In my opinion, there is no point on selling low on such a talented young (just turned 24) pitcher.
By Smoking Loon on Dec 10, 2008
Plenty of teams agree with your second sentence, Blake. That’s why the next sentence is contradictory, I think. Tigers fans overrate Zumaya while simultaneously underrating him from another team’s imagined perspective. We’ve been basing our hopes on 2006 and our reservations on 2008 - don’t we suppose that other teams can see the whole picture as well? Huston Street also has the potential to be a great pitcher for years to come (with more of a track record, though certainly not free of injury concerns). Street in return wouldn’t be selling low on Zumaya - to the contrary. Another season like 2008 and Zumaya’s perceived value REALLY takes a nosedive.
The odd situation of a guy like Street being expendable (the Rockies don’t need him any more than the Tigers need Zumaya) is intriguing to me. But I wouldn’t bet on this being a likely move. The Tigers appear to have unshakable faith in and unlimited patience with Zumaya.
By Blake VandeBunte on Dec 10, 2008
I agree with you, I think teams do see both sides of that coin, but that they are more likely to look at it negatively. Street suffered through a rough season with the A’s last year, but he was not hurt. Given the nature of Zumaya’s injury history, I just can’t imagine many teams would give up much to get him.
I mean, if you had to say, what percent chance would you say Zumaya has of having a successful big league career? A career where he doesn’t suffer more injuries than the average player while still cranking out that 98mph heater. If I had to bet on it right now, I’d put those chances at about 20%. I don’t see how teams would be willing to gamble on that. Of course, I could be totally wrong.
By Smoking Loon on Dec 10, 2008
Yes, I could be guilty of a kind of opposite error here - overestimating Zumaya from an imagined perspective. I was going to ask why are the TIGERS so willing to “gamble on that,” but of course, they already have him. I can’t seriously claim that the Tigers lose anything significant by holding out hope. I must be suffering from Trade Rodney Fatigue.