Puckett's Pond » Mariano Rivera

Thursday Links – Groundhog Edition

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 07:45:07 +0000

Happy Groundhog Day! Pitchers and catchers report to Ft. Myers in just 16 days, no groundhog, or his shadow, can change that. Last weekend was a great time to be a Twins fan, especially if you had the privilege of heading over to the Metrodome to experience TwinsFest. While I did not make the trip to Minneapolis for the event, many Twins bloggers did, and shared their experiences with their readers (including this very awesome Kirby Puckett jacket). TwinsFast has come and went (Here is a great TwinsFest vlog from Drew Butera and with Spring Training right around the corner, and unseasonably warm weather throughout much of the Midwest, it is hard to think about anything except baseball.* The rest of the baseball blogosphere must be similarly entranced by proximity of Spring Training because there were many great baseball articles to link to this week!

*Not that you couldn’t have thought about something besides baseball. I spent one sleepless night earlier this week pondering the loss in lifetime earnings potential that could be created by not receiving an annual raise in salary. Numbers, combined with time, are scary things. This has been the first installment of “Things that Keep Me Up at Night”.

Anyways, on with the links:

The Common Man was so taken by the anticipation of seeing Brad Radke at TwinsFest that he wrote the script for a pretty entertaining Twins commercial, in the style of SNL’s Bill Brasky skit.

While I guess this is technically ANOTHER TwinsFest story, this one, even more than the others, really embodies what TwinsFest is all about: making connections with your favorite baseball players, and creating memories that last a lifetime. Lindsey Seavery from CBS Minnesota reports on a Missing Jersey that was reunited with Twins great Tony Oliva, 25 years after he lost it.

The Twins have expanded their Hall of Fame to 24 members, electing Camilo Pascual. If there is a man that looks like a MLB pitcher, Pascual is that guy. (more…)

Twins Free Agency Advice: Closers are a Waste of Money!

Sat, 03 Dec 2011 16:08:28 +0000

With Joe Nathan gone, the Twins are making noises about replacing him with a proven closer. This is a bad idea for multiple reasons. First, as many have pointed out, the most successful closers in team history have all been starters or inexperienced relievers converted to the closing role. But more importantly, paying for a player with closing experience is too expensive. All across MLB, closers are grossly overpaid for the role they play.

And I have numbers to prove it.

The table below shows the five highest paid starting pitchers in MLB in 2011 who did not miss significant time due to injury. On average, they get paid somewhere around $20,000 per batter faced. Not a bad gig!

Starting Pitcher	2011 Salary	Batters Faced	$ per plate appearance
C.C. Sabathia	$24,285,714	985	$24,656
Roy Halladay	$20,000,000	933	$21,436
Josh Beckett	$17,000,000	767	$22,164
A.J. Burnett	$16,500,000	837	$19,713
Derek Lowe	$15,000,000	830	$18,072

(Salary data gathered from Baseball-reference.com. Figures are approximate)

But now look at the top paid closers:

Relief Pitcher	2011 Salary	Batters Faced	$ per plate appearance
Mariano Rivera	$14,911,700	255	$63,999
Francisco Rodriguez	$12,166,667	307	$39,631
Francisco Cordero	$12,125,000	274	$44,252
Jonathan Papelbon	$12,000,000	255	$47,059
Heath Bell	$7,500,000	256	$29,297

Rivera earned more money last year per batter faced than the average American household earns in a year. You may look at his salary and conclude that he’s just getting overpaid by the free-spending Yankees. But the Yankees are the same team that is overpaying Sabathia and Burnett, and neither of them makes half of what Rivera does per plate appearance. Closers generally face less than a third as many batters per season as starters do, but they are often paid nearly as much per season. Bell just got a pay raise, by the way. If he faces 256 batters again this year, he’ll average $35,156 for each one. (more…)

Friday Links

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 05:44:38 +0000

It is hard to believe that the 2011 season is over for the Minnesota Twins. On April 13^th the entire Puckett’s Pond staff compiled their predictions for the AL Central. Combined, the staff thought the Twins would reach 92 wins and edge out both the White Sox and the Tigers, both projected for 87 wins. We pegged the Indians for just 69 wins, and had the baby Royals finishing with 67 wins. At the time I predicted a rebound year from Michael Cuddyer, but outside of that, I pretty much got everything else wrong.

While the Pond didn’t do a great job predicting a 99 loss Minnesota Team, we were still rewarded with a spectacular finish to the 2011 MLB season. The Twins won their final two games, avoiding a 100 loss season and winning back to back games for the first time July 26/27. Outside of the AL Central, the rest of the baseball world exploded last night as 4 teams were fighting for the two Wild Card spots in the playoffs, and they didn’t disappoint. The Phillies won a squeaker over the braves in 13 innings, the Red Sox suffered a walk off defeat to the Baltimore Orioles, and the Tampa Bay Rays came back from a 0-7 deficit to beat the Yankees in 11 innings. Amazing baseball.

The Friday Links certainly cannot live up to that magic, but they should help you to close the door on the 2011 regular season, and prepare you for some exciting playoff baseball in the weeks ahead.

Enjoy. (more…)