Diamond in the Rough?

Written by Andrew Kneeland

Thursday, 07 January 2010 22:56

For a fan base that has been yearning for a major trade or free agent signing for months now, the signing of right-handed relief pitcher Clay Condrey seems relatively anticlimactic.

As soon as the Condrey deal was announced, a horde of Twins' fans, myself included, scampered over to Baseball-Reference.com. At first glance, Condrey, a virtual unknown amongst an American League fanbase, was a key element in a Phillies' bullpen that reached the World Series last year. Even with the expected increase in ERA as a result from moving to the American League, Condrey seemed to be a decent, veteran relief pitcher.

So why has no one made a big deal about this potential diamond in the rough? Because most had their sights set on something much, much greater.With the expected jump in revenue that Target Field is expected to bring, many people thought the Twins would take advantage of some early free agent deals to improve their team.

I'm not one to address the motives of a relatively quiet front office, though I will tell you that sometimes it pays to be patient, and I don't claim to know the motivation behind signing yet another right-handed relief pitcher. The Twins now have a very full bullpen, with Condrey, Jose Mijares, Jesse Crain, Jon Rauch, Matt Guerrier, Pat Neshek, and Joe Nathan all expected to be in the mix.

For those who weren't aware, a former reporter for the Pioneer Press claimed that the Twins had made an offer to free agent staring pitcher Jarrod Washburn. (Without going into specifics, I think bringing Washburn to Minnesota would be a huge mistake.) This announcement was given shortly after it was made known that relief pitcher Bobby Keppel had been released and was headed to Japan in a quest for more yen. The open roster spot Keppel left behind and the rumored offer made to Washburn seemed to align, and I suddenly became very nervous.

Even though that open roster spot was filled by a relative unknown, the fact that it is occupied -- and not open to a certain fly ball pitcher whose name is shared by both a Subway spokesman and a galleria of jewelry -- is comforting, to say the least.

But perhaps I'm reading too far into this situation. Maybe it's best to take a step back and look at the surface of things. As a belated Christmas gift to his fans, Twins' GM Bill Smith gave us an adequate player at very little cost at a position of no need. Thanks, Bill, you shouldn't have.

Digging a little deeper reveals an extreme groundball pitcher that should fare well in the Minnesota bullpen in 2010. I could spout statistics for hours on Condrey's ability to limit the number of runners who score (just 25 percent; 11 percentage points above the league average) as well as his off-speed pitches that are consistently thrown for strikes (68 percent; seven points above the league average).

In the end, though, Condrey is simply a relief pitcher who will spend most of his 2010 summer sitting on a bench in the bullpen. It would be silly to expect him to contribute much, but Condrey is a welcome addition to the roster!

On an unrelated note, be sure to check out Topper Anton's latest blog entry. His subject? Me! Be sure to bookmark and subscribe to Curve For a Stike. Topper provides excellent analysis of the Twins, and his series on Twins' bloggers is excellent!

Comments (3) Add Comment

...
written by Bryz, January 08, 2010

I told one of my friends that Condrey is a mixture of Nick Blackburn and Bobby Keppel. Ground ball pitcher, throws a sinker, cutter, and change-up like Blackburn, but mixes in a slider like Keppel. The fact that he's replacing Keppel as a middle reliever does suggest that he'll have a very minimal effect on the Twins for next year.

Condrey has allowed crazy-high BABIPs in his career, but has countered that with high strand rates (like you mentioned). I don't know how he can do this (maybe he can get those ground ball outs when he needs them?) but he's been doing it.

I'm proud to say that I knew who Clay Condrey was prior to this transaction :-) But I spend a lot of my time scouring ALL of MLB, not just the AL Central.

Cheap, Cheap, Cheap
written by Jack Steal, January 08, 2010

Andrew,

Everyone said the same thing about Luis Ayala last year. The truth is this team is just plain cheap and refuse to sepnd any money to improve the club. All we did is pick up a player nobody else wanted.

answer this topic
written by MurrayIrma22, March 08, 2010

Some time before, I did need to buy a car for my business but I did not earn enough money and couldn't order anything. Thank God my fellow suggested to take the personal loans from reliable bank. Thus, I acted that and used to be satisfied with my car loan.