SB Nation - D.J. Carrasco

Kenny Always Gets His Man

larry — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 19:26:01 -0000

More photos » by Mark J. Terrill - AP

Duck.

I found myself with a little time to kill before taking off on another jet plane and, conveniently, the White Sox decide to make a move. So no complaining about a lack of analysis from the editors. hoodlight.

First the particulars: the White Sox receive Juan Pierre from the Dodgers, along with $10.5 million, and send John Ely and Jon Link back. The payroll hit for Pierre shakes out as $3 million in 2010 and $5 million in 2011.

What the White Sox are sending west isn't anything to be concerned about. John Ely, who spent all of last year at AA Birmingham, is a soft-tossing, finesse pitcher. But he's right-handed so guess how that usually works out. John Sickels ranked him as the 14th best prospect in the club's shallow system. And Phil Rogers loves him. I consider him irrelevant. Jon Link, who spent all of last season in AAA Charlotte, has, as I've mentioned before, a high K rate but also a high BB rate. Perhaps he'll figure it out but I'd essentially given up hope on that.

Now for what the White Sox get. First, they get someone to fill the high socks void recently vacated by D.J. Carrasco. They also get someone who looks like a Leadoff Hitter to fill the Leadoff Position. They also get someone who isn't very good at major league baseball. He shouldn't play CF anymore and, with Alex Rios in the fold, hopefully Ozzie won't get any ideas. He can still cover ground in LF and his arm that makes 12 year old girls laugh isn't as much of an issue there. He's probably a slightly above average defender if used properly. Unfortunately, he gives up any gain there on offense. He's projected for a wOBA of about .310 next season by Bill James, well below the league average benchmark of .330. That's almost 10 runs below average. Of course, one can point to his .338 last season and, except for 2008, recent numbers higher than .310 to argue that projection is a little low. On the other hand, he's 32 and certainly in his decline, a particularly dangerous place for a slap hitter who relies on speed, and his last five seasons look like this: .338, .308, .317, .319, and .309. Throw out that outlier 2009 and that .310 looks about right.

All that said, the overall price, both in terms of dollars and players, is low. Even if Pierre hits that low projection, he'll probably be worth the salary he's being paid (and whatever value you want to ascribe to the fringe prospects). And, while based on actual offensive acumen he should be about the second to last player to be considered for the Leadoff Position (thanks Omar!), his mere presence will at least prevent the usual hand-wringing over that perceived void. Of course, if the $8 million commitment prevents the acquisition of a player with some real offensive value and/or Ozzie decides to play Pierre in CF because "he real fast", this could turn out badly.

D.J. Carrasco: Nay

larry — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 16:51:50 -0000

More photos » by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP

Goodbye, everybody.

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D.J. Carrasco, arguably the White Sox' second most valuable reliever last season, is rumored to be a non-tender candidate. With a bullpen that already appears to be getting full with Bobby Jenks, Matt Thornton, J.J. Putz, Scott Linebrink, Tony Pena and a LOOGY to be named later (currently Raaaaaaaaaandy Williams), the team could decide that the $500K or so raise Carrasco is likely to seek in arbitration could be better spent elsewhere. Daniel Hudson in particular is a candidate for a multi-inning role, or perhaps a Clevelan Santeliz or Jhonny Nunez - all at half the cost. Then again, it's only $500K and, if the White Sox decide to go in a different direction in Spring Training or before, they may only owe Carrasco 30-45 days of termination pay instead of the entire contract.

What say you?

Edit: Of course, the only vote that counts is KW, and he voted 'Nay'.

Carrasco was kind enough to address the 88% of White Sox fans who wanted him to return: "One of the reasons I'm going to miss Chicago is the passion and knowledge of the White Sox fans," said Carrasco, when asked if he had heard of fans' disappointment over his departure. "It holds a special place in my heart that they wanted me back."

Poll

Offer Carrasco arbitration?

Yea

319 votes

Nay

43 votes

362 votes | Poll has closed

Torres, Sox Stink, Ozzie Takes Blame

The Cheat — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 03:23:10 -0000

More photos » by Paul Beaty - AP

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Carlos Torres wasn't any good Tuesday night. Anybody could see that, which is why Ozzie had D.J. Carrasco up in the first inning. I was only joking in the gamethread when, after Torres walked the first batter, I said we were going to see a bunch of Carrasco and Daniel Hudson. By the time Torres faced the third batter, nobody was laughing. He had already hung a handful of breaking balls and doesn't have the fastball to throw it by people.

Neither Hudson nor Carrasco was impressive in relief, though both were passable. Hudson didn't show his slider much at all, and relied more heavily on his changeup than in his first outing.

* * * * *

Hours before the Sox stunk up the diamond yet again, Ozzie was busy stepping in the line of fire:

"I've always said since I got this job I'm never, never scared to blame myself. Who can you blame? The one thing about it is when one country is not running well they don't blame anybody, but they blame the president. Well I am the president of this ballclub. I am the face of this ballclub. We did everything we could, but in the meanwhile I'm the one that penciled those guys in day in and day out, and they have to perform."

"They have to perform, but you have to make them perform," Guillen responded. "They didn't perform good enough for us and we didn't make them perform. When you lose, everything goes wrong. Why not blame just one guy and deal with it? I think I can deal with it. This is my job. When you hire a manager you hire him to take full responsibility. It comes with a chain - from the owner [Jerry Reinsdorf] to [general manager] Kenny [Williams] to me to my coaches to my players to the rest. I take the blame. No one in this town can blame Kenny or Jerry or [assistant GM] Rick Hahn.

"I want to take the blame," he said. "I want to take the full responsibility of it. They gave me a ballclub to compete and I accept that. When I said in April that we had a chance to win this thing, I said it. I didn't see any of the players say it, I said it. And I said it because I thought we would back myself up. It's my responsibility to take it like a man. When we're not playing well, it's my fault.

This is textbook Ozzie. Despite what some may think, he knows he's not going anywhere, so he's willing to take the blame. I get the feeling that he would say the same thing if his job really were on the line, but there's no way to know for sure and I'm not really interested in finding out.

Freddy Garcia Just Knows How to Pitch with a 10-run Lead

The Cheat — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 03:47:27 -0000

More photos » by Nam Y Huh - AP

Freddy Garcia enjoys a dozen runs of support

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I almost forgot that watching baseball could be fun. After not seeing a victory for two solid weeks, I've seen back-to-back well pitched games that were highly entertaining for different reasons, and the first 3-game win streak in over a month. Thursday against the Cubs, it was fun to watch another team commit the type of errors that have plagued the Sox this year, and for the Sox to actually take advantage. Tonight, we got to see the major league debut of Daniel Hudson (more later), a bit of Tyler Flowers, the continued surprisingly effective Freddy Garcia and laugher in the White Sox favor.

Garcia is playing his way into earning himself a callback with the Sox next season. It's a bit ironic. Back when Garcia was reportedly fielding offers from multiple clubs, I had the feeling that he would be most effective in a White Sox uniform, that due to a number of factors (familiarity, comfort, coaching, etc. ) his performance would he sign with a non-White-Sox team would not be directly analogous to his performance were he on the Sox. Then he underwhelmed from the first pitch he threw in NY, earned his release, and eventually caught on with the Sox who threw him almost exclusively in their rookie leagues. By the time he got the call up to take a spot in the Sox rotation, I had abandoned my pre-season theory. So Garcia can just continue to prove me wrong, or right, I don't even know anymore.

Aside from the Sox offense teeing off on a pitcher they're supposed to tee off on, Daniel Hudson's major league debut was the highlight of the evening. Hudson didn't disappoint. He hit the first batter he faced after getting ahead 1-2, but went on to retire the next six batters he faced, though, admittedly, they represented the bulk of Boston's bench and their own September call-ups.

Despite the hit batter -- he just plain held onto the ball too long -- Hudson's control was good, and the scouting reports accurate. He worked down in the zone with his fastball, and when he missed he missed low. Even the hit batter was on the foot. He was sitting at about 93MPH with the fastball, which is a little faster than the reports from Charlotte, but not out of line with his mid-season readings. I was most impressed with his changeup, which looked like a plus pitch to me. And though his slider underwhelmed my eyes through the TV -- it looked more like a straight, back-up slider rather than the sweeper you'd expect from a guy with his delivery -- the hitters didn't seem as unimpressed.

As the Sox eventually fall out of the AL Central race, they'll have plenty of guys ready to stake their claim to the list of 5th starter candidates for next season. Jim highlighted Carlos Torres' strong effort yesterday, before Freddy cemented his place in the conversation today. Throw in DJ Carrasco, who is at least deserving of being in the conversation, and hard-charging Hudson, and the Sox suddenly seem like they might have some starting depth.

Torres Learns A Lesson; Indians Bullpen Gifts Another Game

larry — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 04:12:00 -0000

More photos » by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP

The youngest member and oldest member of the White Sox shake hands after combining to drag the team back into the game.

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Carlos Torres learned that major leaguers aren't going to help him out. He did not have his good stuff, throwing only 33 of his 72 pitches for strikes, but avoiding the strike zone is something with which Torres is not unfamiliar. He often relies on hitters chasing balls and, tonight, the Indians weren't playing along.

The consequence is that Torres may have blown his chance to seize the interim 5th starter spot, with D.J. Carrasco apparently close to being named to that role after an effective 2.1 IP. Carrasco's effort was part of a 5.2 IP bullpen cleanup job that yielded only one run to the Indians and allowed the White Sox offense to take advantage of the poor Indians bullpen. Tomo Ohka, who spent last season at the White Sox' AAA affiliate, repaid his former employers by giving up 4 runs in 0.1 IP of work. Two of those runs came on a towering Jim Thome blast to center.

Bobby Jenks made his first appearance in a week. He faced the final two batters and struck out one.

Yankees defy mathematical logic, lose 10-5 in 12-hit game

CrazyYankeeChick — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 04:24:02 -0000

More photos » by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP

Yeah, it doesn't look good, does it? 0-5, Jorge? Really?

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What exactly happened here? As I'm still in the nascent stages of a move and hence sans cable, I'm relying on the CBS 880 power couple to deliver my games. So at baseline, the chances of me getting a handle on the game are already compromised, but I don't think Stephen Hawkings and his fantasy actuary team could get a bead on how the entire Yankees order--save Melky Cabrera and Jorge Posada--could get at least one hit, and still lose to the White Sox.

Tonight's game moved like a NYC subway with a rookie conductor, jerking forward and then awkwardly plugging along. Sergio Mitre got knocked around early, and pitched like he was just phoning it in. Maybe he figured he didn't stand to be too embarassed seeing as his opposing hurler also got tagged for 5 runs. The difference is, Sergio Mitre is supposed to be our rationale for not picking up a &*(* 5th starter at the deadline, and D.J. Carrasco was just the equivalent of the P.E. teacher filling in for the history teacher out sick. Plus he sounds like he should be talking in thinly veiled euphenisms while cracking his knuckles and checking to see if the room is bugged.

To recap the offensive hemorrhage that occured at the Cell tonight would mean I'd be wrapping up this post sometime around dawn. The highlights, so to speak:

The Yankees opened up with a 3-0 lead that gave all us fans some breathing room. I was sad to discover that the Yankees' days of inexplicably squandering leads like that to teams like this were not, in fact, over.
A.J. Pierzynski went 4-5. I hope to God I started him today. (Yeah, that's right, I have 2 catchers on my fantasy roster. 2009 has got to be some record for the most useless pool of catchers ever. They're either injured or miserably slumping at any given point.)
Eric Hinske comes to bat for the first time in 7 games to sail a game-tying 2-run homer. With Shelley Duncan having been just called back up, I wonder if the two of them will have Kelly-Brenda on 90210 types of competitiveness over who's the better hit-a-homerun-every-time-you-get-up guy. Cody Ransom will look on wistfully while no one talks to him.
Both Scott Podsednik and Carlos Quentin nailed 2 hits. One of Quentin's was a homerun, one of Podsednik's was a BUNT that broke an 0-16 slump. The Yankees are to struggling players what the Pirates are to teams hungry for acquisitions. They're like soup kitchens for baseball.
David Robertson got pinned with the loss. That sucks. He strikes out 2 and gives up 1 run, leaving it at a manageable 6-5 game. Alfredo Aceves comes in determined and wearing his best "You want to see deficit? I'll SHOW you deficit" suit. To be fair, the Yanks never scored after that, which must have disappointed Sterling who didn't get to say "And now the 4-run 7th is really looming large..."
Although I predicted in my preview the game would be decided by their bullpen, I don't think it's fair to make that claim now, since neither team put anything on the mound that really resembled pitching tonight. The game was decided by 2-out hits and RISP. Chicago had 4 two-out ribbies and went 6-13 with RISP. The Yankees posted numbers a little different: 0 two-out ribbies. 2-10 with RISP. Not good. You guys had 12 hits. Do you know how hard it is to hit like that and be 2-10 with RISP? It's like Hideki Matsui not learning English. You have to almost make a concerted effort to do that.
The White Sox pulled a double steal and successfully stole home. As if this in it of itself wasn't cringe-inducing enough, imagine having to listen to Sterling narrate this as it's going down. Or, imagine a clown freebasing. And that still doesn't come close.
The Yankees just lost 2 in a row, and if you look at the bright side, maybe it says good things about this team that I can't remember the last time they did that. It's like I told my sister tonight who's turning 23 and says of her potential new guy, "Ugh, he can't come to my party. He just texted and says he's being held at a police station." While I'm crushed this young pillar of society won't be cavorting with my youngest sister tonight, I stayed positive: "Well, I think it's sweet he texted you in the middle of being interrogated!"

They'll get tomorrow's game. And the Yankees can play with their brand new Jerry Hairston Jr. toy all over the field. Everywhere except the mound anyway. Sigh. JH-II is such a parents' consolation-type gift. Like you're dying for Call of Duty for the X360. And your parents can't find it sold anywhere and refuse to mortgage the house so they can buy it on ebay, so they get you Grand Theft Auto because all the kids seem to like that. And yeah, it's a great gift, but you don't have PlayStation, so it's ultimately useless. But it's the thought that counts.

Here's to taking the next 2 and leaving the south side with a series tie.

Got That Guillen Feelin': Tigers 4, White Sox 3

Ian Casselberry — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 01:50:17 -0000

More photos » by Duane Burleson - AP

This Carlos Guillen guy has made quite a contribution over the past couple of days, hasn't he? Where have the Detroit Tigers been keeping this guy?

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So how are you feeling about those Detroit Tigers right now? Thursday, it was looking kind of bleak. Not a lot of happiness or optimism in Tiger Town. Two days and three games later, this team is doing something.

For approximately seven innings, however, that familiar dread, the frustration of watching a team that can't score enough runs was setting in. The Tigers pounced on a scoring opportunity with runners on second and third and one out. Miguel Cabrera and Carlos Guillen drove home the runs and gave Detroit a 2-0 lead. The offense stalled from there, unfortunately, knocking out five hits but failing to get a runner past second base.

That is, until the ninth.

Facing Bobby Jenks (who's had 20 saves vs. the Tigers), down by one run, it wasn't looking good. Especially when Ryan Raburn struck out to begin the inning. But Brandon Inge singled on the next pitch. Marcus Thames followed two pitches later with a pinch-hit single. After Ramon Santiago popped out, Curtis Granderson fell behind 0-2. But Jenks threw inside once again with that third pitch and got it up in the zone, which Grandy pulled down the right-field line for a game-tying double. That's only the third save Jenks has blown against Detroit.

Fernando Rodney pitched a scoreless tenth, thanks largely to A.J. Pierzynski grounding into a double play on a first-pitch change-up. And that gave the Tigers a chance for some walk-off heroics, for which D.J. Carrasco was generously accommodating. Clete Thomas and Cabrera both smacked sliders into left field for singles. Carrasco kept throwing that pitch against Guillen, however, who fouled off three of them. But Guillen finally got a fastball, which he bounced up the middle to bring home Thomas for the game-winner.

Roar:

The middle of the order - Thomas, Cabrera, and Guillen - hit a combined 6-for-13 with three RBIs. Two of those runs were driven in by Guillen, who batted 2-for-5.

Ryan Perry also pitched an important two scoreless innings. He allowed a single to Scott Podsednik, but Gerald Laird wiped him out as he tried to steal second. And a two-out walk to Alexei Ramirez didn't matter, as Perry got Jermaine Dye to ground out and keep the White Sox lead at one.

Comment of the Day:

The white sux just got Guilen-tined!

by ahtrap

Richard Dinked, Exits Early, Starts Thursday

The Cheat — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 04:14:27 -0000

More photos » by ED ZURGA - AP

Jermaine Dye is clearly not an All-Star.

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Yesterday, I wrote that Ozzie Guillen needed to have a swifter hook with Gavin Floyd, citing a rested bullpen and a clearly laboring Floyd. Today, Ozzie yanked Clayton Richard after just 3.2 innings, yet he seemed to be the victim of bad luck more than bad pitching.

Richard wasn't getting hit extraordinarily hard and wasn't walking guys even though home plate umpire Andy Fletcher wasn't giving the inside corner to right-handers. I probably wouldn't have pulled him, but I can't blame Ozzie. As I noted yesterday, the pen was rested, and if he didn't give D.J. Carrasco and Aaron Poreda some work it would have been another two days (at least) until they saw game action.

There comes a point, however, when you have to be concerned about Richard's inability to go deep into games. His abbreviated outing Sunday dropped his average innings per start down to just an eyelash over 5. His last 4 outings have spanned 85 pitches or less, and he's recorded an out in the 6th inning in only one of his last 6 starts, his 6-inning rain-shortened complete game last week.

Ozzie says he remains confident in Richard even if his actions belie his words

"We trust him," manager Ozzie Guillen said. "He has great stuff to pitch at the big league level. But every time he goes out there, we have to be patient and realize he's a kid, and we try to get him better every time he goes out there."

While Richard hasn't been able to pitch deep into games, Poreda has hardly pitched at all since getting the call up to the big club nearly a month ago. He's thrown a total 1.1 innings since Ozzie said he would be "used a little bit more." If this is 'more,' I'd hate to see less. It would be one thing if Poreda looked like a rattled rookie, or worse, say, Jimmy Gobble, but Poreda has yet to be scored upon as a big-leaguer (which, of course, means he's getting shelled next time out. You can thank me later.)

Richard will have one more chance to prove himself before the All-Star break, which apparently will be Thursday on short rest. In which case, today's shortened outing was surely part of the plan. I could go back and rewrite this to make it seem like I knew all along, but I'll just keep it honest. And in the interest of honesty, I most definitely turned the game off after Carrasco gave up the wall-denting homer to Miguel Olivo.

Corky Miller Is Slightly More Useful Than a Pitchback

The Cheat — Wed, 13 May 2009 03:52:19 -0000

More photos » by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP

The Corky Miller is an elusive species. Seen here in his natural environment, this is one of the few known photos of Miller in action.

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The White Sox reached a couple of milestone seconds (as in not firsts) with their victory over the Indians Tuesday night.

They won a game in which they allowed more than three runs for just the second time this year, and Corky Miller, the non-Thome/bullpen hero of the game, recorded the Sox' second caught stealing of the year.

Miller pegged Grady Sizemore, who appeared to get a good jump, with a quick, accurate throw to the second base side of the bag. I didn't get to see a definitive replay to know if Chris Getz was able to get the tag on Sizemore; Miller might have gotten the benefit of doubt by getting the ball to Getz well ahead of Sizemore. At this point I'll take the outs any way the Sox can get 'em.

Minutes later, it looked like the Sox were going to waste an opportunity to put some easy insurance runs on the board when Josh Fields struck out with the bases juiced. But Miller (surprisingly) ripped a 2-RBI single through the hole to give the Sox some cushion.

It probably says a lot about how bad the Sox back-up backstops have been the last three seasons that we -- I'm assuming it's not just me -- get excited when a catcher comes off the bench to make two seemingly simple plays.

In addition to Miller's efforts, Jayson Nix is proving to be a capable bench player (and maybe more). He jacked his second homer Tuesday night, and has played solid defense everywhere he's been asked to play. As soon as Brian Anderson, who heads out on a rehab assignment Wednesday, comes back Brent Lillibridgeis surely gone.

Nix would seemingly make Wilson Betemit expendable as well. The only skills that Betemit brings to the table that Nix doesn't is the laughable ability to play first base and hit left-handed.

* * * * *

Clayton Richard gave the Sox exactly what they should have expected from him in his first turn in the 5th starters spot. He had to deal with a bizarre, inconsistent strike zone, and didn't figure to deep enough to be eligible for a win even in the most optimistic circumstances.

I don't know if he'll ever be able to survive the third trip through a major league lineup, so the Sox are going to have to have DJ Carrasco ready as his caddy every 5th day until they find a better option. Carrasco provided 2 innings of excellent relief to bridge to the high-leverage end of the bullpen tonight, which means Mark Buehrle better use his extra day of rest to work deep into tomorrow's game or it'll be a Turkey on Broadway kind of day.

* * * * *

I haven't really addressed the elephant in the room that is Jim Thome yet this year. I've thought it fruitless to complain about his lack of production when all the Sox other options are downright embarrassing. All we can do is hope that he starts to heat up, take some walks and MASH TATERS like we know can.

I'd say that his two homers Tuesday were a sign that he's back on track, but he was really struggling to get around the bases on Paul Konerko's gap-splitting double. I fear that his heel injury could be a lingering issue much like Konerko's thumb last year.

Jose Contreras Is (on his way to) History

The Cheat — Sat, 09 May 2009 04:22:16 -0000

More photos » by Nam Y Huh - AP

When you can't get anyone out, you talk to the glove

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The White Sox have now lost their last 8 games started by Jose Contreras, a streak which started before the All-Star break last season with a 22-hit loss to the Matt Harrison-led Rangers.

It's the longest such streak since... the Sox lost 9 straight Contreras starts in '07.

But that streak probably doesn't count. Contreras was removed from the rotation in the middle of that streak and actually earned a victory pitching out of the bullpen in an extra innings game. So it's actually the longest streak for a guy who made only appearances in the rotation since '06 when the Sox lost a retrosheet-era team record 10 straight Javier Vazquez starts. But Vazquez pitched pretty well over those 10 starts, with an ERA of 4.22. He just happened to be the recipient of 1.8 runs of support over those games including a 1-0 complete game loss to Kason Gabbard and the Red Sox.

Contreras... hasn't.

The End of Jose Contreras

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009	0-5	6	6	0	0	0	0	29.2	40	30	27	4	16	17	8.19	1.89
Losing Streak	0-5	8	8	0	0	0	0	35.1	53	37	34	5	18	21	8.66	2.03

The beat writers have been asking about removing Contreras from the rotation since his third start of the season. Looking at those numbers above, with Contreras showing no signs of improvement, control that can only be described as deficient, no forkball and only an occasionally passable slider, there's not much argument for keeping him in the rotation. Ozzie Guillen agrees:

"We are going to start somebody elese (sic) against Cleveland. We've got give days to figure that out (who).

"Jose feels bad, disappointed like everybody else. It's not fair to the club -- or to him -- to keep sending him out there," Guillen said, indicating the team will make a decision in the coming days once everyone has had a chance to discuss what's best for Contreras. "He's not happy with himself. He feels like he let the team down.

"We need to figure out how to get him back on track."

But a quick look at the pitchers who would be called upon to replace him, and you can easily see why the Sox have given Contreras so much rope.

Personal favorite Jack Egbert hasn't even been able to get AAA hitters out this season.
Lance Broadway -- NO
Aaron Poreda might be the best option, but he's still learning how to throw off-speed pitches in Birmingham, which is a good reason to ignore his stats and trust the Sox scouts. He'll be up when they say he's ready, or when the Sox feel he can learn on the fly at the big league level.
Clayton Richard seems like the most likely candidate, as the only member of this list who was legitimately competing for a starting spot in spring training. But Ozzie only used him for an inning tonight and might not want to move him for fear of having on one lefty in the pen.
DJ Carrasco is a nice low-leverage swingman who might be able to give you a decent start in a doubleheader or suspension situation, but you don't want to turn to his two-pitch repertoire every 5 days.
Scott Gregor has floated the name Carlos Torres, who's a guy I've paid zero attention to over the years. He's having a nice season so far in Charlotte, but, but, just ask Larry. I'm not really qualified to lodge much of an opinion here.
Others have speculated that Wes Whisler could be a candidate, but he doesn't have the minor league track record to suggest his good start to the season is anything more than a fluke.

Is this the end of Jose Contreras in White Sox uniform?

It would be foolhardy to give up on Contreras with nobody banging on the door screaming Look at me! I can get major league hitters out. And he can easily fill the Lance Broadway role of pitching only in blowouts (or the 11th inning of a tie game with a well-rested Bobby Jenks eating candy in the bullpen). So Contreras isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

Personally, I feel bad for Contreras. He struggled with some nagging injuries last year that took a few MPH off his fastball. He took a little break, and when he finally came back and appeared to be throwing well he blew out his Achilles. So he worked his ass off in the off-season to get back into shape and beat everyone's expectations by legitimately making the opening day roster only to lay an egg in each of the season's first 6 starts and be removed from the rotation.

Maybe he pushed too hard to get back from the injury. Maybe he just needs to work every other day in the pen to get the feel for his forkball and remember how to throw a well-located fastball.

Maybe he's done for good.