Twins sign righty Clay Condrey, release Bobby Keppel
Matt
righty. Philadelphia did not offer him a contract.
Looks like some decent bullpen depth.
Matt
brianj
Poor Bob Keppel. He gets his first major league win in what was
arguably the most important 2009 game for the Twins, and then he gets
released. I guess he is off to Japan.
brianj
John Gregory
Just going by the stats on baseball-research.com, they seem like two
pretty similar pitchers. Except for 2009, Condrey's WHIP has been
above 1.5, and his strikeout rate is not high. Somehow he's managed
to keep his ERA in the low 3.00's in 3 of the past 4 years, but
the picture I draw of him from this is he's constantly pitching
in trouble, and would not be the guy to bring in with men on second
and third with one out. :) If they are paying Condrey more than
thay would have paid Keppel, and he reverts to pre-2009, I don't
see the point - just based on age, Keppel might even have a little
more upside whereas at 34 Condrey has to be "what you see is what
you get".
Filling the 11th or 12th spot of the pitching staff doesn't excite
me one way or the other. Someone will pitch the garbage innings,
regardless. Going by the game logs, the Phils used Condrey for
the 8th or 9th only when the game was not close, otherwise he
would show up in the 5th/6th/7th, or else in extra innings when
apparently other options had been used up.
--
John Gregory ashbury at skypoint.com http://www.skypoint.com/ tilde ashbury
Thought for the moment:
When in doubt, don't bother.
brianj
> Thought for the moment:
> When in doubt, don't bother.
You are surely right about not getting too excited about what may be a
sort of mop-up position. On the other hand, Bob Keppel was on the
mound at the end of game 163 in October, and I would not have bet much
money on his ability to hold the Tigers down for 1.1 innings.
brianj
John Gregory
There's not much question that if your 12th best pitcher is better
than the other team's 12th best pitcher, your chance of winning an
extra-innings game is improved. When your season comes down to
essentially a tossup, the right roster decision at even a microscopic
level might be what makes the difference.
I'd be more impressed if we could upgrade our 12th best pitcher by
acquiring a new #3 or #4 or even #8, and moving everyone else down
one slot. :) And then maybe a season like 2009 doesn't come down
to game 163 at all.
I'm still curious what the braintrust thinks Condrey brings that
Keppel did not. Do they view 2009 as a breakthrough year for Condrey?
Do they equate NL and AL ERA and think Condrey is consistently better
than Keppel's 2009? Do they not believe 1.5 men on base per inning is
a concern?
--
John Gregory ashbury at skypoint.com http://www.skypoint.com/ tilde
ashbury
Thought for the moment:
How seriously can you take football? I mean, it has do overs.