Cubs Interested In Eyre, But Is Marte Better?

[CubsWin]

According to the Chicago Tribune, the Cubs have contacted the agent for lefty reliever Scott Eyre. Previously a White Sox starter, Eyre was converted to a reliever in '99 but still struggled. His ERA became respectable in 2001, but he posted pretty bad WHIPs every year until last season with the Giants. The numbers suggest that Eyre's performance last season (2.63 ERA, 1.08 WHIP) is the exception and not the norm.

 

The White Sox are also looking at Eyre and might be willing to deal Damaso Marte to make room for him. Interestingly, Marte's fortunes are almost the exact opposite of Eyre's. Marte has put up stellar WHIPs from 2001-04 (1.27, 1.03, 1.05, 1.22) but struggled big time last season (1.72). Of course, these numbers suggest that Marte's struggles are the exception and not the norm.

 

This would appear to be the classic situation where numbers don't tell the whole story. Does anybody have any scouting information that would shed some light on who is more likely to perform well in '06? Has Eyre truely turned a corner? Has Marte lost it or has he identified what caused his struggles last season and corrected it?

 

Thoughts?

[NorthsideAvenger]

Go for it. He's numbers have improve over the past three yrs, and while a slight decline is within a yr or so, I think it would be worth a 2 yr deal.

[NorthsideAvenger]

Double post....my bad.

[Balsa]

I'm not sure I like the idea of Marte on the team. I don't know much about Eyre though. Marte seems to me like a headcase, although maybe that just came about from pairing him up with Ozzie Guillen.

[SouthSideRyan]

1.72 is heinous. As long as that's the one that happened last year, I want no part of Marte. Me and my Cubs fan friend's favorite exclamation during the Sox playoffs was "PUT IN MARTE!"

[ManEatingTarp]

I have a feeling that the Cards and Sox may trade one crazy lefty for another.

 

King for Marte.

[ltb]

eyre was contacted by all 30 teams.

 

when he reveals his contract desires (3/9m), a lot will drop out. hopefully the cubs are one of those teams, because i really do not want to see another albatross reliever contract.

[Flames24Rulz]

id rather see Eyre than Marte. Marte has good stuff, but 0 control. I don't want another guy in the bullpen that is like that, we have enough of those guys already.

[NorthsideAvenger]

I have a feeling that the Cards and Sox may trade one crazy lefty for another.

 

King for Marte.

 

I thought you were talking about Buehrle for Mulder?

[mg420]

tim kirchen (sp?) on espn 1000 this morning said that the cubs have a long term deal on the table for scott eyre and are very interested in signing him.

[RockTheIvy]

Rotoworld is saying that he's narrowed down his choices to four teams, hopefully the Cubs are one of them.

 

Scott Eyre has reduced his options to four National League teams, and the Mets are not one of them, agent Tommy Tanzer said.

It's unclear if he's also considering some AL clubs. With nearly every team expressing interest, Tanzer and Eyre worked to narrow the lefty's list of suitors this week. Nov. 17 - 4:29 am et

Source: New York Post

[Diffusion]

Hopefully this is just hot Eyre.

 

I want BJ!

[JeffH]

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2005/11/17/SPG6QFPOHV1.DTL

 

Eyre all but gone: Free-agent Reliever Scott Eyre, one of the most valuable members of the 2005 Giants, has decided he wants to pitch closer to his Florida home and has narrowed his choice to the Cubs, Cardinals, Astros and Braves, his representative said Wednesday night. Agent Tommy Tanzer expects to get Eyre a three-year deal worth at least $9 million.

[TrueBlueCubFan]

Hopefully this is just hot Eyre.

 

I want BJ!

 

BJ Ryan's a closer. The Cubs already have a closer. Ryan will command 2-3 times more then Eyre.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Hopefully this is just hot Eyre.

 

I want BJ!

 

BJ Ryan's a closer. The Cubs already have a closer. Ryan will command 2-3 times more then Eyre.

 

Well, that's because BJ is good. This year was the first time in Eyre's major league career he had a WHIP below 1.30. He's 33 and had a career year. If we give him a long-term deal we're asking for another Remlinger situation.

[ltb]

Hopefully this is just hot Eyre.

 

I want BJ!

 

BJ Ryan's a closer. The Cubs already have a closer. Ryan will command 2-3 times more then Eyre.

 

right, and it's believed that ryan will not pitch as anything but a closer (unless he's on the yankees, where he'd be rivera's replacement in a couple years).

[Guest]

Hopefully this is just hot Eyre.

 

I want BJ!

 

BJ Ryan's a closer. The Cubs already have a closer. Ryan will command 2-3 times more then Eyre.

 

Well, that's because BJ is good. This year was the first time in Eyre's major league career he had a WHIP below 1.30. He's 33 and had a career year. If we give him a long-term deal we're asking for another Remlinger situation.

At least Remlinger was pretty good for an extended period of time before the Cubs signed him. Eyre's never even come close to the success Remlinger once enjoyed. I want no part of a player with a career Fielding-Independent ERA of roughly 5.00.

[CubinNY]

Hopefully this is just hot Eyre.

 

I want BJ!

 

BJ Ryan's a closer. The Cubs already have a closer. Ryan will command 2-3 times more then Eyre.

 

Well, that's because BJ is good. This year was the first time in Eyre's major league career he had a WHIP below 1.30. He's 33 and had a career year. If we give him a long-term deal we're asking for another Remlinger situation.

At least Remlinger was pretty good for an extended period of time before the Cubs signed him. Eyre's never even come close to the success Remlinger once enjoyed. I want no part of a player with a career Fielding-Independent ERA of roughly 5.00.

 

You know BK, if guys like some of us can figure this stuff out why can't Hendry? Why spend the money when you have guys in the minors who offer the same amount of production?

 

I don't think I'm any smarter than Hendry, nor do I think I know as much about baseball as he does. But his decision making seems very, very poor.

[goonys evil twin]

You know BK, if guys like some of us can figure this stuff out whay can't Hendry? Why spend the money when you have guys in the minors who offer the same amount of production?

 

I don't think I'm any smarter than Hendry, nor do I think I know as much about baseball as he does. But his decision making seems very, very poor.

 

It's not even a subject this front office is interested in. If the scouts say "he looks like he may have turned it around" that is probably enough to cause interest. This is not an organization that is all that interested in objective analysis. They want gamers and players and workers and tools with upside and bodies with all the right dimensions and live arms or a natural stroke.

 

Sure you could still win that way. There is no one way to build a winner. But the Cubs don't look like they know how to win their way, and they certainly don't have a history of winning their way either.

[craig]

At least Remlinger was pretty good for an extended period of time before the Cubs signed him. Eyre's never even come close to the success Remlinger once enjoyed. I want no part of a player with a career Fielding-Independent ERA of roughly 5.00.

 

I understand and sympathize with your point. But just to play devil's advocate, I've seen enough Cub teams with lousy relief to appreciate what it would mean to get consistently quality relief.

 

There is good reason to feel Eyre would be an unsafe sign. There's a chance he'll be solid, and a chance he'll go remlinger/Hawkins.

 

But that's also true with other candidates. Would you prefer to give Andy Pratt a whirl? Or perhaps Cliff Bartosh? Mark Guthrie?

 

The pool of sure-success LH relievers that are available is zero in size. Every lefty reliever that could be had will have some risk. Eyre's risk may be pretty high. Bug given the pool, it may be that the alternatives have even higher risk.

 

Hendry may be justified in taking a gamble on the least-risky bet out there. Doesn't make it safe by any means. But there are even riskier ways to go than Eyre.

 

We all know that wanting to help the pen and throwing money at it is no guarantee that the resulting pen will actually work out. And Hendry has done enough Alf/Hawkins/Remlingers so that doubts about his relief pickups are well justified. But I'm not sure that means you should give up trying, and just settle for Bartosh cheapos.

 

I'm pretty interested in trying to have a solid, deep bullpen. Haven't seen that since 2001. When the pen is short on quality guys, Dusty will keep going back to the hot hands. Sometimes in the process the guys who were competent get fried and then you don't have any competent guys left after a while. Having a depth of competence in the pen could help a ton, and could also do a lot to keep the competent guys from getting burned out.

 

Will Eyre be competent? I'm not sure about that. But if he is, it could be money well spent.

[BigbadB]

At least Remlinger was pretty good for an extended period of time before the Cubs signed him. Eyre's never even come close to the success Remlinger once enjoyed. I want no part of a player with a career Fielding-Independent ERA of roughly 5.00.

 

I understand and sympathize with your point. But just to play devil's advocate, I've seen enough Cub teams with lousy relief to appreciate what it would mean to get consistently quality relief.

 

There is good reason to feel Eyre would be an unsafe sign. There's a chance he'll be solid, and a chance he'll go remlinger/Hawkins.

 

But that's also true with other candidates. Would you prefer to give Andy Pratt a whirl? Or perhaps Cliff Bartosh? Mark Guthrie?

 

The pool of sure-success LH relievers that are available is zero in size. Every lefty reliever that could be had will have some risk. Eyre's risk may be pretty high. Bug given the pool, it may be that the alternatives have even higher risk.

 

Hendry may be justified in taking a gamble on the least-risky bet out there. Doesn't make it safe by any means. But there are even riskier ways to go than Eyre.

 

We all know that wanting to help the pen and throwing money at it is no guarantee that the resulting pen will actually work out. And Hendry has done enough Alf/Hawkins/Remlingers so that doubts about his relief pickups are well justified. But I'm not sure that means you should give up trying, and just settle for Bartosh cheapos.

 

I'm pretty interested in trying to have a solid, deep bullpen. Haven't seen that since 2001. When the pen is short on quality guys, Dusty will keep going back to the hot hands. Sometimes in the process the guys who were competent get fried and then you don't have any competent guys left after a while. Having a depth of competence in the pen could help a ton, and could also do a lot to keep the competent guys from getting burned out.

 

Will Eyre be competent? I'm not sure about that. But if he is, it could be money well spent.

 

Is Eyre a better bet than say, Jeremy Affeldt? The latter is a prime example of guys who would be available for the right deal in trade. We have guys who are getting ready to be exposed to rule 5. Do we want to sign a free agent that blocks another 40 man roster spot without giving up anyone in trade?

 

I'm not real fond of signing set up/middle relievers to more than a 1 year deal. The last few have really bitten the Cubs. But with all the guys the Cubs have available in trade, I find it even more insane to spend money on free agents that will likely cost considerably more.

[JeffH]

We have guys who are getting ready to be exposed to rule 5.

 

We do?

[Guest]

There is good reason to feel Eyre would be an unsafe sign. There's a chance he'll be solid, and a chance he'll go remlinger/Hawkins.

 

But that's also true with other candidates. Would you prefer to give Andy Pratt a whirl? Or perhaps Cliff Bartosh? Mark Guthrie?

 

The pool of sure-success LH relievers that are available is zero in size. Every lefty reliever that could be had will have some risk. Eyre's risk may be pretty high. Bug given the pool, it may be that the alternatives have even higher risk.

 

Hendry may be justified in taking a gamble on the least-risky bet out there. Doesn't make it safe by any means. But there are even riskier ways to go than Eyre.

 

We all know that wanting to help the pen and throwing money at it is no guarantee that the resulting pen will actually work out. And Hendry has done enough Alf/Hawkins/Remlingers so that doubts about his relief pickups are well justified. But I'm not sure that means you should give up trying, and just settle for Bartosh cheapos.

 

I'm pretty interested in trying to have a solid, deep bullpen. Haven't seen that since 2001. When the pen is short on quality guys, Dusty will keep going back to the hot hands. Sometimes in the process the guys who were competent get fried and then you don't have any competent guys left after a while. Having a depth of competence in the pen could help a ton, and could also do a lot to keep the competent guys from getting burned out.

 

Will Eyre be competent? I'm not sure about that. But if he is, it could be money well spent.

If Eyre was just inconsistent I could see your point, but that's not his issue. His issue is that for 85% of his career he's been a bad pitcher. True, the one time he bucked that trend was his most recent season, and it's possible (though very unlikely) that he figured something out at the age of 33 that will stay with him the rest of his career. Of course it's far more likely that he just had one good/lucky season. Is it worth $10 million and a commitment of a few years to find out which is the case when the numbers are stacked so heavily in one's favor? I don't think so.

 

I also don't buy into the fact that a bullpen has to have a LOOGY. There are many righties out there who are just as capable against hitters in both sides of the batters box. (Kyle Farnsworth comes to mind here.) Gambling's fine, but I prefer safer, lower-stakes gambling to the expensive, longshot variety.

[BigbadB]

We have guys who are getting ready to be exposed to rule 5.

 

We do?

 

Yes. A whole bunch from what I understand.

 

JK Ryu

Ricky Nolasco

Carlos Marmol

Jon Connolly

Ryan O'Malley

Carmen Pignatiello

Rich Hill

Jason Wylie

Hagerty

Carlos Vazquez

 

Buck Coats

Matt Craig

Micah Hoffpauir

Adam Greenberg

Dwaine Bacon

Brandon Sing

 

Bobby Brownlie

Chadd Blasko

Sean Marshall

Billy Petrick

 

Felix Pie

Brian Dopirak

Jake Fox

Matt Murton

 

This was compiled quite a while back, so there are a few that can be removed and a few that can be added as Rule 5 eligible. A few have already been added as well. Look at the pitchers alone: I'd hate to see any of these pitchers get picked up: Marmol, Petrick, Nolasco, Blasko, Marshall, Connolly, Ryu and Brownlie.

[BigbadB]

That list of players could build a pretty good bullpen from arby eligible players on small market teams.

 

That's the way I'd go instead of dumping a 2 or 3 year deal in Eyre's lap.