A's starting to play good and Inge were a coincidence. I am a bit surprised Valverde hasn't got at least a nibble. Maybe teams are worried about his 2012 postseason meltdown.

Mitchrapp said:

A's starting to play good and Inge were a coincidence. I am a bit surprised Valverde hasn't got at least a nibble. Maybe teams are worried about his 2012 postseason meltdown.

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You can't survive on 1 pitch in MLB.

The book on Jose has been well read now by everyone, fastball, and problems locating it.

He's tool old to develop another pitch, so any team that signs him (won't be one) knows the hitters he's going to face are going to stand there and wait for a vanilla fastball over the plate, or take a base on balls.

It worked two years ago and even most of last year. There were certainly worse BP guys / closers than Jose in 2012.

For some reason I thought Oakland had already indicated he'd be back for them next year. Haven't heard much on Delmon either, anyone taking him? Thought for sure he'd end up in Houston as their new DH

Mitchrapp said:

It worked two years ago and even most of last year. There were certainly worse BP guys / closers than Jose in 2012.

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It didn't work.

Look at his stats, his WHIP was terrible, his BB/9 was unacceptable. His strikeout to walk rate was bad, his xFIP last year was awful.

Guys love to look at wins and saves for pitchers and think it's a great indicator, but it's not.

All a Save means for Jose is he did not blow a lead, it does not mean he did a good job, or had clean innings, and often saves are more the inability of the opposing offense than anything else.

There were probably worse guys than Jose in 2012, but I don't see what that has to do with anything. How many of those guys got to the point they could no longer throw more than 1 pitch?

That's not my point though. Look at AL BP guys and I'm certain lots of the ones who had worse numbers than Jose still have jobs. And I'd take a better pitcher with one pitch over a worse one with 3 pitches.

tigermud said:

For some reason I thought Oakland had already indicated he'd be back for them next year. Haven't heard much on Delmon either, anyone taking him? Thought for sure he'd end up in Houston as their new DH

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Yeah forgot to add Delmon. I also figured that the Astros might negotiate a 1 year contract with him as their FT DH, since he obviously isn't known for his defensive prowess in the OF. But they picked Pena instead to platoon @1B and DH, this despite his hitting ~ or below the Mendoza Line and having Ked ~160x on average over the past 4 seasons with the Rays and Cubs.

Pena's homer total has also gradually dwindled from a career high of 46 in '07, to merely 19 last season. Just don't understand why the Astros wanted him, unless they plan on challenging the '03 Tigers AL record of 119 losses in a season, after moving to the AL West from the weaker NL Central next season.


As far as Inge, I haven't read anything online yet about Brandon returning to Oakland next year, or being offered a ST invite, but after doing a search to see if he has, Inge obviously does want to return to play for the A's next season:

"Third baseman Brandon Inge hopes to be back with the Oakland Athletics in 2013 after shoulder surgery."

~snip~

"Inge hopes that as teams consider him for next season - he expects to be ready to go by the start of spring training - they will take into account the ''heart'' he brings to both the clubhouse and the lineup."

~snip~

"Inge praised Melvin for his managerial style and communication with players."

''Everybody knows their role,'' Inge said. ''And I've had managers in the past who weren't very good at communicating.''


"While Inge would be eager to commit now to playing for the A's next season, he knows that will be a process over the coming months for each side if it's going to happen."


''I really have no clue. That's something that's going to play out this offseason,'' Inge said. ''I'd play for him any day. That's going to be based on my health, too, and that's why I'm doing it right now because I know I'll be ready by spring training. Obviously, I'd love to come back here. I've had the best time, the best year here.''


http://sports.yahoo.com/news/3b-inge-hopes-back-2013-200544841--mlb.html



Ooooh...Was that a backhanded slap at Trammell and including Leyland, and a knock on Inge's former Tigers team-mates and/or fans?

LMFAO. Inge is such a fn waste of space. Taking shots at the Tigers? They hung onto this putz for wayyyyy too long and he still doesn't get it. Fuck him.

A guy with Inge's career stats has not earned the right to talk like that. I would expect that the first Tiger pitcher to face Inge next season should put pitch one right in his ribs.

byco42 said:

A guy with Inge's career stats has not earned the right to talk like that. I would expect that the first Tiger pitcher to face Inge next season should put pitch one right in his ribs.

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Which is why I could never stand the guy. He always talked like he had put up Miggy-like stats in his career.

byco42 said:

A guy with Inge's career stats has not earned the right to talk like that. I would expect that the first Tiger pitcher to face Inge next season should put pitch one right in his ribs.

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He's not even worth it to throw at. It's what he wants...to feed his ego.

tonyballs said:

He's not even worth it to throw at. It's what he wants...to feed his ego.

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You know, you're right. Strike Inge out on three pitches and then plunk Reddick when it's his turn to hit.

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/...mer-Tiger-Jose-Valverde-close-signing-Marlins
Former Tiger Jose Valverde close to signing with Marlins.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2013/02/marlins-jose-valverde-nearing-deal.html
yes or not?

Probably a good place for him. Low key, no expectations.

Mitchrapp said:

Probably a good place for him. Low key, no expectations.

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Too bad the fish fountain in CF is going to continually upstage Valverde's antics.