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Post by Jesse Jackson on Nov 21, 2011 19:32:09 GMT -6
www.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/22297882/33446056Report: Rangers sign Joe Nathan By Matt Snyder The Texas Rangers have signed former Twins closer Joe Nathan, reports T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com. Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports the deal is for two years and $14.5 million with a club option for 2014. We already figured the Rangers were going forward with the plan to move Neftali Feliz into the starting rotation, and this signing would seem to firm up those plans with Mike Adams and Joe Nathan now forming the back-end of the Texas bullpen. Nathan was one of baseball's premier closers from 2004-09. He was a four-time All-Star who twice finished in the top five of Cy Young voting. His average season in that stretch was 41 saves with a 1.87 ERA, 0.93 WHIP and 86 strikeouts in 70 innings. That would be a career year for many, many pitchers, but that was the average season for Nathan.
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Post by Terd Ferguson on Nov 21, 2011 20:51:34 GMT -6
Feliz to the rotation...more pitching! More pitching!
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Post by Sideshow Bob on Nov 22, 2011 7:49:14 GMT -6
Glad to have Feliz moved to the rotation, but have major concerns about Nathan's age and health.
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Post by Terd Ferguson on Nov 22, 2011 7:53:40 GMT -6
Glad to have Feliz moved to the rotation, but have major concerns about Nathan's age and health. John Daniels has been punking the $hit out of you for several years now...probably best you don't question him too much. You hate every move he makes, yet he has built a team that went to the World Series back to back after 36 years of futility. Ever stop to consider why you hate all his moves and yet he is almost always right? Maybe...just maybe, he knows baseball and you don't? He has MORE than earned some slack.
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Post by Sideshow Bob on Nov 22, 2011 7:59:45 GMT -6
Glad to have Feliz moved to the rotation, but have major concerns about Nathan's age and health. John Daniels has been punking the $hit out of you for several years now...probably best you don't question him too much. You hate every move he makes, yet he has built a team that went to the World Series back to back after 36 years of futility. Ever stop to consider why you hate all his moves and yet he is almost always right? Maybe...just maybe, he knows baseball and you don't? He has MORE than earned some slack. I'm not saying it's a bad move, and I've been on board with several previous Daniels transactions (both Beltre and Napoli were great pickups). I'm just nervous about Nathan's age and injuries - BUT, they only signed him to a two-year deal, so it's pretty low-risk either way. Daniels is greatness - I definitely cut him slack.
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Post by mexicanjunior on Nov 22, 2011 8:30:08 GMT -6
Glad to have Feliz moved to the rotation, but have major concerns about Nathan's age and health. John Daniels has been punking the $hit out of you for several years now...probably best you don't question him too much. You hate every move he makes, yet he has built a team that went to the World Series back to back after 36 years of futility. Ever stop to consider why you hate all his moves and yet he is almost always right? Maybe...just maybe, he knows baseball and you don't? He has MORE than earned some slack. Yeah Bob!
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Post by Terd Ferguson on Nov 22, 2011 8:36:47 GMT -6
John Daniels has been punking the $hit out of you for several years now...probably best you don't question him too much. You hate every move he makes, yet he has built a team that went to the World Series back to back after 36 years of futility. Ever stop to consider why you hate all his moves and yet he is almost always right? Maybe...just maybe, he knows baseball and you don't? He has MORE than earned some slack. I'm not saying it's a bad move, and I've been on board with several previous Daniels transactions (both Beltre and Napoli were great pickups). I'm just nervous about Nathan's age and injuries - BUT, they only signed him to a two-year deal, so it's pretty low-risk either way. Daniels is greatness - I definitely cut him slack. You were on board with Napoli?? Did you even know who Napoli was when we traded for him? ? Beltre was a no brainer...geez, you were on board with signing a power hitting gold glove 3rd baseman when we didn't have a 3rd baseman....ease back off that limb there monkey boy.
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Post by Terd Ferguson on Nov 22, 2011 8:38:57 GMT -6
BTW, for the record, there are closing options on this team that didn't exist last year when they tried to make Neftali a starter. With Adams here, Nathan (if he isn't ready for prime time closing) could always be the setup man if necessary and Adams could close. We now have options, which is what John Daniels does. He accumulates talent all over the place and lets Wash put the final product together however it best fits.
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Post by Terd Ferguson on Nov 22, 2011 8:43:40 GMT -6
good ESPN blog from Keith Law...read the last part, that is the important stuff to remember. What kind of starter could we have gotten for $7M per year (on a short contract)?
The Texas Rangers turned heads this evening by signing reliever Joe Nathan to a two-year, $14.5 million deal with a club option.
The price per year is high -- most likely reflecting the market premium for a "proven closer" -- but the short commitment of two years makes it a little easier to swallow, and the effect of moving Neftali Feliz to the rotation is a big net positive.
Nathan missed all of 2010 due to Tommy John surgery, and wasn't his old self when he returned in 2011 until a mid-year DL stint, after which he looked more like his former self. He gave up a bomb to Corey Hart in his first outing off the DL in late June, then threw 28 1/3 innings with 28 strikeouts, five walks and three home runs allowed to close out the year. It's not an ace closer line, or a $7 million one, but it's progress in the first year back from reconstructive elbow surgery. I could see Nathan -- who I ranked No. 42 on my free agent rankings -- giving the Rangers 60 good-not-great innings in 2012 while Mike Adams handles a few save opportunities as the Rangers try to avoid pitching Nathan too often without rest.
But more important to the Rangers is the plan to move Feliz to the rotation, something that is probably a year overdue. All the more so when you consider how poor a job Ron Washington does managing a bullpen. Is that really where you want one of the best young arms your system has ever produced?
Feliz was a starter for most of his minor league career and had no trouble holding plus velocity deep into games. He has the off-speed pitches to profile as at least a No. 2 starter, although he'll have to use them more than he has as a fastball-heavy reliever. He'll also need to get over the control issues that troubled him in 2011 (4.3 BB/9 IP), some of which was related to trying to overthrow the fastball. But I'd rather give $7 million to Joe Nathan, even with his various risks, and put Feliz in the rotation than use whatever that same money would buy me in a free-agent starter.
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Post by Sideshow Bob on Nov 22, 2011 13:36:53 GMT -6
ease back off that limb there monkey boy. i laughed out loud at that one
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