Post by Fish Troll on Feb 2, 2008 2:59:33 GMT -5
Tribe, Julio agree to Minor League dealFormer closer invited to camp, will battle for bullpen spot
By Anthony Castrovince / MLB.com
CLEVELAND -- An Indians team that appeared to be heading into Spring Training with its bullpen all but set has a new and intriguing name to add to the mix.
The Tribe reached an agreement on Thursday with veteran reliever Jorge Julio on a one-year Minor League contract with an invitation to Spring Training camp. Julio began the 2007 season with the Marlins before becoming an important cog in the Rockies' bullpen down the stretch.
Consider Julio, 28, a candidate for the final spot in the Indians bullpen. The first six spots are expected to be filled by closer Joe Borowski, setup men Rafael Betancourt, Rafael Perez and Masahide Kobayashi, right-hander Jensen Lewis and left-hander Aaron Fultz.
Tom Mastny, who has pitched out of the Tribe 'pen the past two seasons, was the early favorite to land the last spot, but Julio's invite gives him a chance to make an impact this spring. Three other non-roster invitees -- right-handers Rick Bauer, Matt Ginter and Jeff Harris -- also have big league bullpen experience.
When last we saw Julio, he was giving up a two-run homer to the Padres' Jerry Hairston in the top of the 13th inning of the National League Wild Card tiebreaker. That homer looked as if it would cost the Rockies a playoff berth, but they managed to rally in their final at-bat. The Rockies ended up leaving Julio off their roster for the postseason, citing his sore neck.
Indians general manager Mark Shapiro said Julio will be fully healthy when pitchers and catchers report to camp in Winter Haven, Fla., in two weeks.
"This gives us more competition," Shapiro said of the Julio signing. "Competition is always a positive thing. Anytime you have the ability to bring in additional guys who have pitched in meaningful roles in the big leagues, the team will benefit from that."
Before the late-season neck problems and the meltdown against the Padres, Julio was a stabilizer in the Colorado 'pen. In his first 24 appearances with the team after his May acquisition from the Marlins, he posted a 2.38 ERA and limited opponents to a .213 average.
For the '07 season, Julio, a native of Venezuela, went 0-5 with a 5.23 ERA in 68 games. He was tough on left-handers, holding them to a .227 average with no homers.
In his seven-year career, which began with the Orioles and has included stints with the Mets and Diamondbacks, Julio is 13-33 with a 4.35 ERA and 99 saves. His best season came in 2003, when he saved 36 games for Baltimore.
Anthony Castrovince is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
By Anthony Castrovince / MLB.com
CLEVELAND -- An Indians team that appeared to be heading into Spring Training with its bullpen all but set has a new and intriguing name to add to the mix.
The Tribe reached an agreement on Thursday with veteran reliever Jorge Julio on a one-year Minor League contract with an invitation to Spring Training camp. Julio began the 2007 season with the Marlins before becoming an important cog in the Rockies' bullpen down the stretch.
Consider Julio, 28, a candidate for the final spot in the Indians bullpen. The first six spots are expected to be filled by closer Joe Borowski, setup men Rafael Betancourt, Rafael Perez and Masahide Kobayashi, right-hander Jensen Lewis and left-hander Aaron Fultz.
Tom Mastny, who has pitched out of the Tribe 'pen the past two seasons, was the early favorite to land the last spot, but Julio's invite gives him a chance to make an impact this spring. Three other non-roster invitees -- right-handers Rick Bauer, Matt Ginter and Jeff Harris -- also have big league bullpen experience.
When last we saw Julio, he was giving up a two-run homer to the Padres' Jerry Hairston in the top of the 13th inning of the National League Wild Card tiebreaker. That homer looked as if it would cost the Rockies a playoff berth, but they managed to rally in their final at-bat. The Rockies ended up leaving Julio off their roster for the postseason, citing his sore neck.
Indians general manager Mark Shapiro said Julio will be fully healthy when pitchers and catchers report to camp in Winter Haven, Fla., in two weeks.
"This gives us more competition," Shapiro said of the Julio signing. "Competition is always a positive thing. Anytime you have the ability to bring in additional guys who have pitched in meaningful roles in the big leagues, the team will benefit from that."
Before the late-season neck problems and the meltdown against the Padres, Julio was a stabilizer in the Colorado 'pen. In his first 24 appearances with the team after his May acquisition from the Marlins, he posted a 2.38 ERA and limited opponents to a .213 average.
For the '07 season, Julio, a native of Venezuela, went 0-5 with a 5.23 ERA in 68 games. He was tough on left-handers, holding them to a .227 average with no homers.
In his seven-year career, which began with the Orioles and has included stints with the Mets and Diamondbacks, Julio is 13-33 with a 4.35 ERA and 99 saves. His best season came in 2003, when he saved 36 games for Baltimore.
Anthony Castrovince is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080131&content_id=2360577&vkey=hotstove2007&fext=.jsp
Tribe sign veteran relief pitcher Jorge Julio as their new human white flag for their bullpen. "He has a lot of experience", said one of the scouts. "He wave the flag plenty of time before and we are sure he will teach our younger 6.00+ ERA pitchers how to blow games the right way". Julio played for the Marlins and the Rockies last year. As a Marlins he started the season as their closer with 99 save in his career. He first shown a lot of potential when he got his first save opportunity against the Nationals 7th, 8th, and 9th hitter and blew it, leaving fans wonder what will be in store from this guy against real MLB teams. He prove to be something else when every time he get an appearence, nothing good ever happen, even when sent down to Triple A for rehabbed, he still pitch bad games. When after Julio blew a game that lasted about 6 hours in 2am in the morning, because of rain delay (a 1 pitch grandslam), Beinfest had it with this guy and trade him away to Rockies for SP Kim. During his time in Rockies, he continue to blow games, the most memorable one was when Julio almost blew the National League Wild Card tiebreaker against the Padres in the 13th inning. Luckily the team rally back at the bottom of the inning but their GM also had it with Julio and decide to take him out of the 25 men roster before the playoff begin. Julio came into the season with 99 saves, and he ended the season with the same exact number. What is in store for Julio this year in Indians uniform, there is no smiley out there that can describe the possible outcome.
