I'm not sure if that report is entirely accurate. Valverde has 5 full years in the majors, and you get 6 before becoming a free agent. That would mean the club only has one more year of control. I guess it's possible that he wasn't accruing service time at some point in 04 when he only appeared in 29 games, but I would guess that he was. Also, I can't imagine him asking for any less than the deal Cordero signed this off-season. He has pretty similar numbers and is 5 years younger.
It's quite obvious that Wade wants to WIN NOW. Yes, the future could be iffy ... for he's pushing all of his chips to the center of the table. & I don't mind one bit. Anything is better than last year.
What about doubles/9 ratio? & singles/9 ratio? & triples/9 ratio? Homers may happen ... but 47 & 2.66 don't lie. If Qualls leads the league in saves this year, I'm the man on the moon.
From the AZ Snakepit By Jim McLennan Posted on Sun Dec 09, 2007 at 11:53:15 PM EDT Jose Valverde He may have caused his share of digestive upsets during the season, but no-one in the major-league saved more games than Papa Grande. He was good enough to complete 47 of 54 opportunities, and there were not very many 'easy' games there - only thirteen of the 54 were with three-run leads. All opposing hitters were kept to a .196 average by Valverde, and it made little difference from which side of the plate they came (RHB: .189; LHB: .202), or whether he was at Chase or anywhere else (Home: .198; Road: .192). The only glitch came when he blew back-to-back saves on July 27 and August 1, but Jose responded by nailing his next four opportunities without a base-runner, striking out six in 4.1 innings, part of a ten-game spell where he allowed three hits over 37 batters faced. His value to a team which lived and died by the one-run game, can hardly be over-stated.
Actually, saves and ERA are two of the poorer ways of judging the value of relief pitchers. Both are very team-dependent. A reliever can allow a lot of inherited runners to score and still have a respectable ERA. By the same token, if he has good arms behind him who pick up his inherited runners, he can allow a bunch of baserunners, but still have a low ERA. Save totals can also be misleading because they can be accumulated in such a variety of game situations. I'd rather have a closer with 25 saves in 1-run games than one with 40 saves in 3-run games. All saves are not equal. Don't get me wrong, Valverde had a tremendous season, but saves and ERA are among the numbers than can be least representative of a reliever's true value.
ahhhhhh so torn! Qualls was my favorite Astro.. and my chant.. and I was pumped that he was gonna get the closer opportunity. But this is a good trade overall. Getting a proven closer for Qualls + a guy that everyone knows we're trying to move.. On the flipside, we really have no more chips to deal for a SP...so it's undoubtedly the free agent pu-pu platter along with whoever we decide to keep from the current crop
This sorta how the Rocket's off season went. I'm not getting excited until I see results...but it sure is interesting watching it all materialize.
I believe what you say, & everything ... but it sure is nice what Wade is doing. He's rid us of dead weight, & is taking a chance. Instead of the Lidge/Qualls dry heave puke-fest, I get to watch two or three completely different guys try to save it/blow it.
I'm not disagreeing with you. Valverde is a good pitcher who had a great 2007, far better than any single season Qualls has had. However, if you look at their careers, Valverde has been much more inconsistent. Enough so that Valverde has only a slight edge in career value. If he repeats his 2007 numbers, it will be a slam-dunk win for the Astros, but I still think the potential is there for a repeat of 2006. Whereas Qualls will likely be good, but not great.
Seriously, what are they going to do if they need to call someone up next year to fill a rotation spot? If I had Round Rock season tickets I'd be pissed. The sheer volume of quality young pitchers they have traded away the last two years is truly astounding. I appreciate the volume for quality arguments, and think it makes sense up to a point but seriously... At some point that sort of volume will come back and bite your ass. This also puts more on the shoulders of Doug Brocail than I would have hoped. He becomes the setup guy I guess, or maybe Oscar Villarreal? Neither one fills me with confidence. Are there any decent set-up guys available out there?
That is hilarious. I always thought you hated Qualls and you sig is what you yelled when he would give up a homer. Man was I confused.
This seems like a lateral trade to me. Not much to think either way about it. Valverde's peripherals, which are more indicative of future success than useless stats like Saves(no matter how you break it down), are not great. Good, but not great. He may or may not be an upgrade over Qualls, although I'm betting on a small upgrade. And since Burke apparently is worthless to this team, he was just a throw-in. So this is just a matter of D-Backs unloading salary.
The only minor (no pun intended) difference being that one did it in the actual major leagues. Certainly can't complain about getting the major league saves leader. I know the actual stat isn't the best way to look at it, but he has to have been doing something right. The D-Backs had a pretty bad offense which led to a lot of close games. Now to get a starter or 2 and we are set.
Our "prospects" are funny... Gutierrez went 1-1 with a 5.91 ERA in seven games - three starts - for Houston last season. The 24-year-old also posted a 5-10 mark with a 4.15 ERA in 26 games, including 25 starts, for Class AAA Round Rock of the Pacific Coast League.
