Jeez, guys…I stop paying attention to baseball for a few days and you go and sign someone new? Not just anyone new, mind you - washed-up starter turned reliever Joel Pineiro? And now you’re thinking either he or Runelvys Hernandez could become the closer? The best thing you (the you represented by Allard Baird) can say about Hernandez is that he's not afraid of anyone? This is the guy with the steadily declining numbers and the well-documented friendship with the late, great Terrence Long we're talking about. Are things really that bad out there? My God, it's going to be 2003 all over again, with some poor sap playing the role of B. K. Kim, ending the year by flipping someone off and then claiming he had a "cultural misconception" even though he's from Missouri.Ahem. Sorry about that; I'm calm now. Let's take a look at the pros and cons of this new situation:
Pros:
- He has a "few innings" as a closer from last year, when he spelled for regular Mariners closer JJ Putz. He has one conversion in two opportunities (not that that means much) and held opponents to a .213 batting average in 24.1 innings.
- He's lowered his arm angle a bit, which supposedly equals more success.
- He's enthusiastic to pitch in front of Red Sox Nation.
- "Everyday" Eddie Guardado gives Pineiro his seal of approval, which is even more scientifically valid than Pineiro's save conversion ratio.
- The Sox weren't dumb enough to commit to Pineiro as their only closing option for 2007.
- He hurt his arm in 2004, effectively derailing his career for the past two years and now he's not good enough to start any more.
- He gave up 19 hits and 13 runs in those 24.1 innings as a reliever last year.
- He's attempting to convert from a starter to a closer, which has a very low success rate.
- He's the result of a gut feeling by scouts, not any sort of statistical analysis.
- There aren't any more free agent closers still on the market.
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