Roch: Hendrickson to take Matusz's spot

[VTmook213]

So I am confused. Did they get rid of these guys because they were part of the losing culture or was it because they had poor attitudes? Did the losing culture cause the poor attitudes or did the poor attitudes cause the losing culture. What made the examples Mashed Potatos provided exempt from becoming part of the losing culture?

Are you contending that had Aubrey Huff been on last years Rays team that his attitude may have caused them to be losers?

What happens if they fall below .500 this year? What is the cause of the Rays collapse this year if they have gotten rid of the losing culture. Will the losing culture return causing them to have to jettison many of the players mentioned as they have only had one year of winning since they have been with the team?

Why do winning teams bring in players from losing cultures. Why would the Red Sox bring in Jason Bay who is clearly from a losing culture? Is it simply a mathematical equation as in if a team has more players from a winning culture than they do from a losing culture they will win, if not they will lose?

If Huff had signed with the Yankees they would have injected a losing culture into their organization?

Most importantly, would the O's have a losing culture if they had signed Tex?

To Add: I am pretty sure that losing 3 of 4 Hendrickson starts in September will have no long term effect on the O's future. To suggest otherwise is simply ludicrous

I would love to see JTrea answer every single one of these questions. He won't, of course, but it'd still be pretty interesting to see how he would respond.

[Frobby]

I'm OK with using Hendrickson as a starter. Just my opinion, but he's more likely to give us 5-6 decent innings now than he was earlier in the year, because separate and apart from his role, he is just flat-out pitching better. If you look at Hendrickson's early starts, you'll see that it wasn't just a matter of him getting tired in the middle innings, it was a matter of him not pitching very well almost right from the start.

April 10 - 5.1 IP, 1 ER. We'll take that any day.

April 15 - 4 R in the first 3 innings, and then a slew of unearned runs in the 4th

April 20 - 5.0 IP, 3 ER. Acceptable. The 3 runs were in the 1st 2 innings.

April 25 - 5 runs in the first 3 innings, then chased in the 5th

May 1 - 5 IP, 4 runs in the 4th inning.

May 6 - 3 scoreless innings, then pulled after a rain delay.

May 12 - 5 runs allowed in the 2nd inning, then pulled.

What I take from this is that there were really only two games (April 15 and May 1) where Hendrickson pitched poorly in the 4th and 5th innings. His bigger problem was he was getting hit very hard early in the games. He has been very effective since joining the bullpen, so I suspect he can do better in innings 1-3 than he did in his early starts, and then manage his way through the 4th and 5th. Not ideal, but as a stopgap who will make at most 4 starts, I can live with it.

Bump.....we were all so ticked off about the bullpen last night, that nobody bothered to compliment Hendrickson on what was a very fine start. Right now, the biggest problem with having him in the rotation is that we're having trouble flinding someone who can throw 2-3 effective innings in middle relief the way Hendrickson has. But, I think Hendrickson has shown he can do a credible job as stopgap emergency starter when he is throwing well. Another good reason to have him back in our bullpen next year.

[JayThomas]

Bump.....we were all so ticked off about the bullpen last night, that nobody bothered to compliment Hendrickson on what was a very fine start. Right now, the biggest problem with having him in the rotation is that we're having trouble flinding someone who can throw 2-3 effective innings in middle relief the way Hendrickson has. But, I think Hendrickson has shown he can do a credible job as stopgap emergency starter when he is throwing well. Another good reason to have him back in our bullpen next year.

Oh I don't think there's any doubt we need him back in our bullpen next year. If it turns out that everyone else out there is contributing and we need to bring some guys up, then we can trade him at the deadline. (But) he has definitely gotten it done for us out of the pen this year, and few others have.

[Frobby]

I'm OK with using Hendrickson as a starter. Just my opinion, but he's more likely to give us 5-6 decent innings now than he was earlier in the year, because separate and apart from his role, he is just flat-out pitching better.

Well, here's the wrap on Hendrickson's second stint as a starter:

3.1 IP, 2 ER

6.0 IP, 2 ER

6.0 IP, 3 ER

6.1 IP, 3 ER

I would say Hendrickson was one of the most pleasant surprises on the team in 2009. He had a 6.35 ERA when he was yanked from the rotation on May 12, and I think it's fair to say that there were plenty of posters who would have been happy to see Henrickson get his outright release at that point. From that point on, he pitched to a 3.63 ERA -- 3.44 as a reliever, 4.15 over those last four starts. He was an extremely valuable member of this team.

[Mackus]

Well, here's the wrap on Hendrickson's second stint as a starter:

3.1 IP, 2 ER

6.0 IP, 2 ER

6.0 IP, 3 ER

6.1 IP, 3 ER

I would say Hendrickson was one of the most pleasant surprises on the team in 2009. He had a 6.35 ERA when he was yanked from the rotation on May 12, and I think it's fair to say that there were plenty of posters who would have been happy to see Henrickson get his outright release at that point. From that point on, he pitched to a 3.63 ERA -- 3.44 as a reliever, 4.15 over those last four starts. He was an extremely valuable member of this team.

So the logical next question is:

At what price would you bring Hendrickson back next year?

He made $1.5M this year. Fangraphs has him as being worth $2.3M this season. His ERA as a reliever has been 3.44, 3.03, and 3.69 the past 3 seasons.

[Satyr3206]

So the logical next question is:

At what price would you bring Hendrickson back next year?

He made $1.5M this year. Fangraphs has him as being worth $2.3M this season. His ERA as a reliever has been 3.44, 3.03, and 3.69 the past 3 seasons.

I'd say between 2 to 2.5 mil.

[Mackus]

I'd say between 2 to 2.5 mil.

That's what I'm thinking as well.

[Frobby]

I'd say between 2 to 2.5 mil.

That's what I'm thinking as well.

Closer to the lower number, I'd think. His ERA was good but he still had an .808 OPSA.

[Sports Guy]

While it wouldn't shock me if we re-signed Hendrickson and he sucked next year, I still am in favor of it...I wouldn't go crazy and wouldn't give him a guaranteed multi-year deal...2-2.5 million for one year would be fine.

[theobird]

Closer to the lower number, I'd think. His ERA was good but he still had an .808 OPSA.

I would have no problem extending a 2 year/4.5 million deal for Hendrickson. The guy deserves it, he has earned it. And before I hear all the no, just one year responses....Just think what it could be like if we play around and Mark takes somebody else's two year deal. Oh yeah, that spells Sean Henn and Albert Castillo as our bullpen lefties. 4.5 mill over two years is NOT too much to pay for a lefty reliever/swing man like Mark Hendrickson. Then factor in that Hendrickson is also a good guy on the bench, and you can add the lefty mentor value into the deal. I'd do the two year deal and hope to get Patton up into the bullpen as our second lefty and let Hendrickson tutor the kid.

[Satyr3206]

While it wouldn't shock me if we re-signed Hendrickson and he sucked next year, I still am in favor of it...I wouldn't go crazy and wouldn't give him a guaranteed multi-year deal...2-2.5 million for one year would be fine.

I was thinking the same thing. Sometimes I watch him pitch and wonder how he's getting guys out with that stuff but he generally keeps the ball out of the middle of the plate and he has been pretty consistent as a reliever. And I agree about the 1 yr deal. I wonder if the Rockies will get involved?