BBTF's Newsblog Discussion :: S.I. Verducci: Padres build top bullpen through smart shopping

Baseball Primer Newsblog
— The Best News Links from the Baseball Newsstand

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

S.I. Verducci: Padres build top bullpen through smart shopping

Along with the Pirelli Towers...the Verducci Towers is a must see!

How does he do it? Here are the Kevin Towers Rules for finding value relievers:

1. Look for failing starters in other organizations, especially strike-throwers.

“We always try to identify starters with someone else’s system we think could be relievers with us,” Towers says. “We look for guys who pound the strike zone with good mechanics. That’s how we got Linebrink.” Linebrink had brief trials as a starter in the San Francisco and Houston systems before San Diego acquired him at 26.

“It’s no different than catchers who can’t hit,” Towers says. “You put them on the mound because they have a good arm. A lot of times guys get caught up in being labeled. ‘Oh, he’s a starter.’ But maybe because of attention span or stuff or whatever it is, he’s better cut out to be a reliever. Heath Bell is like that. Some guys are much better when they can just go out there and air it out for one inning.”

Hampson, 27, was 51-56 primarily as a starter in the Colorado system, but allowed few home runs and struck out more than 11 batters per nine innings. The Padres claimed him on waivers after the 2006 season. He gave San Diego a 2.70 ERA out of the bullpen this year.

Repoz Posted: November 13, 2007 at 03:41 PM | 10 comment(s)
Related News: General, San Diego

Reader Comments and Retorts

Go to end of page

Statements posted here are those of our readers and do not represent the BaseballThinkFactory. Names are provided by the poster and are not verified. We ask that posters follow our submission policy. Please report any inappropriate comments.

Page 1 of 1 pages

1. JJ1986 Posted: November 13, 2007 at 04:58 PM (#2613743)

I'm sure Towers knows this and it's just edited weirdly, but Heath Bell was never a starter.

2. 3Com Park Posted: November 13, 2007 at 05:04 PM (#2613758)

It's kind of amazing that Towers would be this public about his philosophy.

Middle relief has long been an opportunity to get a value advantage over your opponents, and few have been better at it than Towers.

He is essentially saying that the Romero signing is a bad one (duh), and educating the market.

3. Cowboy Popup Posted: November 13, 2007 at 05:04 PM (#2613759)

If I'm Kevin Towers, I don't tell the truth when asked about how I go about gaining one of my most significant advantages over the competition.

4. Skloot Insurance Posted: November 13, 2007 at 05:50 PM (#2613801)

You don't tell them about Petco Park?

5. The Polish Sausage Racer Posted: November 13, 2007 at 06:01 PM (#2613810)

Considering he seems to think Linebrink has value as a reliever, this appears to be disinformation more than anything.

6. kingofthehobos Posted: November 13, 2007 at 06:39 PM (#2613857)

When did Hampson strike out more than 11 batters per nine innings? I see 6.65 for his minor league numbers, with 8.49 being the highest at any level.

7. The Bones McCoy of THT ... of DOOM! Posted: November 13, 2007 at 06:50 PM (#2613867)

“It’s no different than catchers who can’t hit,” Towers says. “You put them on the mound because they have a good arm.

Too bad Gord Ash didn't know this. My brother and I thought Sandy Martinez would have made a good pitcher. The man's arm was gold but he hit like, well ... a pitcher.

One game we arrived early for we saw Martinez showing off. He stood at one outfield foul line and casually lobbed it on the fly to the other (or close to it), the guy on the other end threw it to a guy in the middle who would relay it to Martinez.

An amazing arm. No idea why Toronto never tried it with him.

Best Regards

John

8. Dock Ellis on Acid Posted: November 13, 2007 at 07:29 PM (#2613889)

When did Hampson strike out more than 11 batters per nine innings? I see 6.65 for his minor league numbers, with 8.49 being the highest at any level.

Maybe Verducci thinks you add them together and miscounted.

9. mgl Posted: November 13, 2007 at 08:37 PM (#2613946)

Here is a secret. Take any starter and turn him into a reliever, and he - voila - gains (shaves that is) more than a run in ERA!

Note: That is on the average and that is at least for pitchers who have started and relieved in their carrers. Like MLE's we (at least I) don't know if we can select any starter at random and convert them into a reliever with an improvement of 1 run in ERA. Maybe that is only for starters who are deemed to have the "stuff" of relievers. I kind of doubt it although there are probably some starters who are more suited to relief than others, and vice versa. Make no mistake though, even good (or great) starters get better as relievers. Smoltz is a good example, as is D. Lowe to a lesser extent (not as good a starter or reliever as Smoltz of course).

Moral of the story is don't spend a lot of money on middling relievers, even good ones. Take bad or marginal starters and turn them into relievers. Plus, the baseline, replacement level reliever is a lot worse than a replacement starter. Take almost any not terrible AAA starter and convert him into a reliever and you have a fairly decent major league reliever.

10. Red Juice Posted: November 14, 2007 at 02:42 PM (#2614709)

Moral of the story is don't spend a lot of money on middling relievers, even good ones. Take bad or marginal starters and turn them into relievers. Plus, the baseline, replacement level reliever is a lot worse than a replacement starter. Take almost any not terrible AAA starter and convert him into a reliever and you have a fairly decent major league reliever.

yeppers.

and the Sludge Merchant has been doing this for years, to great fan fare.
It seems so simple. Why have other teams not figured this out is beyond me.

Page 1 of 1 pages

You must be Registered and Logged In to post comments.

<< Back to main

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

S.I. Verducci: Padres build top bullpen through smart shopping

Reader Comments and Retorts

Support BBTF

My Bookmarks

Hot Topics