Trade Sherrill at the deadline?

[Old#5fan]

Really? So, you think coming into an inning with a 2 or 3 run lead is a high pressure situation?

As Drungo said the other day, a closer could have a 9.00 ERA and still save a large majority of their games.

It certainly can be if as a closer you don't help the cause and let the first two batters get on base. However, generally I was referring to coming in to save a one run game against a top hitting team like the Red Sox or Yankees. That is where the closer has to step it up not fall apart. Ray, last season too often fell apart.

[Scirocco_Luber]

package. behind door #2, bob.

[Sports Guy]

It certainly can be if as a closer you don't help the cause and let the first two batters get on base. However, generally I was referring to coming in to save a one run game against a top hitting team like the Red Sox or Yankees. That is where the closer has to step it up not fall apart. Ray, last season too often fell apart.

And how often does this happen?

[mweb]

I would want to trade him. Proven closers are very overrated, so we should be able to get more in return for him than what he is worth to us. I think the bullpen is undervalued in baseball, so having a good one is quite important to me, but the closer is not as important as most think.

[Ruzious]

The only thing that supports this is a high OPS against him with runners on...in 58 AT BATS!

Other than that, nothing supports your claim that he stunk.

And, as I said, Perlozzo misused him a lot last year and led to some of those runners on issues and also, in previous years, Ray has been excellent with runners on.

SG, if you can look at me in the eyes and say Ray wasn't a bad closer last year, you're either a liar, or when you look at a baseball - you think you see a hockey puck.

[Old#5fan]

SG, if you can look at me in the eyes and say Ray wasn't a bad closer last year, you're either a liar, or when you look at a baseball - you think you see a hockey puck.

Not only that, but now he is trying to minimize the importance of the closer in general. Apparently because his boy Ray, was terrible last year and he can't deal with it for some unknown reason?:scratchchinhmm:

[Old#5fan]

I would want to trade him. Proven closers are very overrated, so we should be able to get more in return for him than what he is worth to us. I think the bullpen is undervalued in baseball, so having a good one is quite important to me, but the closer is not as important as most think.

The closer is the most important piece in a bullpen which is why they are so hard to find and make the most money. For example, over the years how many great closers have the Orioles had in their pen? I can tell you. Not very many. They have never had a HOF closer that wasn't obtained from another team that I know of, and even then they were near the end of their career, i.e, Lee Smith.

I can virtually guarantee you a big reason why this years Orioles team is at 500 a fourth of the the way in the season is due to having an above average performance so far out of their closer. If Ray was closing they would likely be at least three games below 500 right now IMO.

[mweb]

The closer is the most important piece in a bullpen which is why the are so hard to find and make the most money. For example, over the years how many great closers have the Orioles had in their pen? I can tell you. Not very many. They have never had a HOF closer that wasn't obtained from another team that I know of, and even then they were near the end of their career, i.e, Lee Smith.

I can virtually guarantee you a big reason why this years Orioles team is at 500 a fourth of the the way in the season is due to having an above average performance so far out of their closer. If Ray was closing they would likely be at least three games below 500 right now IMO.

Closers rarely make the HOF.

Closers should be the most important part of the bullpen, however, they aren't used properly. If the closer is supposed to be the best reliever you have, he should be used in the most important situations. That is not even close to how they are being used now. Coming in with a 2 or 3 run lead in the 9th isn't typically the the most important situation a reliever can be brought in. Even coming in with a 1 run lead often isn't the most important situation The best reliever should be brought in to get out of tough situations, face the top hitters, and consistently pitch in very close games.

[Scrat1]

The fan in me says hell no (who doesn't love to see all the players flip their bills up after a save?) but the GM in me says yes yes.

It might be the smart thing to do, but I'm probably going to go into mourning if they trade him.

[bluedog]

So if Billy Beane has never guided a team to even an AL championship why on earth would we want to follow what he's doing?

Right -- and why would any NFL quarterback wanna model himself after Dan Marino since he never won a Super Bowl?

Let's just chuck actual performance out the window and make all of our decisions based on who has the most rings...

[bluedog]

SG, if you can look at me in the eyes and say Ray wasn't a bad closer last year, you're either a liar, or when you look at a baseball - you think you see a hockey puck.

I'm not really an apologist for Chris Ray, but let's look at his peripherals and stop putting all the emphasis on saves - since almost every baseball fan agrees saves are highly overrated.

Ray has a career .210 BAA and .654 OPSA. He strikes out 8.32 / 9 innings and has nearly a 4 / 1 strikeout to walk ratio for his career. His career ERA is a very respectable 3.19.

In the last two years, Ray has been eaten alive by the Yankees - otherwise his stats as a pitcher are phenomenal and his save percentage is acceptable for a closer.

He's a young guy and he's obviously had some issues handling pressure against the Yanks. I'd like to see how Kranitz does harnessing his excellent stuff before we write him off as our future closer.

[cindyluvsbrady]

Stop thinking about trades:eektf::rolleyestf:

Be HAPPY and enjoy the Os winning!!!!!:2yay-thumb: