Mark Buehrle?? Why Not? (Bought an RV and no longer throws. Turned down 15 million.)

[weams]

Graceful decline or rapid decline? You call that a theory?

Reminds me about my theory on people. They're all going to die someday. Taken me years to formulate.

I think his theory is that some folks will die over an extended time and some will drop over. Not that they will. But how they will.

[weams]

Exactly, Captain Obvious II. Those are facts, not a theory.

So his theory is that some folks decline slowly and some fall off a cliff? Sure. I would say that is a proven theory. I guess you would have to decide how to predict when a player would fall into one of those two undesirable categories for a one year player.

[o'sfansince1970]

I know. He proved me wrong last year. I see a ton of HRs if he pitches at OPACY.

[srock]

Holy crap I didn't realize how long Mark Buehrle has been consistently above average.

Right now he is sporting a borderline Hall of Fame career.

BBRef Similarity Scores has 3 pitchers in the Hall as similar.

Jesse Haines

Catfish Hunter

Herb Pennock

plus some guys who are close: Pettite, Kevin Brown, Vida Blue, CC Sabathia, Jack Morris

Durability has always been valued by HOF voters. Buehrle has been pitching 200+ IP since he was 22. If he can hang on at even league average production for another 2 years he is going to be close on the ballots.

He leads active pitchers in career IP by a wide margin:

Rank Player (yrs, age) Innings Pitched Throws

1. Mark Buehrle (16, 36) 3283.1 L

2. CC Sabathia (15, 34) 2988.2 L

3. Bartolo Colon (18, 42) 2980.2 R

4. Kyle Lohse (15, 36) 2522.1 R

5. John Lackey (13, 36) 2481.1 R

I doubt he will actually have a shot because he never had a peak where he was a top pitcher.

I'd still take him in 2016, he will probably be above average at least.

[Ornithological]

The peripherals from last season are a bit concerning. Career low 4.12 K/9. Career low fastball velocity (83.4).

[OFFNY]

Holy crap I didn't realize how long Mark Buehrle has been consistently above average.

Right now he is sporting a borderline Hall of Fame career.

BBRef Similarity Scores has 3 pitchers in the Hall as similar.

Jesse Haines

Catfish Hunter

Herb Pennock

plus some guys who are close: Pettite, Kevin Brown, Vida Blue, CC Sabathia, Jack Morris

Durability has always been valued by HOF voters. Buehrle has been pitching 200+ IP since he was 22. If he can hang on at even league average production for another 2 years he is going to be close on the ballots.

He leads active pitchers in career IP by a wide margin:

Rank Player (yrs, age) Innings Pitched Throws

1. Mark Buehrle (16, 36) 3283.1 L

2. CC Sabathia (15, 34) 2988.2 L

3. Bartolo Colon (18, 42) 2980.2 R

4. Kyle Lohse (15, 36) 2522.1 R

5. John Lackey (13, 36) 2481.1 R

I doubt he will actually have a shot because he never had a peak where he was a top pitcher.

I'd still take him in 2016, he will probably be above average at least.

200 Innings for 14 or More Consecutive Seasons (Since 1901)

1) Don Sutton (15 Consecutive Seasons) *

2) Gaylord Perry (15 Consecutive Seasons) *

3) Christy Mathewson (14 Consecutive Seasons)

4) Warren Spahn (14 Consecutive Seasons)

5) Phil Niekro (14 Consecutive Seasons)

6) Greg Maddux (14 Consecutive Seasons)

7) Mark Buehrle (14 Consecutive Seasons) **

* Streak Interrupted by Players Strike in 1981 Season

** Pitcher Still Active

[Frobby]

He leads active pitchers in career IP by a wide margin:

Rank Player (yrs, age) Innings Pitched Throws

1. Mark Buehrle (16, 36) 3283.1 L

2. CC Sabathia (15, 34) 2988.2 L

3. Bartolo Colon (18, 42) 2980.2 R

4. Kyle Lohse (15, 36) 2522.1 R

5. John Lackey (13, 36) 2481.1 R

I never in a million years would have guessed that Kyle Lohse was on that list. 147-141, 96 ERA+. Not many guys have been mediocre for that long. (Yeah, I know he has had the occasional good season, especially in his 30's. But still.)

[srock]

I never in a million years would have guessed that Kyle Lohse was on that list. 147-141, 96 ERA+. Not many guys have been mediocre for that long. (Yeah, I know he has had the occasional good season, especially in his 30's. But still.)

That does cast some doubt on the value of the stat doesn't it. I guess being average and durable is enough to keep you in the show.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Frobby]

That does cast some doubt on the value of the stat doesn't it. I guess being average and durable is enough to keep you in the show.

Steve Trachsel: 143-159, 99 ERA+, 2501 IP.

Jeff Suppan: 140-146, 97 ERA+, 2542 IP.

[OFFNY]

I never in a million years would have guessed that Kyle Lohse was on that list. 147-141, 96 ERA+. Not many guys have been mediocre for that long. (Yeah, I know he has had the occasional good season, especially in his 30's. But still.)

That does cast some doubt on the value of the stat, doesn't it? I guess being average and durable is enough to keep you in the show.

It does, but it's sole value should not necessarily be minimized, either.

Frobby's point is well-taken, as all statistics should be delved into and scrutinized beyond their face value, including this one. And pointing to Lohse compared to the other pitchers on that list is a good example of that.

However, consistently giving your team 30-plus starts every year and/or pitching a lot of innings every year in and of itself saves a lot of wear and tear on a team's bullpen, and spares both the team's manager and the General Manager some anxiety in terms of minimizing the number of emergency moves that a team needs to make during the regular season due to injuries and/or players being ineffective.

[tntoriole]

Mark Buehrle, if he wants to pitch, can certainly be an effective innings eater. He knows exactly how to pitch at the ML level. He is Jamie Moyer redux. He could easily pitch till 40 in a more effective fashion than most #4 or 5 starters on most teams. On a one year deal, I would take him in a second.

[srock]

It does, but it's sole value should not necessarily be minimized, either.

Frobby's point is well-taken, as all statistics should be delved into and scrutinized beyond their face value, including this one. And pointing to Lohse compared to the other pitchers on that list is a good example of that.

However, consistently giving your team 30-plus starts every year and/or pitching a lot of innings every year in and of itself saves a lot of wear and tear on a team's bullpen, and spares both the team's manager and the General Manager some anxiety in terms of minimizing the number of emergency moves that a team needs to make during the regular season due to injuries and/or players being ineffective.

I think the lesson is not to undervalue what a reliable league average innings eater brings to a team.

At the same time, the correlation between career IP and WAR is probably not as strong as one might assume.

[weams]

I think the lesson is not to undervalue what a reliable league average innings eater brings to a team.

At the same time, the correlation between career IP and WAR is probably not as strong as one might assume.

I think that when a player and I both think he is done, that it would be foolish to try to give him money.

[weams]

I think that when a player and I both think he is done, that it would be foolish to try to give him money.

http://basesareloaded.sportsblog.com/posts/10265061/mark-buehrle-unlikely-to-pitch-in-2016.html

[srock]

BUMP

MLBTradeRumors from 2 weeks ago

Mark Buehrle is still out there, apparently in no rush to sign, but has not retired either. Wondering if he stays in shape then pulls a Roger Clemens style mid season return to a contender.

The durable veteran is neither planning to sign for 2016 nor ruling out a ?possible comeback down the road,? says Crasnick