Search for a Closer

[Ennder]

Last year was Lyon's best year of his career so maybe there is some hidden upside there and maybe the fact his ERA was flukey good in 2007 and flukey bad in 2008 would make him cheap enough to be worth it, dunno. He is still most likely a high 3 ERA type so would hardly be a dominating closer, probably about the same as CV.

[BrewCrewForever]

i would sign brandon lyon, i don't know why he hasn't ended up somewhere yet, and even if he can't close, he is a great arm to have...

That is my feeling. I would want him to close, but if not he would be a great 7th or 8th inning guy.

[jhart05]

Although it looks like Villanueva might be able to do it, I think that would be a waste of his talents.

 

He's a borderline starter. A guy that can give you 5 innings in a game if needed. Limiting him to one inning, would just leave a big hole in the long reliever/two-to-three inning set-up guy role. I like him in that role. Find someone else to close.

[billyhallfan]

i don't care if brandon lyon can close or not, but at this point he could be had very cheaply, and it is a good arm to have...it seems like a no brainer to sign him...

[silversurferr]

I don't like Villy as a closer. He pitches to contact and does not have a great out pitch to get strike outs when he needs them. Despite that, he has good stuff and mound moxy. He is a perfect set up man or spot starter.

[Teatoe993]

I think the big thing is signing another starter in order to get McClung out of the rotation and into the bullpen. That would give us another possible option to close if we can't land Hoffman or anyone else. Regardless, it gives us a little bit of depth for the pitching staff as a whole.

[BrewCrewForever]

I think the big thing is signing another starter in order to get McClung out of the rotation and into the bullpen. That would give us another possible option to close if we can't land Hoffman or anyone else. Regardless, it gives us a little bit of depth for the pitching staff as a whole.

Exactly, I love McClung in the pen and as a spot 6th starter but not as our #5. I really hope Doug signs Lyon or Saito to close and can land one of the following for the rotation; Sheets, Lowe, Garland, Smoltz or Looper. Then I will feel really good about our pitching as a whole.

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

I don't like Villy as a closer. He pitches to contact and does not have a great out pitch to get strike outs when he needs them.

Uh. Villy was probably our best strikeout pitcher in the bullpen last year. He did have 93 K's in 108 innings.

 

Anyways, as I was saying in the Handricourt thread, I think Juan Cruz is the best solution and well worth the first round pick. He's got some very good numbers in the last few years and would easily save 30-35 games for us this year.

[JohnBriggs12]

I don't like Villy as a closer. He pitches to contact and does not have a great out pitch to get strike outs when he needs them. Despite that, he has good stuff and mound moxy. He is a perfect set up man or spot starter.

Villanueva has one of the best changeups in the game. He's made very good hitters look silly. He's also got a decent slider and a curveball he can throw for strikes. The only time he gets into trouble are those occasions when his fastball command leaves him.

 

His out pitches are his changeup and slider though he'll get some easy outs with his fastball too when he spots it well.

[logan82]

I wouldn't want to give up a pick t get a closer. There may come a time where all teams operate on a level field financially and at that time it may be worth giving up a pick to get a guy, but until that time we need picks to continue filling out our farm system.

[patrickgpe]

The problem is that if they cannot sign Hoffman, there is no-one that has experience to do it. For the same reasons that the brewers sacrificed part of their future to get Sabathia, if the brewers really think that Cruz is the closer that could get them into the playoffs, I'm all for it. I don't think he is that guy though.

[endaround]

Yep, thats the thing. Cruz isn't an ace reliever. Now he's good, but his strand rate last year makes him look like sub 3 ERA when he's more like a 3.75 ERA. Now that it appears the Brewers are down to 1 1st round pick it's questionable if its worth giving up.

[JohnBriggs12]

Yep, thats the thing. Cruz isn't an ace reliever. Now he's good, but his strand rate last year makes him look like sub 3 ERA when he's more like a 3.75 ERA. Now that it appears the Brewers are down to 1 1st round pick it's questionable if its worth giving up.

His strand rate?

 

He allowed just 34 hits in 51 2/3 innings with 71 K's. It isn't an accident that he strands quite a few guys. He's very hard to hit and even if he walks a hitter or two in an inning, you still need to get a hit or two to score.

[Ennder]

Of course he only let that few hits because of a lucky BABIP and he BB over 5 per 9 IP. This is not an elite RP unless that second half spike in command is a new skill level and not just a blip.

 

And just an fyi, the best RPs in the history of baseball didn't routinely have a strand rate anywhere near as high as Cruz last year, it was a fluke regardless of the stats he put up.

[RobertR]

I think complicating the issue is that it's clear that the Brewers don't want to go over "slot" to sign some top prospects that slip due to signability concerns. That's why the position of the picks matter to them over the number of picks.

 

Robert