i disagree. drayton mcclane's not paying brad lidge $5.4M because he's an effective middle reliever, especially when he sees rick white putting up lidge-like numbers for nearly $5M less. if mcclane's even a decent businessman (and he is), he'd have to be nearly comatose to not approach the lidge situation from a financial standpoint.
It's a guaranteed contract. What do you want Drayton to do? It makes even *less* business sense to forfeit games based on someone's salary.
I'm fairly sure ol' Drayton familiar with sunk costs. It's a 1 year deal, if he's still stuck in setup land for the Stros after this year, then yeah, it may make financial sense to trade him instead of going to arbitration. The only way I could see his salary being an issue this season is if it prevented them from making a move, and money has never been an obstacle to a mid-season acquisition by Drayton's Astros. Sorry Ric, but I really don't see your point.
which someone else would have to pay the remainder of if he's dealt (roughly $1M/month). and isn't he arb-elg this summer on top of that? meanwhile, mcclane's paying the rest of his bullpen (five guys) roughly $4.2M. i would be shocked if mcclane views the bullpen as a collective at the expense of individual ROI. again, if he could pay a guy $600K to do what lidge is doing and save 4 months of lidge's salary - why wouldn't he at least explore it? i don't think mcclane is cheap; but i don't think he's stupid, either. he has a commodity that could help him unload unnecessary salary at a less than vital position. unless lidge is (successfully) closing out games, he's the most overpaid player in baseball. well, ok, one of... you mean, other than the looming arbitration and his money potentially impacting a mid-season acquisition that you mentioned...?
His salary matters not one iota *this season*, Ric. That's all I've said. Drayton has never allowed money to interfere with an in-season acquisition.
That's all I've said, too. I thought it was pretty crystal-clear, frankly. And, a deadline-trade of Lidge, if it nets something productive, would certainly be a good idea. But what does that have to do with moving him back to closer because of his salary? Nothing.
and that may yet prove to be accurate. at the same time, *this season* is barely a month old and the potentially brewing situation in the bullpen has yet to fully rear its ugly head. as stated - if, in july, lidge is still pitching well and still not closing... his salary most certainly DOES become an issue. there's not an extensive history to suggest with any certainity his tendencies, but many of his significant deals have been coupled with additional moves that certainly off-set costs: in 2004, they dealt hidalgo and his (non-prorated) $12.5M salary a week before acquiring beltran and his (non-prorated) $9M salary; in 2001, lima was dealt for milecki; powell was dealt was villone. those deals preceeded deals for astacio and williams a month later. otherwise, they absorbed roughly 2.8M in the huff deal last year and roughly 1.5M in '02 when they landed gordon and loretta in august. and he could have easily offsets those minimal costs with home playoff games. so a precedent is definitely there for mcclane off-setting in-season deals with additional moves. and having a potentially wanted arb-el middle reliever making $5.4M certainly invites the possibility they might explore dealing lidge later this summer IF he's not earning that money as the team's closer. frankly, they'd be fools not to.
hold up - i never said that. it's lopez's column, remember; not mine. i merely agreed with him that lidge's turnaround has the potential to create some tricky situations that the astros might have to deal with later this year, among them lidge's salary. are they content to pay a middle reliever $5.4M? would they replace an otherwise effective wheeler with lidge just because of the salary? etc. i don't agree with you or buck that salary will play no issue; i believe that's being naive. how big an issue is yet to be resolved.
and for the record: lopez didn't say that either. his column merely pointed out the various ways lidge's turnaround might impact the team.
My bad. And, I don't think we're that far apart. Will Lidge's salary determine where Garner pitches him? I really don't think so. Is that naïve? I don't think so. Garner wants to WIN. So does Drayton. Will Lidge's salary, if he is pitching well, make him an attractive trade option that might actually get the Astros some decent deadline value? Sure! I don't disagree with that at all. But, I don't see it as a sticky situation about to rear its ugly head at all.
Not sure how his salary means that much, especially as low as it is in baseball terms. This isn't football, there's no hard cap. If letting Lidge pitch the 7th or 8th means that you win more games, that means more butts in the seats, that means more money. If you trade Lidge for a player that helps the team more than he does, that's fine. That means even more butts in the seats and even more money. Trading Lidge purely as a cost-cutting move is stupid.
lopez is merely speculating whether or not there's point in which lidge's salary becomes an issue. and i think there might be: not to marginalize the importance of a middle reliever, but it makes absolutely no sense to pay a guy that kind of money to pitch innings 6-8 - they could get any number of guys to do that. hell, it makes no sense to pay a guy that much money to close games, but that's another discussion. drayton's no dummy; lidge earned that salary by closing games. if he and wheeler continue at their current paces... at some point - possibly this year - something's going to have to give. and money will be an issue; perhaps THE issue. and so, in conclusion, you're saying salary would most definitely be impacting their decision-making........? i mean, if lidge were making qualls money, would you consider dealing him to improve the club? or if he was still "lights out" lidge, the closer, would he be a commodity you'd be willing to part with? its his salary, and his not "earning" it (meaning, as a closer) that makes him potentially expendable, no? so if he's still on his current pace in july, but also still pitching in the 6th, 7th, 8th innings, its the salary that's going to force your hand - do you swallow it and let him stay where he is? do you move him back to closer so he can justify it? or do you try and deal him, even though your bottom line is winning and he's played a vital role in that process? and this is where i believe you're naive if you don't think that's a bridge mcclane will cross. or, at least, drive up to and take a look.
i don't think you're naive; i think you're being naive if you believe drayton mcclane doesn't have his eye on individual ROI. that's also my opinion- he might not care. and yes, you agreed that his salary made him "an attratcive trade option"; therefore, salary is an issue and might impact how this plays out. if he were making $500K, he wouldn't be "an attractive trade option" for the astros; everyone would be OK with the status quo.
What a May for Lidge: 1-1, 1.10 ERA, 2ER, 16.1 IP, 22 K. For the season he's 2-1. 2.81 ERA. Man he was throwing some heat last night.
he's looked dominant, frankly. now it's a whole different game when you get in the closer's role again (see Dotel, Octavio). but i'm encouraged.
I say keep him as #1 middle reliever for the rest of the season. Hopefully last night was a sign that the bats are starting to wake up, but I'm still not optimistic.
