Jeremy Affeldt has already signed a two-year deal, with some people saying he could have gotten more than the two years, $8 million that the Giants gave him.
Trever Miller supposedly has a two-year deal ready with the Cardinals, and according to reports out of Milwaukee, Brian Shouse wants two years, too.
Arthur Rhodes' agent is telling people that nine teams are interested in Rhodes, even though he just turned 39.
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| Jeremy Affeldt already has himself a deal -- with the Giants. (Getty Images) |
The free-agent market may be moving slowly for most, but not for left-handed middle relievers.
Given the recent history of middle relief pitchers signed to multiyear contracts, you really have to wonder why.
"If you went on a ratio of value to dollars spent, the middle relievers are probably the worst investment there is," one veteran baseball man said this week. "What Baltimore did a couple of years ago just set the bar higher for mediocrity."
In the winter of 2006-07, the Orioles signed Danys Baez, Chad Bradford and Jamie Walker to three-year contracts, for a combined $41.5 million. The Orioles lost 92 games the year before signing those three, and they've lost 93 games each of the last two seasons with them. This past season, their bullpen ranked 26th out of the 30 teams in ERA.
That same winter, the Mets signed Scott Schoeneweis for $10.8 million over three years. One year in, they were already trying to trade him.
"They've offered him to us a couple of times, and we didn't want him," one National League official said. "They'd give him away."
Also that winter, the Angels signed Justin Speier to a market-setting four-year, $18 million contract. The Angels had a good bullpen last year, but not because of Speier, who had a 5.03 ERA. Speier was so little a factor that the Angels lost 15 of the final 22 games he appeared in, pretty tough on a team that went 100-62.
One problem with judging relievers is that they seem to have such up-and-down careers, a trend that some baseball men attribute to the way they're used. Managers tend to fall in love with relievers who get the job done over the short-term, and thus those relievers often get overused.
Many of those overused relievers pitch poorly (or get hurt) the following year. Meanwhile, the relievers who fall out of favor get used less, and thus have fresher arms and possibly a better chance at success the next season.
