Some stuff

[Pre-Highlanders]

I think bullpens come into play here as well.

I'm sure this is right.

[srh523]

I'm sure this is right.

The one thing that upset me about Bedard last year and maybe it wasnt his fault but we all saw him dominate games and have a lead thru 6 innings and not come out for the 7th. He averaged 6.5 innings per start last year over his 28 starts if he could have just gone 7 he would have hit 200 innings in 28 starts.

I can remember several times this happened last year.

[Goop]

Thanks for the continuous info, bigbird.

[srh523]

I don't know the answer (and don't really have time to look it up), but how many pitchers averaged more than 6.5 IP per start? (assuming your math is correct)

Just looking quick it looks like about half of the 28 guys who pitched more innings in the AL avg more then 6.5 innings per start.

In looking at Bedard's gamelog I found atleast 9 games where just looking at numbers he may have had more gas in the tank. He never threw over 120 pitches in a game and he did that just once.

I guess this may also be looked at as a good thing.

[birrman54]

The one thing that upset me about Bedard last year and maybe it wasnt his fault but we all saw him dominate games and have a lead thru 6 innings and not come out for the 7th. He averaged 6.5 innings per start last year over his 28 starts if he could have just gone 7 he would have hit 200 innings in 28 starts.

I can remember several times this happened last year.

it's the pitch count, he's hitting 95 pitches too soon. I expect to see that improve with this coming season.

[jerios55]

I'll surely be in the minority on this one, but IMO Ethier, Kershaw, Hu, and another pitcher is a very strong offer, and one that you guys should jump on.

And the rumored Reds deal is just about what I expected. These scenarios with Votto, Bailey/Cueto, and Hamilton/Encarnacion are just too rich.

Interesting about Mora.

It would be odd to see Roberts kept if everyone else goes.

Thanks for the update BB.

If LAD would do LaRoche, Kershaw, Hu and a lesser prospect (McDonald and Elbert both seem high on their list). I would add Payton and Pierre to the mix with LAD adding 5-10 mill.

OF Scott, Pierre, Kakes

IF Moore, Roberts, Hu, LaRoche, Hernandez

I could live with that.

[Lucky Jim]

it's the pitch count, he's hitting 95 pitches too soon. I expect to see that improve with this coming season.

Why? He's 29.

[Rob H]

OK OK OK Erik Bedard only pitched 182 innnings last year we all know that but lets talk about the innings he did pitch and not VORP!

#4 in ML K just 19 behind Peavy who threw 41 more innings!

#9 in Ml ERA

#1 in ML k/9

#10 in ML K/BB

#3 in ML in Whip

#3 in ML opp OPS

#3 in ML opp BA

and Sabermetric has him as the #3 starter in all the ML last year.

So I guess show where in there you could prove that he isnt one of the top ten starters in the ML and none of that is league or park adjusted.

Nobody is going to debate he's damn good out there when he's on the mound. Nobody. The only issue he has is staying out there, which is a legitimate gripe. Not many teams in the league would rather have 180 innings from Bedard and 50 from their AAAA guy when they could have 230 innings of only slightly inferior ball from a guy like Sabathia. That math just says that the guy filling in for Bedard is likely to end up making the total quality of the innings worse than what you would have gotten from Sabathia in the first place.

Again, when Bedard is on the mound, he's probably in that top 10 (and he was last season). But that doesn't mean that his value relative to his peers is still in the top 10.

I'm certainly not trying to offend anybody with the criticism of Bedard. But I'm sorry, you have to be on the mound to create value.

[makoman]

The one thing that upset me about Bedard last year and maybe it wasnt his fault but we all saw him dominate games and have a lead thru 6 innings and not come out for the 7th. He averaged 6.5 innings per start last year over his 28 starts if he could have just gone 7 he would have hit 200 innings in 28 starts.

I can remember several times this happened last year.

Just eyeballing it, it looks like the only pitchers that had over 180 innings and averaged over 7 per start were Sabathia and Halladay, two guys who throw a good number of complete games, which we all know Bedard does not.

Granted several others were very close (Webb and Shields were about 2 innings away from 7/start), but "just going 7" per start is easier said than done these days.

[orifan]

it's the pitch count, he's hitting 95 pitches too soon. I expect to see that improve with this coming season.

Why? He's 29.

But he's not your typical 29 yo. I'm going to take a chance at being wrong, but he has had a lighter workload and less time to figure things out.than most pitchers that age. Wouldn't you usually give a rookie a two or three year window to come into his own? He was 25 his rookie year, coming back from a serious arm injury. It was going to take him a couple of years to realize his potential and that's what happened. He needed the time to grow, and I would say he is on track in his progression...