Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
December 20, 2007
Stottlemyre's Man

Mel Stottlemyre was the force behind the Mariners signing Carlos Silva to a four-year, $44 million deal:

"Going into this, I made a list of all the free-agent starters who were available," new Mariners pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre said Wednesday night after a reporter told him the deal was done. "And to be honest with you, he was at the top of my list because of his background and the type of pitcher that he is."

Mel loves pitchers who allow the ball to be put in play, low walk, low strikeout guys just like him.

Silva also doesn't walk many batters, though his strikeout rate of 3.97 batters per nine innings is very low for a starter being paid this much money. The bottom line is, much of Silva's success could depend on how well the fielders behind him get to balls put in play.

"I think Safeco is a pretty good field for him," Stottlemyre said. "He's a very good ground-ball pitcher."

Stottlemyre figures Seattle's infielders are up to the task, even with second baseman Jose Lopez still a huge question mark heading into 2008. Stottlemyre also said the fact that fly balls don't carry all that well at Safeco should work to Silva's favor better than the Metrodome in Minneapolis did.

Seattle's defense was about average in 2007, so Carlos won't get a boost from his fielders. The field has a three-year home run index of 91 according to the Bill James Handbook 2008, but Minnesota had an index of 85. Silva's home runs might actually go up.

I also love this:

The Mariners had just been spurned by free-agent pitcher Hiroki Kuroda and needed to find another place to spend roughly $11 million over the next four years.

The idea that they need to spend exactly that amount on a player is ludicrous. I thought the idea was to spend the least money on the best player possible, not just throw money at someone because it is budgeted for the position.


Posted by David Pinto at 07:56 AM | Free Agents | TrackBack (0)
Comments

"Mel loves pitchers who allow the ball to be put in play, low walk, low strikeout guys just like him."

He sure does. With the Mets, Mel even tried to turn Dwight Gooden into a mini-Mel. Poo-poohed the value of strikeouts, talked up ground balls, and got him to change his motion from over the top to three-quarters because it would supposedly keep Doc healthier. It didn't.

Posted by: Steve H at December 20, 2007 08:20 AM

Those of us who read Geoff Baker regularly would recognize his comment : ". . .and needed to find another place to spend roughly $11 million over the next four years. . ." for the subtle sarcastic editorializing that it is. It's painful humor for us long-suffering M's fans.

Posted by: Peter A at December 20, 2007 02:03 PM
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