John Thomson
Okay, the news is out. Corey Brock has the scoop at the M’s official site.
The Mariners are on the verge of signing John Thomson to a one year contract, reportedly with an option for a second year. I’ve expressed my preference for one year deals for pitchers repeatedly, and Thomson is the kind of pitcher that is often undervalued.
By no means is he a great pitcher, but when he’s healthy, he’s an average innings eater. He gets groundballs, throws strikes, keeps the ball in the yard, and even misses bats occassionally. The big knock against him is health – he’s logged less than 100 innings each of the last two seasons due to various problems. He’s not the most durable guy, and at age 33, he’s entering the twilight of his career.
But, given the escalating costs of mediocrity, a short term deal for Thomson is a bargain. He’s basically Jeff Suppan’s less durable twin. They have the same skillset and similar stuff. They get their results the same way. Suppan is asking for $40 million over 4 years. The Mariners found a similar talent for a fraction of that amount.
This is how you assemble the back-end of a rotation. Sign John Thomson and Justin Lehr to give competition to the young pitchers, and use the money saved by not paying for experience to spend on position players.
John Thomson can help the Mariners, and for the price, it’s a good buy. Kudos to Bill Bavasi for finding one of the better deals in a crazy free agent market.
Will you be deleting comments involving “John Thompson”?
Just curious. Could be a lot of work.
I like it. Good, cheap talent is always a positive addition.
solid move
John Thomson, official place holder for Brandon Morrow for 2008.
Plus his guaranteed DL time this season will give Blackley, Campillo, Feierabend, and Bazardo something to pitch for this year.
Any idea on the size of the contract?
Looks like he started giving up a disproportionate number of dingers in 2006. Otherwise, he is solid. I am a bit worried about his declining K rate, but who knows if that has to do w/injuries. Not a bad deal – certainly better than a 4-year deal for Schmidt.
thank goodness- something for Larry Stone to discuss on the upcoming Hot Stone League show, other than Groz’ whining about the Garcia trade again.
33 years old, ERA+ of below 100 the last 2 seasons, yechh.
What? Brock just says that they’re requesting medical files on Thomson. They said the same thing about Eaton before he signed with the Phillies, so you never know.
Ugh. My prediction is that Thomson will not make the rotation. If this is as good as it gets, we are all in trouble.
Props to Bavasi, maybe he understands things a little better than I thought. Thomson is a good bet to be as good (and as healthy for that matter) as Adam Eaton next year and isn’t going to take nearly the financial commitment that Philly assumed. I still haven’t forgiven BB for Jar-rod Washburn though.
Sounds like a good, reasonable, low-risk move.
Exactly the kind of move that Bavasi should be making in this horribly inflated free agent market.
Good job, Bill.
Decent back of the rotation pick up…Opens us up to get at least 1 ligit durable starter
Will you be deleting comments involving “John Thompson�
Just curious. Could be a lot of work.
Heh [Thomson] will become the new [Pineiro].
Um…neato…I guess. Pretty anti-climactic ending to all the speculation.
It’s hard to say it’s low risk unless you know how much $$ they are looking to drop on him. If it’s $5m then i would argue the risk is high, as he could spend 1/2 the season on the DL.
I’m assuming it’s less than that, and/or has incentives built in for playing time, but who knows.
That’s better than Jamey Wright.
Any idea on the size of the contract?
Does it matter? If it’s a one year deal, probably with a second year option if Thomson proves healthy, the amount isn’t going to kill us. It’s not going to be a ridiculous 10 million+ thing, so it really shouldn’t be of concern.
One year, or two year, deals for pitchers are automatically low risk deals, even if the pitcher is a injury risk. You’re only on the hook for a short period of time.
Sorry guys 1 winning season in 9 years. DL is a sure thing for Thomson. Woods has more upside than Thomson. I hope they paid less than 1M. Chan Ho would have been a better upside than Thomson(I know not as cheap).
F-rod, what legit, durable starters are available that you would like to have?
It is anti-climactic, but I would personally rather have them sign 10 guys like that instead of blowing money out their *** to overpay someone who won’t be here to help when our young players are in their prime.
#18 do you know that? apparently his 2006 salary was $4.75m
“Any idea on the size of the contract?”
I doubt he’ll get half of what Glavine’s getting from the Mets which is around 10-11 million. I bet a contract similar to Okajima which is around 2-2.5 million.
“Sorry guys 1 winning season in 9 years. DL is a sure thing for Thomson. Woods has more upside than Thomson.”
No he doesn’t.
“I hope they paid less than 1M. Chan Ho would have been a better upside than Thomson(I know not as cheap).”
No he wouldn’t.
Look, don’t blow things out of proportion here. John Thomsen is an inning eater at best, solid 3rd-4th rotation guy if he returns to 2004 form. This is just a deal to shore up our completely blitzed rotation and we NEED to fill it with arms. We were never going to sign two “A-Class” free agent starting pitchers to begin with, so we gotta dumpster dive for a guy with upside somewhere and somehow, and John Thomsen is one of the best values on the market for the upside potential.
In short, get over your own visions of sugar plums dancing in your heads and come back down to the rest of us.
1 year at about 4 to 5 million.
2nd year option – 6 million.
#18 do you know that? apparently his 2006 salary was $4.75m
And he had an injury plagued 2006. This isn’t arbitration elligable type evaluating where a pitcher never less then what he made last year. This is free agency and if someone is going to take a risk on Thomson, Thomson is going to have to take the low bid to prove he can still “do it”.
I predict it’s no more then 6 million, which for 1 year is nothing.
We must view this move for what it is: A decent signing at a time when many clubs are making MUCH worse moves and in a market where costs have spiraled out of control.
At the same time, though, this move doesn’t realistically help the Mariners that much. Thomson will not be much better than a number of other options that the M’s already have. He is likely to be injured. If not injured, he is unlikely to be terribly effective (at best, a 4-5 starter).
Overall, I am indifferent to this move, but much prefer it to, for example, signing Eaton for $24M or Suppan for $40M (which are the equivalent of Bavasi’s idiotic signing of Washburn).
#24: Amen! We desperately need depth in our starting pitching, and we’re not going to sign Zito, Schmidt, Mulder, and every guy that is posted in Japan.
As many guys as we can sign to reasonable contracts with potential “upside” (although I’m beginning to hate that word), the better.
It’s fine with me but a very uninteresting signing. But smart on Bill’s part. Now they Just need to sign Scmidit to a deal and and get someone to fill the hole in the outfield. Oh and I hope the M’s re-sign Brousard. 25 Hr’s for a farily cheap price do it!
This is anticlimatic only because everyone blew it up when Dave said something. He never made it out to be a blockbuster deal. Solid, low-risk signing.
Dumpster diving is okay, especially if it’s Schuerholz’s dumpster.
talk about someone being a big time Pessimist Thingray.
A LF would be nice. Snelling in RF, Ichiro in CF, and someone in LF to push Ibanez to DH at least part time.
I am a fan of keeping Broussard (one “s” or two?). I think he will be more productive than we saw last year, given the chance.
Its time to sing Schmidt and or trade for Garcia
I prefer “realist” to “pessimist”, but check with me later tonight after I have had a few shots and beers!
Overall, I am indifferent to this move, but much prefer it to, for example, signing Eaton for $24M or Suppan for $40M (which are the equivalent of Bavasi’s idiotic signing of Washburn).
That’s precisely the point as to why it’s very cool to be excited over this move. The M’s have some serious, major holes to fill in the rotation. They’re obviously not going to dole out a bunch of Washburn contracts to Washburn-type (or worse) pitchers.
It’s a fantastic low-to-medium risk, medium-reward type of move to fill out one of the rotation holes. Certainly health is of concern, but again, it’s a concern in Adam Eaton, too, who just signed a pretty monster contract. To get a mid-to-lower-tier starting pitcher on a short-term contract when other similar-tier pitchers with as much injury risk are getting longer-term deals (for likely a whole lot more cash), that’s something pretty remarkable for this franchise to do.
Its time to sing Schmidt and or trade for Garcia
I don’t know that one. How’s about humming a few bars?
To those contemplating a “but Woods and Baek had more wins and lower ERAs last year” post, please click on the “Evaluating Pitcher Talent” link to your upper left and then maybe visit thehardballtimes.com before proceeding. Thank you.
I’m real excited about this! If Thomson comes in under $5M as I would expect I think this is as good a move as we’re going to get. With our infield & ballpark if he’s not on the dl he’s going to wind up as a real solid #3.
Some of you folks have got to be crazy. I am in favor of as many short-term deals for guys with some upside that we can possibly put together. I have no problem with the #4 and 5 spots in our rotation being a mixture of AAA testing grounds and low-risk “prove your you can pitch again” spots.
All in all, I don’t think we end up any worse in those spots than we did last year (probably better), and we have something we didn’t really have last year – depth. C’mon. If we end up with Schmidt, Felix improves, and Washburn doesn’t get lit up quite as much, we play the hot hand in the #5 spot, hope Thomson can be our #4 man, but yank him in favor of another young guy (or similar short-term low risk veteran) if he doesn’t. I like it, and I want some more of it. I like the pitching depth approach that may permit us even to make some trades at critical moments during the season.
I know the minors are slowly being restocked with starting pitching, but do we have anybody that could make the leap in ST?
I know that Woods and Baek are both candidates, but I think most of us agree that they are filler or stop-gap solutions at best.
Morrow is a year or two out, Foppert seems to be about done, and I can’t spell the other pitchers name I’m thinking of (Freirbend?).
Thomson is definitely one of the better no compensation pitchers in this years free agent class. $5 million sounds a little high, given his history of injuries. It would be nice to see it be something like $3 million + incentives makes $5 million. Of course, it’ll be his performance on the field that determines if it’s a good signing or not.
Found it: Ryan Feierabend. I wasn’t even close!
Amazing that the great Mariner’s who are in the top revenue tier for MLB, have to resort to “Dumpster diving” for pitching!!!
Thomson…I’m okay with the 1 yr deal however $5 million for a guy that is on the DL so much? Could you imagine if you and I spent 1/2 our year out sick…we would immediately be shown the door.
I also dislike players that haven’t proven themselves in the American League. First, it seems to take at least one rotation through the league before they get comfortable. Second, the talent in the National League is generally a 4A. Thirdly, this guy’s stats include pitchers every 9th batter.
If we didn’t like Meche and don’t like Joel…am I going to like this guy any better?
Uggggh. We do not want Freddy Garcia back.
Amazing that the great Mariner’s who are in the top revenue tier for MLB, have to resort to “Dumpster diving†for pitching!!!
Well, that’s what you SHOULD be doing anyway.
1 yr deal (with incentives) is fine, DL or no DL.
Also, to address #44:
Revenue has nothing to do with it. John Thomson is one of the very few pitchers in this year’s free agent market that doesn’t seem to be horrifyingly overvalued. It doesn’t matter how much money you have if you spend it poorly.
Even if he is Meche or Joel, the point is we know we won’t be stuck with him for the next gazillion years (or so it felt). He’ll go his way at the end of the year and we’ll never hear from him again.
What ever happened to the idea of Soriano possibly trying to start again? I know until (if?) Mark Lowe comes back, the bullpen would probably be a bit thin without him. I know he’s also not that far removed from his injury year, so maybe another year to build up strength would make sense. But it seemed like he had the potential to be something good in the rotation as well as the bullpen. If one of the other pitchers stepped forward for the bullpen, would there be any chance the Mariners would consider him in the rotation?
Or not until another year went by?
And obviously having Thomson take a slot if healthy would make the pressure less on any slot that Soriano ended up filling
I also dislike players that haven’t proven themselves in the American League.
You must have missed 2003 on this resume. Thomson held his own in Texas of all places.
Jeff, revenue could be a consideration. The history: 2 big Free Agents signed in 2004, 1 big one signed in 2005, and likely none for 2006. This trends as stadium attendance trends downward. Is there a link?
Are they saving money for the future, perhaps to sign Ichiro next year?
Payroll savings don’t carry over. They pocket the money. They’ve been quite clear about this.
My only problem with Thomson is that when I am skimming I keep thinking I am seeing Thornton. And that doesn’t make me happy.
I’m guessing the rotation’s coming out of spring training is going to be:
Schmidt
King Felix
Washburn
pick any two of Thomson/Lehr/Baek/Woods/Feierabend/His Name Is Legion and He’s in AAA or AA Right Now
I can live with that.
OK, I won’t be able to live with Schmidt, probably by 2008-2009. But this has a shot of working in 2007.
now, all they need to do is get Leo Mazzone to work his magic on his former Braves pitchers.
My payroll savings don’t carry over either, but the money doesn’t seem to stay in my pocket for some reason!
I’m happy with this move. At least we’re wading in the end of the free agent pool that doesn’t have massive turds floating in it!
Payroll savings, indirectly as profit, become capital. Capital carries over. Marx and Schumpeter among others have been quite clear about this. (Me..not so much clear.)
51: I stand corrected…I missed that year in his stats. It gives me a little more hope for some solid innings from him.
I would take jason Schmidt for 4 yr’s 60 million with a club option for a 5th if that would work.
His name is NOT John Thomsen. Thank you.
Becuase you are going to have to over pay and over year the player to get him in this inflated market.
Good Lord. I can’t believe people are opposed to this at all. Thompson is our Pineiro upgrade. Would I prefer Thompson to Piniero? Hell yeah! 1 year deal? Even better. Is there risk? Every pitcher is a sore from surgery. But his risk is higher than average, but FAR LESS than Pinero or Meche.
Crap hounds piss me off.
He isn’t meant to shake up the world. He’s meant to give us options. Because no one knows how it’ll turn it, he’s a gamble. But with a one-year deal, its a good gamble that just might pay off in spades.
In other name-related news, the new Portland Beavers’ skipper is former Mariner Rick Renteria … who went by “Rich” when he played for the Mariners for about 11 seconds each in 1987 and 1988.
Now he goes by the more manly “Rick.”
Thomson’s 2006 xFIP, GB%, K/G, HR/G: 5.11, 44%, 5.0, 1.18
Baek’s 2006 xFIP, GB%, K/G, HR/G: 5.08, 43.1%, 6.3, 1.65
Admittedly this is at the least Small Sample Size Street Theatre (Thomson threw 80 innings, Baek 34 1/3), but bleah. Baek is probably at the peak of his career, while Thomson has been steadily declining after throwing 400+ innings in 2003 and 2004. Baek may be back-of-the-rotation inning fodder, but he’s league-minimum BOTRIF. Thomson, OTOH, would allow fewer homers, but he seems destined for an expensive stay on the DL.
It’s high-risk, medium-reward. If he pitches the way he did in 2003, then this will be a brilliant deal for Bavasi — Jarrod Washburn for 60% of the cost. But Thomson’s age and post innings eater stress disorder are really worrisome. Even with an incentive-ized deal, he doesn’t seem that much better than the BOTRIF we have in Tacoma.
It’s far better than paying Jason Schmidt $18M in 2011, but still. Meh.
For Bill Bavasi it’s kind of like playing with fire. If he decides to over pay for Schmidt people will get mad and ask why he overpayed for Schmidt and he may get fired. But if he decides not to over pay for him and get someone with less caliber or use the money on some hitter. The Mariners would then probay have another bad season and he would probaly get fire.
24 and 28: Thomson is an innings eater? This guy has 9 years in the majors and has one season with 200 innings. To spend 4-5M on this #5(which will take innings away from Baek or Woods)will ensure we don’t have the money to give Schmidt. We need Schmidt for attendance and to have an ALL Star presence for the rest of the team to get behind.Who knows if we sign Schmidt other FA may want to come here.The FO now will have to spend money on another second tier pitcher and a cheap outfielder to cover there marked budget for 2007. So what kind of sense does it make to spend 5M on a #5 starter when you have two AAA starters(Baek and Woods) who need major league innings to get better.(they do have a better upside than Thomson for 5M).
68-I think if the M’s sign Thomson he would probaly become their #4 pitcher if he is healthy and doses well in spring training. And then they would let Lehir,Woods and beak fight for the #5 spot.
I think “beak” would have a better chance making the Orioles rotation.
sigh. Groz is vamping for Stone’s appearance by wondering why the Ms aren’t linked to Zito, complaining that they haven’t done anything yet, and wondering why they want Gonzo for LF with Ibanez out there.
Three years at 11 per (maybe 12) is the most I could stomach for Schmidt, and that’s a real stretch. His GB rate has gone down the last three years, as has his K/G rate, while his FIP is going up.
Nevertheless, a top four of Schmidt, Felix, Washburn, and Thomson is better than what we were running out there after the AS Break in 2006, so I guess I’ll take it.
What will be interesting moving forward is whether Sexson or Broussard is dealt, and whether we can somehow get a LF (moving Raul to DH) or replacement 1B.
What about Julio Zuleta as a replacement bat?
Hmmmm. Mediocre pitcher (at best) coming to a mediocre organization (at best). Perfect fit. Yawn.
Baek, loser #71
I hope the M’s keep Brousard.
#68
The M’s have 3 holes in the rotation. I don’t think Baek, Woods, Lehr, Feierabend, NRIs, or the AAA/AA mariner farm system can fill those 3 holes come opening day. The M’s have to assume some risk and this seems like a riskworthy move….here comes some group think…wait for it… as opposed to offering an Adam Eaton/Jeff Weaver equivalent a 4 year deal worth ~$45mil.
If this goes thru, its a bad move. I know you guys dont like it, but i think that Zito is a perfect Mariner fit. A lefty innings eater that wins. John Thompson will get hurt or something like pokey reese.
Bottom line, go get zito, and schmidt
I’m confused….does this mean we’re not getting Johnson/Patterson???
I’m pleasantly surprised by Thomson signing—-his has potential upside.
There is NO way we could sign both Zito and Schmidt even if we wanted to, without dumping the salaries of both Beltre and Sexson.
Ryan Franklin could probably signed for Thomson money, or less … and be more durable.
Franklin is extremely durable.
Please don’t say Spiro’s name three times. It’s like Beetlejuice or something.
Franklin could throw more innings than Chuck Norris.
Darn. We released Campillo
Yes #76 maybe Baek,Woods,Lehr Feierabend,NRIs, or the AAA/AA farm system can fill those three hole but they can fill one of them. Along with the signing of Thomson may fill the #4 hole if he has a good spring training and is healthy and stays healthy. Which leaves the M’s with one Pitching Hole their #1 pitching spot witch they need to sign Scmidt to a deal. Then the holes a finished…. at least for a while.
Will Thompson be better than Pinero? I think he will be better than Fiarabrand or Beck.
69- I understand your point but I believe Thomson to be a #5 due to his total record(minus 2004)and upside at this time in his career. Thomson is just a stop gap that does not improve this team at all.If Thomson represents depth unfortunatly this kind of depth will not improve the 78 wins from last year.I believe it is 5M+- better spent to put 4M with that and sign Suppan who is a real innings eater and healthy. Then try and sign Schmidt and call it a day. FO then does a trade (Mateo,Soriano, Reed,etc) for an Emil Brown or a Willy Mo who are reasonable and have some pop. After that is done then you will be competitive with the rest of the “West”. Guys Oakland, Angels and Texas will get better and we need more to catch them and spending 5M on “depth”(Thomson) will not get it done.
I heard that there is a decent chance we will re-sign Campillo. We only released him to make room on the 40 man.
86: Ha. Ha.
87: If you read teh post, Thomson=Suppan, which seems about right. Suppan is no great shakes. In fact, he’s really not that good.
#85
Agreed. They can fill one spot, maybe two.
If it were me, I wouldn’t rely on those guys filling two spots, as that doesn’t look like an effective thing to count on.
Throw in Thomson, and the M’s reduce the likelihood of needing them to fill two spots (assuming you sign someone like Schmidt to take the first open spot).
69- I understand your point but I believe Thomson to be a #5 due to his total record(minus 2004)and upside at this time in his career. Thomson is just a stop gap that does not improve this team at all.
A) Stop gaps are FINE. There’s nothing wrong with them when used well.
B) If you don’t think this guy isn’t going to be better than Pineio, then I’m truly aghast.
If the Thomson signing goes down, he and Lehr are less expensive combined than one year of Eaton. It is a fine move. By the way, remember Thomson’s name spelling by invoking the announcer who mispells his first name.
“Thom” is the “son” of Marty Brenneman.
Jorge Campillo was just jettisoned…..
Concerning Franklin….lets get real a second.
Thomson’s xFIPs for his last three years:
’04: 4.13
’05: 4.17
’06: 5.11
Franklin’s xFIPs for his last three years:
’04: 5.59
’05: 5.36
’06: somewhere slightly above 5
One guy has groundball tendencies and the potential to eat a solid 180-200 innings if healthy or at least 100 or so at level significantly better than replacement level.
The other is basically replacement level with fairly extreme flyball tendencies.
I’ll take my chances with the upside and use a cheaper replacement level guy if it comes to that….
Thomsen was being sarcastic, I think.
This is hard. We have Thompson, Thomson, and Thomsen.
There’s no way Franklin is a better option than Thomson. Are you guys even trying with your comments?
Throw in Thomson, and the M’s reduce the likelihood of needing them to fill two spots (assuming you sign someone like Schmidt to take the first open spot).
Assume Schmidt takes one. It’s a certainty that those farm arms could be patched together to cover one spot–that’s replacement level, by definition, I think. It’d take a fair amount of luck to fill TWO slots; fairly risky. It’d only take a minimal amount of luck to fill one slot and cover for Thomson if and when he’s injured. If it’s an incentive driven contract, then it’s not a bad deal at all.
Again, Campillo was not jettisoned, he was released to make room on the 40 man roster. There’s nothing that says we can’t re-sign him.
#98: someone else signing him…..
90- Please check out Suppans IP vs Thomson’s and then get a sheepish smile on your face. Suppan pitched fantastic on baseball’s biggest stage in Oct. That counts for a lot. Who would you really want a #5 like Thomson(with hope he can get 25 starts) or a real #3 like Suppan for 4M more and 200+ IP?
Thomson didn’t have tho opportunity to pitch on a big stage in October. We don’t know what he would have done. We don’t know what Suppan would do given the opportunity again. One year does not a clutch player make. There’s only like one player who I truly consider to be proven to be ‘clutch’ in this day and age, and that’s Mariano Rivera.
#100 – at a guaranteed 3 more years, and more like 5 mill more per, I’d take what we got, thanks.
If Campillo hasn’t been snapped up by now, I would think that the Ms have a good shot of retaining him.
If we wanted to keep Campillo, he could’ve been outrighted to the minors. He could’ve declined the outright assignment, but the Mariners didn’t even give the opportunity to say no. They simply released him today after DRAing him last week. Extremely doubtful that he’ll be back.
We released Cha Seung last year too, he was a non-tender. So it really doesn’t mean much.
101- Just look at IP for Thomson and Suppan or even most stats on each. Suppan is not a #1 but would be money better spent than 5M +- on Thomson.Suppan made the most of it in OCT. Thomson must have pitched in the playoffs with Atlanta do you remember him knocking your socks off? My point is spend on a proven innings eater not a bet on the come for 5M.
#100: Thomson is Suppan without the homers, raise and multi-year commitment….
Besides the Ms roster is already stocked with clutch since they locked up WFB
Corcoran beat me to my point, but he is right. There is a precedent for people being released, and the re-signed. I beleive we did it with Jeff Harris last year as well. Although this year we tried it and somebody snapped him up.
107- Are you looking at the same stats I am? Thomson down the line is inferior.Just stay with your Thomson= Suppan thinking and the Mariners will be 79 game winners in 07.
stoyboy,
your argument makes sense if the two sides where give 5m to Suppan versus give 5m to Thomson. However, those are not the two sides. It’s more like 3+ years and 30m+ to Suppan. Is Suppan in 2008 better than the 2008 equivalent of Thomson? What about in 2009? Or God forbid 2010? Do you really want Suppan to get a Washburn contract?
Thomson is Suppan without the shoulder ligaments, tha Ring!, and consistency.
My goodness! You would think by this reaction that we traded our entire minor league system for this guy, and then signed him to a 10 year extension!
This is a minor deal, and adds depth that we desperately need! Relax everybody!
You seriously think 4yr/$40M for a pour man’s #4 arm is better than 1 yr/$4M for basically the same arm?
Your argument is basically: since the Ms can’t guarantee 200 innings from Thomson next season (lets just say you can guarantee 100), its better to pay Suppan for three more years at an extra $36M to guarantee those extra 100 innings next season….
That’s an incredible thing to argue…
I say Thomson’s 100 + a replacement level pitcher’s 100 would be a better deal in spades and that is probably a worst case scenario…
pour: thats funny… damn spell checker…
#111: But Suppan is also a 4 year commitment to an innings eater… why in the world would you treat him like he’s bonafide?
There are a lot of ways to get the same thing for less risk.
110- look at the stats for the two the last 5 years. Suppan has pitched a whole bunch more innings that = wins and keeping the team in games longer. Suppan (in this crazy market)gulp, may be worth 9-10M per. Do you think Thomson will outpitch Suppan the next three years? Do you think Thomson will pitch 200 innings like Suppan has? If you don’t care because Thomson is on a one year deal then you have flushed 5M that can be better spent now.Suppan has been consistent with good mechanics and has been a workhorse. Thomson has blisters and shoulder problems that= not reliable. In a crazy market sometimes you need to get a little crazy to win and give the fans hope.
Jeff Suppan isn’t any better in STL than he was in KC (really, you can look it up). The difference is that the run environments are MUCH different (he’s still allowing the same runs as a proportion to league, he’s just not pitching in a hitter’s park any more, and in a league where runs are depressed some thanks to pitchers batting instead of DHs), and the Cardinals are a well run organization and can field good teams behind him, as opposed to the Royals.
Basically, he’s Jarrod Washburn’s RH twin. No thanks for 4 and 40.
I caught a bit of the local sports talk on radio today. A couple of hours after the news broke on the M’s official site, the host heard from one of his producers about the signing but “couldn’t find it reported anywhere”. Eventually, they found the USSM post and took the time to dis “sites like that” as a bad place to get information. I guess he didn’t read the first line of Dave’s write-up. He then read off Thomson’s w\l and ERA from last year while his equally vapid co-host laughed derisively.
Thank God for for the good ship Mariner, the best place to get information on my team.
The M’s already did that—— stoyboy, meet Jarrod. He will be your hope for the next three seasons….
114- I would agree with you but using your rationale why not just get 200 innings out of Baek or Woods and save 5M for Thomson? I would pay Suppan to pitch 200+ innings vs Thomson’s 100(+ the AAA guy’s 100) hell yeah! Because the 200+ you know Suppan will pitch will = wins.
I think it’s a much better use of 4-5 million than Carl Everett was.
Just to put things in perspective.
We have a lot of SP holes to fill, it makes sense to stack up candidates.
I also would not claim that Suppan has been “fantastic” in his post season career.
Because Suppan is, well, better than Woods or Baek.
And, Suppan is not undefeated, so therefore the 200+ innings do not all equal wins.
That should say Thomson is better than Woods or Baek, although I guess Suppan is too.
#120: not to get nitpicky, but you have to go back 4 seasons to find one where Suppan went 200+ innings
Sorry, just testing the parameters.
126: Touche.
I’m going to use that line next time I curse at work! “Sorry, just testing the parameters!” LOL!
way to go corco…
#120
Eric Milton is somewhat of an innings eater. Does that mean Milton + 200 innings = wins?
How about this hypothetical choice; which one is much riskier?:
$5.5mil for Thomson in 2007
vs.
$8mil for Suppan in 2007
$10mil for Suppan in 2008
$10mil for Suppan in 2009
$12mil for Suppan in 2010
you know corco, my 2 yo reads this group…. its bad enough I have to explain to her what bloomquist is….
If your 2 year old is capable of reading the jargon on this page, then she is mature enough to see profanity.
Corco on maturity, ladies and gentlemen.
she’s all about the jargon on this page…. I used VORP to potty train her (VORP=value over replacement pampers)….
I thought from past posts it was VORP = Value Over Replacement Pizza?
134: That’s crap. I’m calling your scrawny ass.
#135: you might be mistaking that with the revolutionary VORPi (value over replacement level pitcher) used to calculate WFB’s value…
So now it’s Value Over Replacement Level Pitcher? I’m going to use that tonight when my friends want to get a pitcher of Coor Light, and I am voting for a fine microbrew!
It may cost more, but the value over replacement level makes it well worth the extra money!
I CALL SCHENANIGANS!
138 Posts on John Thompson, does anyone else think that we’re all pent up with hope/fear about what the M’s are going to do.
Nice South Park reference!
VORP = Value Over Replacement Piazza
I hear this stat is very popular on Capitol Hill.
#138: actually think how much more you’d enjoy your beer if you compared it to Milwaukee’s best out of a warm can…
Mmm… Milwaukee’s Best. Excuse me, I’ve got to run to the fridge for a second.
There are worse things than Beast. Like, say, anything with the letters “Budweiser” in it…
Hey! Budweiser is the college student’s friend. Icehouse is starting to gain my favor, though. But Budweiser is the beautiful constant that lets you know everthing is going to be OK.
Don’t forget Keystone Lite
Pabst. A blue ribbon means first place.
Well, Willie “Natural Ice” Bloomquist doesn’t have the same ring to it as either “Wee” Willie Bloomquist or Willie “F’n'” Bloomquist.
We must really be bored for any information. Every time a minor signing is posted it jumps to 150 comments.
Anyway with the way this market is going its refreshing to see that the team is doing something with its time while they watch everyone get snapped up for truck loads of money.
My name is John Thomson
I live in Wisconsin
I work in a lumbermill there…
150… I was listening to 1380 on the drive home (after getting tired of the nightly “the Sonics need a new stadium” waah-fest on KJR*) and they were listing the biggest contracts given out… giving the most attention to the ones that seem absurd or awful, even in retrospect – Mike Hampton, Todd Helton, Kevin Brown (he’s still getting paid?), Junior, etc., even noting that Carlos Lee is getting paid more than Pujols now. There was a definite subtext of “maybe paying tons of money for a free agent isn’t a good idea.”
It was a refreshing change from the usual demands for the high-priced free agent-of-the-year, that would put Seattle On The Map.
* One person said that it would help Seattle become an international city, because of our ties with the Pacific Rim.
Anyone,
What is the league average xFIP?
As I live and breathe—something to actually perk up for. I’ve liked John Thompson for what he is for some time, and had hoped the Ms would pick him up a few years back. Given how much he was nicked up this last year, I’d forgotten he was even on the market this offseason. Personally, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if his results were comparable to those Schmidt turns in over the next two years, and at a fraction of the price. If John is at all healthy and his sinker has some bite, he matches up well to the park and the team, too. I like it.
Oh God, and I _knew_ it was Thomson even before I hit the ‘firmament’ button.
Bela I think this is your shortest post ever, and the first one that I have actually had time to read. Thanks.
De nada.
Did this come up already or did anyone notice Pineiro had a better xFIP and GB% then Thomson last year? Maybe I’m wrong but Pineiro sucks why would I get excited about Thomson when he seems even worse?
We had a lovely discussion about xFIP lately and why it’s not meaningful for Pineiro.
WTF is up with that link thing? WTF? I mean, I like it, but WTF?
OK Aaron Sele had a better xFIP and GB% then Thomson. Do we want to sign Sele to a one year $4-5 million contract? I don’t like this move when I look at the numbers. Thomson is 33 so I don’t think a big rebound from last year is realistic. This looks like the Jurassic Carl signing of this year.
Corco: I don’t understand how you’ve been around here this long and not noticed that the weekends are when we do the site tinkering and experiment with new toys.
I understand that this is how these things work, but the link thing is so much more neat and obvious than anything else. It’s totally useless, but that’s what I like about it. I just wish you could put it below the comment break.
re Campillo…
I wish they’d release Dobby the Bench Elf, with the intention of resigning him, but have another team snap him up first.
I LIKE IT
USSM is going to kick ass.
I would argue that we already kick ass, but thanks.
You can never have too much cool stuff. Now you need sounds, and COMET CURSOR!!!
Okay, just for you Corco.
Good luck getting Comet Cursor, they got shut down years ago.
Hey Derek, speaking of testing out new toys, I have an idea! Brace yourself for its awesomeness:
Avatars of Mariners past and present. I don’t think I’m the only one here who would love have my comment highlighted by a headshot of, say, Jose Paniagua. Think about it. You know you want to.
Avatars are death to servers, unfortunately.
It’s totally useless, but that’s what I like about it.
Oddly enough, this is what people like about you too, Corco.
Good luck getting Comet Cursor, they got shut down years ago.
Shut down, and to this day still screwing with computers world-wide!
ohmigod. must link to something. anything.
Dave: Not to jump off topic, [deleted, off-topic]
quick tags? I LOVE quicktags….
But, frankly its very upsetting to see underline once again marginalized…sure italics has pizazz and bold is, well, bold but there is a certain unstated dignity to underline that often goes under appreciated….
BTW, I vote for a preview function….
puh, pum, pump….