Comments on: Jarrod Washburn. Really? REALLY?

By: TT

TT — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 05:01:15 +0000

I think you are putting way too much emphasis on FIP. Its obvious that Washburn was helped by his park and defense in Seattle, but he was still better than other pitchers on the same team. What Washburn would do is fill out the rotation, instead of having to start the season holding auditions with whoever looks like the best shot in spring training.

Whether there are better pitchers available is uncertain. Afterall, Washburn wasn’t available at a price/years the Twins want to pay. We have no idea who else they might have offered contracts to. Signing a quality pitcher to a one year deal is always going to be a hard sell. Washburn may make a pretty good target since he lives near the Twin Cities.

By: David

David — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 20:00:09 +0000

@Bowie: Thanks for the feedback. I personally liked the Pavano pickup last year (Parker from OverTheBaggy had an excellent write-up on the deal which I agree/agreed with 100%). Really, while neither Pavano nor Washburn strike out a ton of batters, they’re really different pitchers. Pavano has a lifetime 2.47 K/BB ratio, and last year it was 3.77. Contrast Washburn’s lifetime 1.94 and last year’s 2.04. Pavano strikes out just a few more, walks just a few less, and induces a greater number of groundballs than flyballs, as opposed to Washburn. In layman’s terms, Pavano’s “make-up” is simply better.

Again, Washburn’s numbers aren’t horrible – a 4.60 FIP isn’t terrible, but it’s not good, and it’s redundant for this club because they have plenty of much cheaper options to give them the same performance.

@Bryz – because that would require an investment, which the Twins aren’t real keen on doing, at least as far as free agents go.

Also, RE: Kouzmanoff. Am I the only one who’s not real high on this guy? I mean, he’s on the right side of 30, but he’s simply a league average hitter. His UZR score was high last year but it looks like a product of a SSS. It’d be better than what we’ve got, but the prospect of Kevin K just doesn’t excite me that much.

By: Bryz

Bryz — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 17:55:21 +0000

@ Bowie: Padres said no to Perkins for Kouzmanoff, and I’m sure the Twins are refusing to throw in anyone else that the Padres want. I’m curious…why does it seem like the Twins keep getting involved in trade rumors that end up with the other team always asking for more?

“There have been indications that the Twins don’t want to rely on inexperienced starters in the event that one of their pitchers goes down this year.”

So why don’t they go for someone that has a better track record than Washburn?

By: Bowie

Bowie — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 16:52:13 +0000

Agree 100%; however, last year at this time if you had said we had just signed Carl Pavano, we would have said “Are you Crazy?” Washburn’s stats are acceptable, except at this point it seems we do need a 3B more than a pitcher. What’s happened to the Kouzmanoff rumors?