Signing(s): Ryan Madson to Athletics - 3 years/22 M

[hockeykicker]

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[Voight]

Dodgers strike out AGAIN, wow.

 

[TF97]

Big addition to the A's bullpen. If Doolittle can bounce back then the A's actually have a solid back end of the pen.

 

[Chazz Reinhold]

Dodgers strike out AGAIN, wow.

Yeah, no. It's not like the Dodgers NEEDED Madson, and it's not like they really need to be spending $7+ million a season on him. Their bullpen situation isn't as dire as some people like to think it is.

Case in point: http://dodgersdigest.com/2015/11/10...starting-from-a-better-place-than-youd-think/

 

[GKJ]

Good for Madson. What a comeback he's had. Amazing.

 

[Quid Pro Clowe]

Yes! Bullpen was the reason they finished 68-94 and not 94-68 (maybe not, but still)

Glad they're addressing their biggest issue.

Also, I read he was wanting 3/36, this is significantly less. A's were probably the only ones willing to give the 3rd year.

 

[Virtanen18]

Can you really count on Madson bouncing back for 3 more good years? Looks to me like a guy who will come crashing back down to earth.

 

[Virtanen18]

Yeah, no. It's not like the Dodgers NEEDED Madson, and it's not like they really need to be spending $7+ million a season on him. Their bullpen situation isn't as dire as some people like to think it is.

Case in point: http://dodgersdigest.com/2015/11/10...starting-from-a-better-place-than-youd-think/

Nah their bullpen blows. Can't really trust anyone but Jansen.

 

[Terry Yake]

great news considering the A's "bullpen" last season, if you can even call it that, was easily the worst I've ever seen in all my years of being an A's fan

they need some new faces in there and madson will be a good fit

 

[Quid Pro Clowe]

Can you really count on Madson bouncing back for 3 more good years? Looks to me like a guy who will come crashing back down to earth.

Can you really count on any pitcher for 3 years?

Obviously this is a risky move, but one they needed to take.

 

[Chazz Reinhold]

Nah their bullpen blows. Can't really trust anyone but Jansen.

...? Good analysis.

 

[Foppa]

Knew he was going to cost too much to bring back. He was shaky in pressure situations in the playoffs but was terrific in the regular season. Best of luck to Ryan, he was a great story last season and will forever be a part of a Royals team for the ages. One thing GMDM has been great at is finding low-priced pitching depth (Madsen and Young last season) so we are going to need to find a few diamonds later on in free agency once again because those low-priced gems from last year are no longer low-priced. Still praying we do re-sign CY though...

 

[Virtanen18]

Can you really count on any pitcher for 3 years?

Obviously this is a risky move, but one they needed to take.

Maybe not. But even less so on a 35 year old who was recently out of the league for 3 years.

 

[Voight]

Yeah, no. It's not like the Dodgers NEEDED Madson, and it's not like they really need to be spending $7+ million a season on him. Their bullpen situation isn't as dire as some people like to think it is.

Case in point: http://dodgersdigest.com/2015/11/10...starting-from-a-better-place-than-youd-think/

Didn't say they NEEDED him, just they keeps striking out on everyone they've been going for.

 

[darko]

Yeah, no. It's not like the Dodgers NEEDED Madson, and it's not like they really need to be spending $7+ million a season on him. Their bullpen situation isn't as dire as some people like to think it is.

Case in point: http://dodgersdigest.com/2015/11/10...starting-from-a-better-place-than-youd-think/

Their bullpen ERA was still in the bottom half of the league. They weren't as bad as in 2014 but they weren't good and sure as hell could use someone like Madson or O'Day.

 

[TootooTrain]

I like Madson, but eh..3 years? Bounced back nicely from injury but I would have needed to see more before doing this. If he's healthy, then it's all moot and it's a nice signing in hindsight.

 

[Static]

Pretty much buying prospects when they inevitably trade him in a year and a half.

 

[Chazz Reinhold]

Their bullpen ERA was still in the bottom half of the league. They weren't as bad as in 2014 but they weren't good and sure as hell could use someone like Madson or O'Day.

Though they struck out more (26.1% to 22.3%) and walked fewer (7.6% to 9.9%) than they had in 2014, an inflated home run per nine rate (.98 up from .70) and a higher BABIP (.317 from .293) led to pretty similar run prevention (3.91 up from 3.80).

The underlying numbers show their ERA likely should have been better. The increased BABIP hurt. The increased HR/9 hurt (although, that could be due to the fly ball tendencies of pitchers like Garcia, and to a lesser extent, Baez -- however, it's impossible to say whether or not that will carry over to next season). They still have the high K/low BB guys that contributed to the strong numbers in those categories last year (Garcia, Baez, Jansen, Hatcher).

Also on point:

[T]hey’ve already excised the biggest problems. Jim Johnson is long gone. Guys like Chin-hui Tsao, Eric Surkamp, Sergio Santos, etc., who all contributed to the overall season line won’t be back.

They have some promising young pitchers in the minors who could contribute to the bullpen in the second half next season (Jharel Cotton, Jose De Leon, Julio Urias, etc.).

Further, had the 4th worst inherited-runners-scored percentage, which appears to be a volatile statistic subject to fluctuation from year to year (http://dodgers.mlblogs.com/2015/12/04/dodger-relievers-can-once-again-be-grand-at-the-strand/).

They're really not in as bad of a spot as people think. Would it be nice if they added an elite reliever? Of course, most teams would like that.

 

[Edo]

Disaster waiting to happen. Seems like something that Oakland should've done when he was attempting to make a comeback instead of the year after. He looked pretty average, and was Kansas' 4th choice coming out of the bull pen. The demand for bullpen arms is crazy.

Seemed really shaky whenever he played against Toronto and in the post season games I saw him in.

 

[Quid Pro Clowe]

Looked pretty average? His whip was below 1 and he almost struck out a guy per inning in 63 innings. You and I have different definitions of average.

And bullpen demands are outrageous right now because teams like the A's bullpen was so bad last year they lost them 30 one run games (a lot with leads in the 7th or later). You don't notice how valuable a bullpen is until your team has a garbage one.

 

[Quid Pro Clowe]

Maybe not. But even less so on a 35 year old who was recently out of the league for 3 years.

True, but he stayed pretty healthy for about a decade prior and had no issues last year. The risk is worth the reward at this time.

 

[Edo]

Looked pretty average? His whip was below 1 and he almost struck out a guy per inning in 63 innings. You and I have different definitions of average.

In the games I've seen,

10 IP 21 H 10 ER 3 BB 18 K

So he's been pretty average in the games I've seen him against Tor and then the post season. Just not a guy that I would want put into pressure situations. It might have to also do with the fact that you'd see much superior pitchers in Davis, Herrera, and Holland after.

Nearly blow it for Kansas against Houston + Toronto. It's stupid money. Especially when O'Day is pretty much at the same AAV. And it's Oakland.

It's a weird move all around.

 

[TF97]

It really doesn't matter how he looked when you saw him. Overall he was very good for Kansas City last season. It's not his fault that he had Herrera, Davis, and Holland ahead of him for the majority of the season. The A's had a **** bullpen last season and they desperately needed a guy like Madson.

 

[robert terwilliger]

i guess we should only count games that certain people are watching.

 

[TF97]

i guess we should only count games that certain people are watching.

It's how the Blue Jays thread works. Why not bring that nonsense over to here!