Friday, January 05, 2007
SabrMatt, 1/5/07--Mariano Rivera--in 1996, "UNRIVALED IN THE HISTORY OF BASEBALL."
"Grading the Mariners: The Bullpen and Final Comments (SABRMatt)
I'm going to make my final comments in this post, but I'll save the grand conclusions for the end. Let's turn our attention to the bulk of the bullpen. The overarcing problem as you'll quickly discover is that the Mariners don't presently have a replacement for Rafael Soriano or Mark Lowe, and so guys are being asked to do jobs they're not really capable of doing well."
—— THE CLOSER ——
SabrMatt writing about the Mariners' discusses their bullpen. He must be secure in his career, as he has the courage to speak the truth about Mo:
"J.J. PUTZ
The happy place. Ah, joy. The Mariners produced a bonafide stud closer for the first time in club history in 2006 (no, Sasaki wasn't a stud)
- and they found one that rivals later-day Mariano Rivera (not 1996 Rivera, he is unrivaled in the history of baseball), which bodes well for the end of ballgames if we can get the ball to him.
I will caution Mariner fans however that it is very difficult (and statistically unlikely) for a closer to maintain Putz '06 performance two years in a row. A partial return to earth is probably in store for the kid this year. Even so, he'll compete for Rolaids Relief honors."
