Quote:
Originally Posted by jacksonianmarch
Kerry Wood is not a guy you go out and get if you need pen help. Think about it. The sox have a 3 headed monster in the pen with paps/oki/manny. Throw in the likelihood that Timlin is coming back and the probability that Lopez has a spot and you have 5 guys taking up spot. Then factor in that Tavarez is back and there are 6 spots right there. With guys like Hansen, Hughes, and others waiting, and with the fact that 4 of your pitchers are considered innings eating kinds of starters, what is the utility in locking up 7 spots in the pen in the event that you want to go to 14 position players and only 11 pen arms. If I were the sox, Wood would be so far from my mind, that I would let some other team take the chance.
Consider that he stays healthy, he will need work to be useful and effective. And how much work will he get when the bridge from the 6th on is set?
And if he comes in and eats a spot away from a NR invitee, how much would that benefit you should he go down? Essentially, the only way to take on Wood and be benefitted by him would be to get him and use him a lot. And a team like the sox doesnt need to do that.
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I'd take a chance on Wood for the right price.
1) Lopez is gone; Timlin may be gone. Boston's bullpen can count on Papelbon, Okajima and Delcarmen, but that leaves 3-4 slots open. Boston needs at least eight pitchers for 6-7 slots; there's room for Wood.
2) Wood doesn't need frequent use. He did better with infrequent use. All of his runs in 2007 were allowed on just one day's rest, save for one outing in Coors Field against the late-season Rockies. He had no trouble going two innings--his struggle in 2007 was pitching on short rest, reasonable for an ex-starter converting to the pen.
3) Kerry Wood still strikes out over nine men per game. In fact, the small sample size of 2007 could be removed from the heart of his career as a starter. Wood is still second all-time in K/9 rate per Baseball Reference, and everything about his pitching--save about 3 mph of velocity--is right out of his prime.
You ask how much Wood would benefit Boston were he to go down. I counter, how much would it help Boston were he to hold up, allowing opposing batters roughly a .200/.300/.300 batting line? Okajima would become the lefty, and Wood would become the set-up guy, and baseball historians would someday marvel that Wood and Papelbon once pitched together for a year before Wood moved, Eckersley-style, to the second half of his HOF career.
I'll acknowledge it'd be a gamble. I'd take the chance for a few million dollars to sign him for a year...I'd pay more for a contract with a team option second year.