News item: Reds sign Wilson to two-year deal
Not that it answers all of the pitching questions, but the Reds signed Paul Wilson to a two year, possibly $8.2 million contract. Last year's numbers: 11-6, 4.36 ERA and a club-high 16 quality starts and 183 2/3 innings pitched.
CiN's take: Quiet applause, but since you can never have too much pitching, we turn our eyes to the bullpen. We also like a suggestion in the mailbag: How about Matt Clement?
CiN's take: Quiet applause, but since you can never have too much pitching, we turn our eyes to the bullpen. We also like a suggestion in the mailbag: How about Matt Clement?
1 Comments:
The Wilson deal doesn't thrill me. He might have seemed okay last year, but that was in comparison to the rest of the Reds' starting pitchers rather than the league in general. As it happens, Wilson's ERA last year was 8% worse than league average. Interestingly, Wilson's ERA has ben exactly 8% worse than the league for four straight years now - he's consistant, but consistantly sub-par. He's a fairly replacable pitcher, and his health is always in doubt.
Clement would be a good addition, but who is going to pay him? The Reds apparently aren't opening the vault for more than about $55M next year, and a large chunk of that is going towards Dunn and Kearns in arbitration as well as contract bumps for several other players. Clement would run the Reds about double what Wilson will make, meaning even less money would be available to address the fascinatingly awful bullpen.
If I were in O'Brien's place, I'd have tried to shake a few more coins out of the piggy bank and gone after Russ Ortiz for about $4M/year. He's actually a slightly better than league average pitcher and very durable, with the added benefit of not being too expensive. Plus, he gives up a ton of homers - the Reds love that in a pitcher, right?! ;D Alternatively, I'd try to trick the Cubs into trading Carlos Zambrano for Austin Kearns...
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