Post by Fuck Mike Brown on Nov 23, 2007 21:34:44 GMT -5
The Reds have agreed in principle to a deal with former Brewers closer Francisco Cordero, multiple sources said. Here is the Reds.com press release:
CINCINNATI -- The Reds made a huge move to improve the National League's lowest-ranked bullpen on Friday by agreeing to a four-year, $46 million contract with former Brewers closer Francisco Cordero.
A source familiar with the negotiations confirmed the deal with MLB.com. It comes with a $12 million club option for the 2012 season and a $1 million buyout. The signing is pending a physical next week.
In terms of guaranteed money, Cordero's contract would be the largest ever for a reliever.
Cordero is at his home in the Dominican Republic and isn't expected to come to Cincinnati until Tuesday or Wednesday.
Reached Friday evening, Reds general manager Wayne Krivsky would not confirm that his team landed Cordero.
"There's no deal," Krivsky said. "We've had conversations, I can tell you that. There's nothing to announce. That's where it stands."
But Brewers GM Doug Melvin said that agent Bean Stringfellow informed him on Thursday that Cordero had chosen Cincinnati. Milwaukee offered $42 million over four years with a $13 million option for a fifth year, but apparently came up short.
"It's about setting the bar. Now they have a new bar for relief pitchers," Melvin said. "Francisco is a very good pitcher, and it's definitely going to help Cincinnati and hurt us. ... We thought that we made him a very solid offer. A million dollars a year more, who knows? With these high salaries this year, who knows what is enough. If we would have been at $44 [million] or $45 [million], would he have chosen us? I don't know. We never got the opportunity top go there. [Stringfellow] never came to us and said, 'Will you go there? We had people who thought we were bidding against ourselves last week."
Cordero, 32, was one of the top closers available on the market this winter. In 66 appearances for Milwaukee this past season, he was 0-4 with a 2.98 ERA and 44 saves in 51 chances. He is a two-time All-Star, including in 2007.
According to the source, the Astros were also vying for Cordero's services against Cincinnati and Milwaukee.
Hot Stove
A nine-year veteran of the Tigers, Rangers and Brewers, Cordero has 177 career saves and a 3.29 lifetime ERA. He had a career high of 49 saves with Texas in 2004.
Assuming Cordero passes his physical and joins Cincinnati, current closer David Weathers would likely move back into a setup role. Weathers had 33 saves for the Reds in 2007. The club's back end of the bullpen is also bolstered with right-hander Jared Burton, a rookie who emerged as a strong eighth-inning option.
Fixing the bullpen was one of the Reds' top priorities during this offseason. Last season, Cincinnati relievers posted a 23-31 record, a league-high 5.13 ERA and converted 34 of 61 saves.
cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071123&content_id=2306873&vkey=news_cin&fext=.jsp&c_id=cin
The contract will be the most ever for a four year deal for a closer. Cordero will be the highest paid player on the Reds. This is great news for Reds fans. It greatly improves one of the Reds greatest needs- the bullpen. Sure the Reds over payed giving him forty-six million, but that is what it took to get him. I don't know how effective he'll be three years from now, being thirty-three now. Although Krivsky will not admit it, him and the Reds have agreed to a deal. Krivsky saying that they are talking is a lot more than he usually says.
Here are Cordero's numbers from last season:
G
IP
H
R
HR
BB
K
W
L
S
P/GS
Wh.
BA
66 63.1 52 23 4 18 86 0 4 44 0.0 1.11 .218 2.98
^ERA
He put together a stellar season with the Brewers. He has great stuff, and doesn't give up many home runs.
Look at the bullpen with him:
C- Cordero
S- David Weathers
M- Jared Burton
M- Bill Bray
M- ?
L-?
This does more than giving the Reds an elite closer. It pushes all of their relief pitchers back a role. Weathers goes back to pitching where he is most comfortable, in the eighth, Burton to the seventh, and Bray to the sixth. It instantly gives the Reds a decent bullpen, maybe even a good one. I still want them to get another middle reliever, but that is not very difficult. This also helps the rotation. When the young Reds starters pitch, it lets Dusty Baker pull them early. This helps to save the young pitcher's arms, and helps them with giving up less runs. You have to think of these things before judging the signing.
But the most important thing about this signing might be that the Reds are finally spending some money. The most expensive free agent the Reds brought in prior to this was Eric Milton. it shows that owner Bob Castellini is willing to spend money and increase the payroll in order to win. The Reds are finally players in this overblown market, and I am very happy for that. No longer will the Reds stand pat during the offseason. Wayne Krivsky showed that he gets what he wants, and does it early.
I don't really understand why Cordero left the Brewers to get one million more dollars a year, but he did. He must of not like Milwaukee as much as he said he did.
Obviously, the next thing the Reds have to do is acquire some starting pitching. I think that the Reds chose to spend all of their money on a closer because they didn't feel comfortable with giving a lot of money to an unproven starter. And who can blame them. The best starters in the free agent pool are Kyle Louse and Carlos Silva. Ouch! I do like Silva, but he's not worth the money that he'll be signed for. I'd rather spend a lot of money on a elite and proven closer than a mediocre starter.
So I think this signing sets up a trade for the Reds to make. They need starting pitching, and probably don't have the money to get a starter in free agency. There are many options for the Reds. Two that come to mind that would be reasonable would be the A's Joe Blaton and the Twins Matt Garza. Edwin Encarnacion and Josh Hamilton look to be the Reds best trading chips for pitching. We'll see what happens.
So to sum things up, I really like this signing, for the many reason talked about above.
cincinnatiredsbaseball.blogspot.com/2007/11/reds-sign-cordero.html
BTW, I know this goes in the Reds forum. But since this is the biggest news of the day in the MLB, I posted it here.
CINCINNATI -- The Reds made a huge move to improve the National League's lowest-ranked bullpen on Friday by agreeing to a four-year, $46 million contract with former Brewers closer Francisco Cordero.
A source familiar with the negotiations confirmed the deal with MLB.com. It comes with a $12 million club option for the 2012 season and a $1 million buyout. The signing is pending a physical next week.
In terms of guaranteed money, Cordero's contract would be the largest ever for a reliever.
Cordero is at his home in the Dominican Republic and isn't expected to come to Cincinnati until Tuesday or Wednesday.
Reached Friday evening, Reds general manager Wayne Krivsky would not confirm that his team landed Cordero.
"There's no deal," Krivsky said. "We've had conversations, I can tell you that. There's nothing to announce. That's where it stands."
But Brewers GM Doug Melvin said that agent Bean Stringfellow informed him on Thursday that Cordero had chosen Cincinnati. Milwaukee offered $42 million over four years with a $13 million option for a fifth year, but apparently came up short.
"It's about setting the bar. Now they have a new bar for relief pitchers," Melvin said. "Francisco is a very good pitcher, and it's definitely going to help Cincinnati and hurt us. ... We thought that we made him a very solid offer. A million dollars a year more, who knows? With these high salaries this year, who knows what is enough. If we would have been at $44 [million] or $45 [million], would he have chosen us? I don't know. We never got the opportunity top go there. [Stringfellow] never came to us and said, 'Will you go there? We had people who thought we were bidding against ourselves last week."
Cordero, 32, was one of the top closers available on the market this winter. In 66 appearances for Milwaukee this past season, he was 0-4 with a 2.98 ERA and 44 saves in 51 chances. He is a two-time All-Star, including in 2007.
According to the source, the Astros were also vying for Cordero's services against Cincinnati and Milwaukee.
Hot Stove
A nine-year veteran of the Tigers, Rangers and Brewers, Cordero has 177 career saves and a 3.29 lifetime ERA. He had a career high of 49 saves with Texas in 2004.
Assuming Cordero passes his physical and joins Cincinnati, current closer David Weathers would likely move back into a setup role. Weathers had 33 saves for the Reds in 2007. The club's back end of the bullpen is also bolstered with right-hander Jared Burton, a rookie who emerged as a strong eighth-inning option.
Fixing the bullpen was one of the Reds' top priorities during this offseason. Last season, Cincinnati relievers posted a 23-31 record, a league-high 5.13 ERA and converted 34 of 61 saves.
cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071123&content_id=2306873&vkey=news_cin&fext=.jsp&c_id=cin
The contract will be the most ever for a four year deal for a closer. Cordero will be the highest paid player on the Reds. This is great news for Reds fans. It greatly improves one of the Reds greatest needs- the bullpen. Sure the Reds over payed giving him forty-six million, but that is what it took to get him. I don't know how effective he'll be three years from now, being thirty-three now. Although Krivsky will not admit it, him and the Reds have agreed to a deal. Krivsky saying that they are talking is a lot more than he usually says.
Here are Cordero's numbers from last season:
G
IP
H
R
HR
BB
K
W
L
S
P/GS
Wh.
BA
66 63.1 52 23 4 18 86 0 4 44 0.0 1.11 .218 2.98
^ERA
He put together a stellar season with the Brewers. He has great stuff, and doesn't give up many home runs.
Look at the bullpen with him:
C- Cordero
S- David Weathers
M- Jared Burton
M- Bill Bray
M- ?
L-?
This does more than giving the Reds an elite closer. It pushes all of their relief pitchers back a role. Weathers goes back to pitching where he is most comfortable, in the eighth, Burton to the seventh, and Bray to the sixth. It instantly gives the Reds a decent bullpen, maybe even a good one. I still want them to get another middle reliever, but that is not very difficult. This also helps the rotation. When the young Reds starters pitch, it lets Dusty Baker pull them early. This helps to save the young pitcher's arms, and helps them with giving up less runs. You have to think of these things before judging the signing.
But the most important thing about this signing might be that the Reds are finally spending some money. The most expensive free agent the Reds brought in prior to this was Eric Milton. it shows that owner Bob Castellini is willing to spend money and increase the payroll in order to win. The Reds are finally players in this overblown market, and I am very happy for that. No longer will the Reds stand pat during the offseason. Wayne Krivsky showed that he gets what he wants, and does it early.
I don't really understand why Cordero left the Brewers to get one million more dollars a year, but he did. He must of not like Milwaukee as much as he said he did.
Obviously, the next thing the Reds have to do is acquire some starting pitching. I think that the Reds chose to spend all of their money on a closer because they didn't feel comfortable with giving a lot of money to an unproven starter. And who can blame them. The best starters in the free agent pool are Kyle Louse and Carlos Silva. Ouch! I do like Silva, but he's not worth the money that he'll be signed for. I'd rather spend a lot of money on a elite and proven closer than a mediocre starter.
So I think this signing sets up a trade for the Reds to make. They need starting pitching, and probably don't have the money to get a starter in free agency. There are many options for the Reds. Two that come to mind that would be reasonable would be the A's Joe Blaton and the Twins Matt Garza. Edwin Encarnacion and Josh Hamilton look to be the Reds best trading chips for pitching. We'll see what happens.
So to sum things up, I really like this signing, for the many reason talked about above.
cincinnatiredsbaseball.blogspot.com/2007/11/reds-sign-cordero.html
BTW, I know this goes in the Reds forum. But since this is the biggest news of the day in the MLB, I posted it here.
