Pineiro Expected To Sign

[yankeessuck013]

Source: Pineiro expected to sign with Red Sox

 

Free-agent pitcher Joel Pineiro is closing in on a one-year deal with the Boston Red Sox, two baseball sources told ESPN.com. The deal is believed to be worth a guaranteed $4 million plus incentives, and is conditional on Pineiro passing a physical exam.

 

Pineiro, 28, is 58-55 in six seasons with Seattle, but struggled badly in 2006, going 8-13 with a 6.36 ERA.

 

He became a free agent in December when the Mariners declined to offer him a contract rather than allow him to go to salary arbitration. Pineiro made $6.8 million last year in Seattle.

 

Pineiro will apparently pitch in a relief role for the Red Sox, who have six potential starters in Curt Schilling, Josh Beckett, Tim Wakefield, Jonathan Papelbon, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Jon Lester.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2718865

 

I remember when he was considered untouchable...

[BoSox34]

I saw him pitch in Seattle over the summer. He definitely has good stuff at times and hopefully he can provide some bullpen help.

[Cityofchampions33]

Garunteed 4 mill is a bit high, but considering what he COULD be, it might end up being a bargain.

[Cocos Disciples]

Funny, I was looking at a thread I started in the season bringing up the possibility of dealing for him...he's decent insurance, better than Runelvys.

[ksushi]

... Runelvys signed a minor league deal, I don't think Piniero is replacing him or taking his job by any means....

 

Piniero might be something in the pen. I like the idea of making him a reliever although he pitches to contact a lot which could get him in trouble, but we'll see.

[CrespoBlows]

Four million? Gagne was a better bet at six.

[ANiMAL]

know whats really funny, every year in my MLB game for ps2 i always get some players on my team and soon later find out that they really are on the red sox. last year it was coco, now this year it could be pineiro

[schillingouttheks]

know whats really funny' date=' every year in my MLB game for ps2 i always get some players on my team and soon later find out that they really are on the red sox. last year it was coco, now this year it could be pineiro[/quote']

 

Can you please put Carlos Zambrano on your team for next year?

[jacksonianmarch]

His stuff dropped off from his stellar campaign a few yrs ago, but he did have a short, successful stint in the pen last yr. I like the idea as his upside in the pen may have never been reached, but 4 mil guaranteed is way too much for a guy whose only other serious suitor was Pittsburgh. Also, the sox need a closer, and this guy is not that. They already have a pen full of middle relievers and fringe major leaguers, they didnt need another one.

 

You know what they say, throw enough s*** against the wall, something will stick. The sox better hope that wall is like flypaper, and not teflon.

[jacksonianmarch]

Can you please put Carlos Zambrano on your team for next year?

 

and Johan on the yankees, PLEASE!!!

[BoSox34]

and Johan on the yankees' date=' PLEASE!!![/quote']

 

No.

[riverside sluggers]

Once I heard Pineiro's name come up as one of the expected non-tendered free agents, I just had this ankling the Red Sox would nab him. Since obviously its a major league contract (barring a trade) this could be the pitching staff entering the season. Nick Carfado did recently say that they will add another middle reliever and have the bunch contend in spring training for possible closing duties. Piniero however (as of right now) seems the best bet to be the long man/spot starter

 

EDIT:

 

Up to Date, possible opening day 25-man roster

 

Catcher- Jason Varitek

Backup-- Doug Mirabelli

 

1st Base- Kevin Youkilis

 

DH/1st Base- David Ortiz

 

2nd Base- Dustin Pedroia

 

Shortstop- Julio Lugo

Backup-- Alex Cora

 

3rd Base- Mike Lowell

 

Left Field- Manny Ramirez

 

Center Field- Coco Crisp

 

Right Field- JD Drew

Backups-- Wily Mo Pena

Eric Hinske

 

Starting Rotation:

Curt Schilling

Daisuke Matsuzaka

Josh Beckett

Jonathan Papelbon

Tim Wakefield

 

Bullpen (no specific order):

Julian Tavarez

Mike Timlin

Manny Delcarmen

Brendan Donnelly

JC Romero

Hideki Okajima

Joel Pineiro

[jacksonianmarch]

Once I heard Pineiro's name come up as one of the expected non-tendered free agents' date=' I just had this ankling the Red Sox would nab him. Since obviously its a major league contract (barring a trade) this could be the pitching staff entering the season. Nick Carfado did recently say that they will add another middle reliever and have the bunch contend in spring training for possible closing duties.[/quote']

 

Dibble and Kennedy were talking about that earlier. They responded to a caller who quoted Cafardo about Tavares being the leading closing candidate. They essentially said Julian is too high strung and is too much of a whacko to close in pressure packed fenway. If Tavares is the closer, Timlin the setup man and Donnelly the 7th inning guy, I'll s*** myself with glee.

[Soxfan1]

Four million? Gagne was a better bet at six.

Best post in this thread.

[NateGrey]

..

The Associated Press confirms that Joel Pineiro and the Red Sox have agreed to a one-year, $4 million contract.

The $2 million in bonuses are based on games finished, which illustrates exactly how Pineiro is hoping to be used. An undisclosed player option is also included, which could make it a worse deal for Boston. Pineiro showed potential as a reliever last year and might find his niche if he's allowed to concentrate on throwing one inning a night. Still, this is quite a bit to pay for a guy who could do just about anything.

..

[DUSTINMOHR4LIFE]

edit: Nate just posted the story i was gonna post

[ORS]

Dibble and Kennedy were talking about that earlier. They responded to a caller who quoted Cafardo about Tavares being the leading closing candidate. They essentially said Julian is too high strung and is too much of a whacko to close in pressure packed fenway. If Tavares is the closer' date=' Timlin the setup man and Donnelly the 7th inning guy, I'll s*** myself with glee.[/quote']

That's nothing remarkable, I'm sure you s*** yourself on a regular basis.

 

The talent in the 'pen is fine to start the season. None of the vets haven't had success in the past, and the kids have the stuff to get the job done. Given the vagaries of relief pitchers not named Rivera or Hoffman, they'll get two or three dependable BP arms for the 7th - 9th of tight games out of that group. And, you've been reminded of this trend, but you still ignore it, all while touting Brian Bruney as a solid reliever after one good month.

[jacksonianmarch]

That's nothing remarkable' date=' I'm sure you s*** yourself on a regular basis.[/quote']

 

ZING!

[jacksonianmarch]

That's nothing remarkable, I'm sure you s*** yourself on a regular basis.

 

The talent in the 'pen is fine to start the season. None of the vets haven't had success in the past, and the kids have the stuff to get the job done. Given the vagaries of relief pitchers not named Rivera or Hoffman, they'll get two or three dependable BP arms for the 7th - 9th of tight games out of that group. And, you've been reminded of this trend, but you still ignore it, all while touting Brian Bruney as a solid reliever after one good month.

 

we arent relying on Bruney to close or set up or be the 7th inning man. That is the difference. We arent relying on Britton to close or set up or be the 7th inning man. If we get Medders, we wont be relying on him to close, set up or 7th inning work either. Relying on them as non-rolecentric players will make things better for him. If they earn more PT, then they will get more PT.

 

As for the rest of these guys in the sox pen, one of those middle relievers will be relied upon to close unless MDC is ticketed for the minors (or for another team). One of those guys will be relied upon to setup. One of those guys will be the 7th inning man. Then the rest will be needed to do mop-up, losing situations, etc. And it seems like everyone in that pen is either very green (MDC and Hansen), new to relief (piniero), new to the US (Okajima), or on the decline (Donnelly, Timlin, Romero, and Tavares). Someone will step up and close, that is not the question. The question is, how good will they be and will they cost the sox a shot at a division title.

[Cityofchampions33]

we arent relying on Bruney to close or set up or be the 7th inning man. That is the difference. We arent relying on Britton to close or set up or be the 7th inning man. If we get Medders, we wont be relying on him to close, set up or 7th inning work either. Relying on them as non-rolecentric players will make things better for him. If they earn more PT, then they will get more PT.

 

As for the rest of these guys in the sox pen, one of those middle relievers will be relied upon to close unless MDC is ticketed for the minors (or for another team). One of those guys will be relied upon to setup. One of those guys will be the 7th inning man. Then the rest will be needed to do mop-up, losing situations, etc. And it seems like everyone in that pen is either very green (MDC and Hansen), new to relief (piniero), new to the US (Okajima), or on the decline (Donnelly, Timlin, Romero, and Tavares). Someone will step up and close, that is not the question. The question is, how good will they be and will they cost the sox a shot at a division title.

 

well we're obviously pinning all our hopes on MDC and Hansen to step up for the future but for now I geuss we're going with a very make-shift pen with (at least I feel) a good blend of vet's n young guns. I think your somewhat underrating Donnelly and Timlin or at leats overrating their decline.

[scaffolds]

The Red Sox might not admitted, not for now anyways, but the signing of Pineiro may not be for him to be a reliever, he is much better as a starter than he may be as a reliever, there is talk among baseball people that one of the reason the Sox haven't made a move to fill the closer issues is because they may had a change of hart and thatPapelbon may be the closer at the of Spring training and the signing of Pineiro may be sign of it and become the fifth starter on the rotation, there's also talk that Papelbon would only pitch just one inning at the time and a reduced games pitched in a row.

[Cityofchampions33]

The Red Sox might not admitted' date=' not for now anyways, but the signing of Pineiro may not be for him to be a reliever, he is much better as a starter than he may be as a reliever, there is talk among baseball people that one of the reason the Sox haven't made a move to fill the closer issues is because they may had a change of hart and thatPapelbon may be the closer at the of Spring training and the signing of Pineiro may be sign of it and become the fifth starter on the rotation, there's also talk that Papelbon would only pitch just one inning at the time and a reduced games pitched in a row.[/quote']

 

I'm kind of hoping this is true, as we now have a steady fill of possible SPs, and this could get us through till mid-season if we wanted to persue Clemens, and even then I'm confident with Lester in the 5 spot.

[a700hitter]

The talent in the 'pen is fine to start the season. None of the vets haven't had success in the past' date=' and the kids have the stuff to get the job done. Given the vagaries of relief pitchers not named Rivera or Hoffman, they'll get two or three dependable BP arms for the 7th - 9th of tight games out of that group. And, you've been reminded of this trend, but you still ignore it, all while touting Brian Bruney as a solid reliever after one good month.[/quote']The only guy in the pen that I think is a disaster is Romero. He'll be this year's Seanez, maybe worse. Can Piniero close? Stranger things have happened. I guess he'll get a shot.

[ORS]

we arent relying on Bruney to close or set up or be the 7th inning man. That is the difference. We arent relying on Britton to close or set up or be the 7th inning man. If we get Medders, we wont be relying on him to close, set up or 7th inning work either. Relying on them as non-rolecentric players will make things better for him. If they earn more PT, then they will get more PT.

 

As for the rest of these guys in the sox pen, one of those middle relievers will be relied upon to close unless MDC is ticketed for the minors (or for another team). One of those guys will be relied upon to setup. One of those guys will be the 7th inning man. Then the rest will be needed to do mop-up, losing situations, etc. And it seems like everyone in that pen is either very green (MDC and Hansen), new to relief (piniero), new to the US (Okajima), or on the decline (Donnelly, Timlin, Romero, and Tavares). Someone will step up and close, that is not the question. The question is, how good will they be and will they cost the sox a shot at a division title.

How do you know you aren't going to be relying on Bruney to set up? Look at Farnsworthless' career stats. If you charted his ERA on a time graph it would look like a sine wave. Proctor goes from suck to solid overnight at age 29. That is my point. Outside of guys like Mo and Hoffman, you never know who's going to be good or bad from year to year. All of these guys, Sox and Yanks, aside from Rivera, are a crapshoot.

 

Now, I'm not suggesting you shouldn't be confident about your 'pen, but at least be consistent. Apply the same filter where you ignore the inconsistency and recognize only the good for the Yankee relievers to the Sox 'pen, and it won't look as bad as you claim it does. And, sure, yours looks better, but it's mostly because of Rivera. That said, I'll take our starting 5 w/o a known closer over your 4, well more like 3, and a shutdown closer (speaking of which, we had 3 and the best closer in baseball last year - which was a resounding success [/sarcasm]).

[VA Sox Fan]

The Red Sox might not admitted' date=' not for now anyways, but the signing of Pineiro may not be for him to be a reliever, he is much better as a starter than he may be as a reliever, there is talk among baseball people that one of the reason the Sox haven't made a move to fill the closer issues is because they may had a change of hart and thatPapelbon may be the closer at the of Spring training and the signing of Pineiro may be sign of it and become the fifth starter on the rotation, there's also talk that Papelbon would only pitch just one inning at the time and a reduced games pitched in a row.[/quote']

 

IF the Sox can't sign a closer, it makes total sense to keep Papelbon in that role. He's proven what he can do. He's young enough to still become a starter in time.

 

Lester is supposed to report to Spring Training, so there is no counting him out as a starter.

 

Can't crap on the Sox for strengthening the bullpen, regardless. But some will...regardless.

[jacksonianmarch]

How do you know you aren't going to be relying on Bruney to set up? Look at Farnsworthless' career stats. If you charted his ERA on a time graph it would look like a sine wave. Proctor goes from suck to solid overnight at age 29. That is my point. Outside of guys like Mo and Hoffman, you never know who's going to be good or bad from year to year. All of these guys, Sox and Yanks, aside from Rivera, are a crapshoot.

 

Now, I'm not suggesting you shouldn't be confident about your 'pen, but at least be consistent. Apply the same filter where you ignore the inconsistency and recognize only the good for the Yankee relievers to the Sox 'pen, and it won't look as bad as you claim it does. And, sure, yours looks better, but it's mostly because of Rivera. That said, I'll take our starting 5 w/o a known closer over your 4, well more like 3, and a shutdown closer (speaking of which, we had 3 and the best closer in baseball last year - which was a resounding success [/sarcasm]).

 

 

Of course it is because of Rivera. His presence pushes solid middle relievers into middle relief roles. We arent relying on old middle relievers on the downslope of their career for closing duties in quite possibly the toughest place to play in all of baseball.

 

Also, we are doing what the sox should have been doing. We are stockpiling young arms and putting them in low pressure situations to begin with. The sox should have done that with Hansen. They should have done that with MDC. They didnt. They went right from the minors to setup roles. They cracked under the pressure. If we went into this season without Farns, Proctor, insert any other reliable reliever we may acquire from now until the season and had to rely on Bruney, Britton, or Medders as SU men, then I'd be worried. But these kids will likely see 40-50 innings this season of variable pressure which will only be to their benefit. AND, all of them have options left should they stumble. And, all of them could step up into more formidable roles should they play well.

[scaffolds]

IF the Sox can't sign a closer, it makes total sense to keep Papelbon in that role. He's proven what he can do. He's young enough to still become a starter in time.

 

Lester is supposed to report to Spring Training, so there is no counting him out as a starter.

 

Can't crap on the Sox for strengthening the bullpen, regardless. But some will...regardless.

 

If Papelbon can close without any other health issues he is the best answer, besides he is a better closer than he is a starter. Lester is going to be in Pawtucket for at least the first half of the season, not only because of the health issues, but because he needs to refine his pitching.

[schillingouttheks]

If Papelbon is a better closer than starter, than why move him? My best guess would be for efficiency, since good starters are more valuable. Am I missing something?

[jacksonianmarch]

IF the Sox can't sign a closer, it makes total sense to keep Papelbon in that role. He's proven what he can do. He's young enough to still become a starter in time.

 

Lester is supposed to report to Spring Training, so there is no counting him out as a starter.

 

Can't crap on the Sox for strengthening the bullpen, regardless. But some will...regardless.

 

hey VA. Good to see you stepping up on the boards. We need a feminine influence on here more often, WOWZAH!

 

The sox wont be signing a closer between now and the season. They may deal for one, but there arent any other pitchers out there that should get closer duties.

 

Also, unless they make a deal involving one of the guys under contract, this is the team that will take the field. The only guy on the projected 12 man pitching staff that doesnt have a major league contract is MDC (well he has options left). That means that Timlin, Tavares, Okajima, Romero, Piniero, and Donnelly will be on the opening day roster. And unless the perfect deal falls into their lap, this is the team going forward.

 

Now one thing Dibble and Kennedy were talking about was Papelbon's history. He was a closer in college, so it isnt like he got hurt in his only season of closing. They did say he was overworked in his first closing season of professional ball, but by no means does this mean his shoulder cannot handle it. They were also replaying an interview with Torre. Torre said some powerful things about Papelbon. Like "he changes the game" and he has "changed the mindset of our players when we play them". Essentially something along the lines of, we better tie or go ahead prior to the ninth or we are sunk. A mindset the yankees have not had at any time in the past while facing the sox. He gave the sox the same thing that Mo gave the yankees for one yr. And since he has the pedigree as closer, and his injury wasnt serious as far as we know, why the hell arent they sticking with what works.

[Cityofchampions33]

I agree with schillgouthekdwlf, unelss we get the rocket ASAP, 5 very good starting pitchers and an empty closer's role with plenty of applicants is fine by me. Don't get sucked in with what ESPN and others are saying, the closer's role is very much hype and there are plenty who can hold it down decently that just haven't been tried out yet (Gagne, Rivera). Granted, I'd feel more comfortable with a solid closer in the back of the pen, but worst comes to worst we trade for soemone mid-season (and with this rotation's potential, a closer might not be that important).