SB Nation - Darren Oliver

Wednesday a.m. Rangers stuff

Adam J. Morris — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 15:36:35 -0000

It is still all Darren Oliver, all the time this morning...

Evan Grant offers his thoughts on how the Rangers will use Oliver, and what his addition means for C.J. Wilson potentially going to the bullpen...

Anthony Andro has a story on Oliver's return in the S-T, and notes that he's just the third Ranger ever to have three separate stints with the club.

And BBTiA mulls the Ian Kinsler question, and what we can and should expect from Kinsler going forward...

Darren Oliver deal official

Adam J. Morris — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 22:58:50 -0000

Darren Oliver has passed his physical, making his deal with the Rangers official.

$3 million in 2010, $3.5 million option for 2011 with a $500K buyout, and the 2011 option vests if he appears in 59 games.

Tuesday a.m. Rangers stuff

Adam J. Morris — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 16:41:35 -0000

Darren Oliver set for Rangers physical today

Eli Greenspan — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:46:23 -0000

More photos » by Ross D. Franklin - AP

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If free agent pitcher Darren Oliver passes his physical today, his 3.5 million dollar deal with the Rangers will be made official.

Oliver posted an impressive 2.71 ERA and 1.14 WHIP with the Angels last season, while proving to be a reliable veteran for the teams young pitchers. With the Rangers, he is expected to fill a similar role

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Darren Oliver	5-1	63	1	0	0	0	1	73.0	61	22	22	5	22	65	2.71	1.14

The deal includes a vesting option for 2011.
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Tuesday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 14:41:40 -0000

More photos » by Charlie Riedel - AP

I wasn't able to find a picture of Gregg Zaun blocking a pitch, but here's one of him blocking the plate from a baserunner. You get the idea.

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Some things to read while coming so close.

Thanks to Rubie for filling in yesterday while I was on my way back from a long travel weekend. I'm home now and will also write Mugs tomorrow and Thursday, health permitting: Somewhere on my travels, I managed to pick up a cold. If today's Mug drifts off into incoherence, now you know why.

The holiday week is usually a quiet one for transactions, but Adam McCalvy said the Brewers likely aren't done adding players in a recent Inbox. He also handled questions on a possible Opening Day lineup, Zach Braddock, and the roof at Miller Park.

Further proof that Gregg Zaun is a better catcher than Jason Kendall, at less than half the price: Beyond the Box Score's Catcher Block Percentage rankings have Zaun listed as the best catcher in baseball at preventing wild pitches and passed balls, adding roughly seven runs per 120 games to his value. Jason Kendall was worth roughly two runs, while Mike Rivera projected out to 5.5 runs per 120 games.

Speaking of Rivera, he's signed a minor league deal with the Yankees, with an invitation to spring training.

Meanwhile, LaTroy Hawkins has probably already finished packing and moving, because he's got plenty of experience in the field. The Northwest Indiana Post-Tribune notes that the Brewers will be Hawkins' eighth team.

Speaking of much traveled pitchers, Adam Foster of Project Prospect had an interesting note on John Halama: He faced 210 batters in winter ball and issued just three walks. Halama's Dominican team has been eliminated from postseason contention, along with Alcides Escobar and Hernan Iribarren's Venezuelan team. For more on that, plus notes on several new Brewers and the winter ball debut of Angel Salome, check out today's oversized Winter League Update.

And, while I'm self promoting, you have until 4 pm today to vote for a fifth outfielder and 4 pm tomorrow to vote for a #2 starter on our BCB All Decade Team. Also, follow us on Twitter.

Around baseball:

Blue Jays: Have reportedly reached a deal to acquire Brandon Morrow from the Mariners for pitcher Brandon League and a minor leaguer.
Braves: Signed infielder Joe Thurston to a minor league deal.
Indians: Acquired pitcher Mitch Talbot as the PTBNL in the Kelly Shoppach deal, and signed reliever Saul Rivera to a minor league deal.
Marlins: Signed utilityman Danny Richar to a minor league deal.
Nationals: Signed Jason Marquis to a two year, $15 million deal.
Padres: Acquired catcher Dusty Ryan from the Tigers for a PTBNL or cash.
Phillies: Announced plans to exercise Jimmy Rollins' option for 2011.
Pirates: Signed reliever Javier Lopez to a one year deal.
Rangers: Signed Darren Oliver to a one year deal.
Reds: Re-signed Laynce Nix and restructured and extended Scott Rolen's contract.
Tigers: Signed pitcher Phil Dumatrait and catcher (and former Brewer minor leaguer) Andy Bouchie to minor league deals.
White Sox: Claimed pitcher Freddy Dolsi off waivers from the Tigers.

I've mentioned this topic several times: sorry if you don't think it's interesting, but I find it fascinating. The Blue Jays are apparently bucking the minor league per diem trend and giving their players $25 dollars a day for meal money instead of $20 next season. The change will cost the team less than $50,000, but could go a long way towards helping their prospects get proper nutrition.

With 93 career wins, a Cy Young Award, and six straight seasons with an ERA under 4, Pete Vuckovich has a lot to be proud of from his major league career. Of course, all of that pales in comparison to his induction into the MLB Mustache Hall of Fame.

Happy birthday today to:

2003-2005 Brewer Wes Obermueller, who turns 33.
1992 Brewer Andy Allanson, who turns 48.

And a couple of belated ones I missed over the weekend:

Chris Narveson turned 28 on Sunday.
LaTroy Hawkins turned 36 yesterday.

Drink up.

Thinking about the Oliver signing and its impact on the pitching staff

Adam J. Morris — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 20:30:13 -0000

More photos » by Ross D. Franklin - AP

5 months ago: Los Angeles Angels' Darren Oliver (38) tags out Arizona Diamondbacks' Mark Reynolds (27) in a rundown to end the eighth inning of a baseball game Saturday, June 27, 2009, in Phoenix. The Angels defeated the Diamondbacks 2-1. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

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Okay, Darren Oliver is apparently going to be a Ranger. There's been talk since the offseason started about C.J. Wilson getting a look in the starting rotation, and with Oliver joining the team, I think the assumption has to be that Wilson will be a starter in 2010...signing Oliver doesn't make any sense, given the makeup and needs of this team, if Wilson is in the 2010 bullpen.

So...what does the rotation for 2010 look like? Presumably, we have Rich Harden, Scott Feldman, Tommy Hunter, C.J. Wilson, and either Brandon McCarthy or Derek Holland. McCarthy is supposedly being shopped, so it could be that the Oliver signing is a precursor to a McCarthy deal, which would mean Holland is in the rotation at the start of the season. Otherwise, given that Holland has options, if the Rangers don't move anyone else and everyone in the rotation is healthy to start the season, I think Holland is in AAA and McCarthy is in the rotation.

Moving to the bullpen...I'm going to assume that the Rangers are going to go with a 7 man bullpen. There's been talk that they could go with a 6 man pen, but I think that is unlikely at this point.

Four of the seven spots seem set -- Frankie Francisco, Darren Oliver, Darren O'Day, and your LOOGY, who is probably either Clay Rapada or Ben Snyder. Then you have your long man, who is probably Dustin Nippert, who is out of options. If you want to go the two long men route, then you take Doug Mathis as well. And if Chris Ray is healthy, he's presumably making the bullpen out of spring training.

In which case, barring injury, the only real question for the bullpen is, who gets that 7th spot? Mathis? Neftali Feliz, as the power setup guy? Luis Mendoza, who is out of options? Someone else, like an NRI or a Guillermo Moscoso or a Warner Madrigal?

This also, of course, assumes everyone stays healthy, which is a dicey proposition...but it appears that there's a real good chance, given this move, that Neftali Feliz and Derek Holland both start the season in AAA, most likely in the rotation, waiting for an opportunity to come up and replace someone.

T.R. Sullivan: Rangers agree with Darren Oliver on a one year deal

Adam J. Morris — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:36:14 -0000

T.R. Sullivan is reporting that the Rangers have agreed with Darren Oliver on a one year deal for $3.5 million with a vesting option, pending a physical.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record...I don't get this deal.

Monday morning Rangers stuff

Adam J. Morris — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 15:14:05 -0000

So, yeah...the news today is that the Rangers are reportedly about to sign Darren Oliver to a one year, $3.5 million deal with a vesting option.

I don't get it. The problem isn't that Oliver has been bad of late -- he hasn't. He's been a solid reliever for the Angels.

The problem is that a lefty setup man/middle reliever doesn't seem to be real high on the Rangers list of needs, and this is a team that supposedly has almost no money to spend. A team with almost no money to spend probably shouldn't be spending it on a 39 year old reliever.

Jeff Wilson writes that Oliver would give the Rangers six lefthanders to sort through for bullpen roles.

To me, this indicates that either C.J. Wilson will be in the rotation, or that he is going to be traded. It doesn't make a lot of sense to go out and get Oliver, and give him a contract like this, if you are going to keep Wilson in the pen.

Jerry Crasnick: Rangers in Serious Negotiations with Darren Oliver

Adam J. Morris — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 02:22:57 -0000

More photos » by Mark Avery - AP

8 months ago: Los Angeles Angels, left from center, Vladimir Guerrero, Darren Oliver, and Torii Hunter, raise a flag commemorating the team's 2008 American League Western Division Championship before a baseball game against the Oakland Athletics in Anaheim, Calif., Monday, April 6, 2009. (AP Photo/Mark Avery)

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Jerry Crasnick is reporting that the Rangers are in serious negotiations with free agent reliever Darren Oliver.

There's been talk for a while that the Rangers have interest in Oliver, but I figured it was a kicking the tires type thing. Actually signing him -- probably on a one year deal for about $2-3 million -- seems to be a weird allocation of resources. I talked before about how I wished the Rangers could have been in on Nick Johnson, and if the Rangers have money for both Oliver and a Jermaine Dye/Mike Lowell/Vlad Guerrero type bat, it seems like there was enough money there to just sign Johnson.

Also, adding Oliver, with Clay Rapada and Ben Snyder in the mix, seems to make it a lot more likely that C.J. Wilson will start the season in the rotation, which makes the rotation more crowded.

We'll have to see how this plays out, and how much Oliver signs for, but right now, I just don't get this.

UPDATE -- Evan Grant thinks it will be for more than $3 million. I'm flabbergasted.

Stop Saying Omar Minaya Only Goes After Latino Players

James Kannengieser — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 17:30:14 -0000

The "Omar Minaya only pursues Latino players" topic has appeared again this offseason and the propagators of this myth are out in full force. Perhaps it was brought on by the signings of Alex Cora, Henry Blanco and Elmer Dessens. Maybe embarrassing rubbish like this post is promoting it. Even the mainstream media has been involved, as Bill Madden of the Daily News, ~~deserving~~ winner of this year's J.G. Taylor Spink Award for excellence in baseball journalism, wrote the following in a recent column, only to have the word "Latin" later removed:

Mets? Did somebody say the Mets? They won't spend the money for Holliday, Bay or Lackey and apparently, they're only interested in signing low-budget Latin players...

It's sad that this topic still needs to be addressed. Looking at the racial makeup of the Mets 40-man roster, as provided by a comment from Mark last week, the Mets had 15 Latinos out of 39 players, or 38%. About 29% of MLB players are Latino, meaning the Mets have four more Latin American players on their roster than average. Wow, stop the presses! How many Latinos are presently on the World Champion Yankees' roster? Answer: 19 out of 37, good for 51%. This is irrefutable evidence that Brian Cashman only goes after Latino players. Let the Yankee fan outrage begin. Former Mariners GM Bill Bavasi signed Raul Ibanez, Carlos Silva and Adrian Beltre to free agent contracts in his short tenure, and traded for Miguel Olivo and Horacio Ramirez - he too must have only gone after Latinos!

There's more research to be done here I suppose, analyzing the racial breakdown of Mets trades, free agent contracts and the minor leagues under Omar. However, it's not worth mine or anyone's time indulging the uninformed masses who think a general manager would choose 1.5 WAR* Player A over 3.5 WAR Player B because Player A shares the same heritage.

* - If you like, substitute any metric or evaluator you think Omar and co. might use in lieu of WAR. The point remains the same.

Last winter, Omar's Mets were part of a blockbuster three team trade which included Mariners and Indians. In the biggest trade of his reign, at least in terms of player volume, he gave up four Latino players and received (gasp!) three white players in return. It had nothing to do with race. Omar wanted to upgrade the bullpen at seemingly any cost and he got his guy, J.J. Putz. Flawed evaluation of players? Almost certainly. Racial bias motivating a transaction? No, sorry. It's curious how transactions like this are conveniently ignored once the Omar racism watchdogs come out of their holes to spout absurdity. Usually, Oliver Perez, Moises Alou, Orlando Hernandez and Luis Castillo are brought up with nary a mention of Tim Redding, Scott Schoeneweis, Darren Oliver or Gary Sheffield.

If you think Omar Minaya only goes after "certain players" it's because you want to believe the poorly performing GM of your favorite baseball team favors one race over another. It's because you want to believe he has some sort of scheme to decrease the number of non-Latinos in baseball, or to increase money paid out to Latinos in this country. Criticizing his moves in the strict baseball context is not enough for you - it has to become personal, an assault on Omar's character. As always, you're free to have these beliefs, but you're flat-out wrong.