Money aside, would you rather have Jim Johnson or Grant Balfour as closer in 2014?

[weams]

Don't forget about TWTW factor.

It's all about the #Rage.

[waroriole]

I don't think there's a huge difference. Ultimately, I picked JJ because he's a GB P with a phenomenal IF defense behind him. Also, he's much less likely to fall off a cliff.

[luismatos4prez]

I don't think there's a huge difference. Ultimately, I picked JJ because he's a GB P with a phenomenal IF defense behind him. Also, he's much less likely to fall off a cliff.

My reasoning for voting JJ as well. But I recognize that what Dan did was for the best.

[russ snyder]

While I'm happy with the moves, I voted for Johnson. He's more of the known quantity to me.

[theobird]

Don't get me wrong, I am very happy to have Balfour on board. But there are a few caution signs here. The obvious one is the age difference, the less obvious one is the home/away splits Balfour had last year. He was great in that canyon of a park Oakland plays in, and pretty pedestrian out of Oakland.

Only time will tell. If JJ is lights out pitching half of his games in Oakland this year, it will not surprise me. It is nice that Grant is more of a strike out pitcher, but a lot of those fly balls might be big fly's in OPACY and the other AL East ballparks.

[linedrive]

I lost all confidence in Johnson, so I think these moves were necessary. I cringed every time the call to Johnson was made. He just couldn't handle pressure situations, especially towards the end of the season. And that's a shame because I really want to see our homegrown players succeed.

[Il BuonO]

I will admit there were times I thought Johnson looked lost and had the deer in the headlight look to him. Balfour looks like he wants to shove it up your :cussing:.

[atomic]

Balfour is a better pitcher for OPACY. He's a strikeout pitcher' date=' which is what you ideally want in a closer.[/quote']

Interestingly, Balfour gave up more home runs while pitching at home in Oakland than Jim Johnson gave up in Camden Yards last year.

[hoosiers]

If you were Dan Duquette (and we all know none of us are), and you concluded that your closer, his likely contract and his 2014 and 2015 values were not in sync with the closer market, would you:

- say JJ is not as good as he thinks he is

- say there are better closers on the market

- say JJ has been an excellent Oriole, a team leader, but blame the whole budget thing on an inability to really keep JJ.

IMO, while this board thrives on complaints, particularly budget ones (as if no other team has a budget), particularly budge issues that can be another reason to blame/hate our owner, I would not be surprised in the least if someone sat down with DD over some beers in five years and off-the-record DD admitted to playing the budget card because he wanted to swap out closers because he thought there was better production/cost alternatives on the FA market.

[Singleton]

It's pretty even. I'd probably say JJ because I think he's safer (younger, no injury history and we know he can pitch here vs AL East) but I don't feel strongly about it.

[OrangeJerseys]

I'll take Balfour simply for his intensity and entrance music.

[GoldGlove21]

I'll take Balfour simply for his intensity and entrance music.

So my choices are a 36 year old closer who pitched in a big park that is moving to a much smaller park or the guy 10-years his junior who is moving from a smaller park to a larger one? I like JJ's chances at better numbers more than I do Balfour's. Would JJ net a pcik if he is offered arbitration moving forward and he signs elsewhere? I could see JJ having a good first half and BB eating $1M-$2M of his second half salary to net a return much better than Weeks.

[section18]

Thank you DD and PA. Easy question with an easy answer. Balfour is better than JJ. I have never seen him pitch bad at OP, Oakland or Tampa. 5 total blown saves over the last two years is outstanding. Don't forget when he pitched with Tampa and shut us down at OP. Oakland is a misleading stadium when looking at numbers. There might not be as many HR's but there is more room to hit balls off the wall or up the alleys.

[clapdiddy]

I voted for Johnson. I think he's a better fit for the team and our ballpark.

[Frobby]

I voted for JJ, though I think it's close. I just like his ability to keep the ball on the ground and in the ballpark. When Balfour isn't striking guys out, some of those fly balls he allows are going to yield worse results than they did in Oakland (or Anaheim, or Seattle).