Clay Buchholz - Is he worth the 2016 option?

[Slasher9]

yup. i spelled it wrong. Buchholz.

$13MM. that is his salary for the 2016 season. That is pretty much the going rate for a M/BOTR SP.

Has he been worth it? probably not so far. history says we will only get 1/2 season from him so if history holds true we will need to start seeing a yuuuge turnaround from him very very soon.

 

Let's take a look at the 2016 numbers so far:

these are David Price stats. I will update to include Clay's stats after his 6th start.

UPDATED TO NOW INCLUDE CLAY'S STATS.

 

PRICE ------ CLAY

8 GS ------- 8 GS

48 IP ------- 45.2 IP

51 H ------- 47 H

32 ER ------- 31 ER

4 HR ------- 8 HR

1.333 WHIP ------- 1.467 WHIP

6.00 ERA ------- 6.11 ERA

 

Those numbers IMO are not even good enough for a #5 starter. How do we get the brilliant pitcher we have seen in the past back? is it an injury we are unaware of? or is it mental?

 

if he doesn't start pitching like a (ACE) #2 or #3 in the next start or two i fear his salary will be sunk.

What says you?

Edited May 16, 2016 by Slasher9
updated for GS 8

[Slasher9]

Buchholz. my bad. mod feel free to fix spelling in subject line.

[Dojji]

He needs more time. But the signs are not good.

[Spudboy]

So far, no.

[Bellhorn04]

So far, no.

 

As simple as that.

[Jack Flap]

Yeah, the early signs aren't encouraging at all, but I don't think we'll be able to make this call until near the end of the season.

[SoxnCycles]

Yeah, the early signs aren't encouraging at all, but I don't think we'll be able to make this call until near the end of the season.

 

Yup, Price isn't all that either, but I'm willing to give both of them some slack.

Mainly because the rest of the team seems to have gotten their act together.

 

Granted, they've done it against a couple of punching bag teams.

The series with the White Sox should be fun.

[Station 13]

Nope. He'll be on the DL soon if he keeps this up.

[sk7326]

1. To date? No - obviously

2. Picking up his extension was a no-brainer, full stop

[Bellhorn04]

1. To date? No - obviously

2. Picking up his extension was a no-brainer, full stop

 

Some might disagree.

[a700hitter]

It might have been a no-brainer in terms statistical value, but not in terms of team building strategy. He is a half year pitcher that always leaves a hole in your rotation around the All Star break. That is very disruptive to the rotation and it affects the entire pitching staff. The strategy was misguided regardless of his $ value. It may have been a no-brainer topickup the option, but keeping him was not a no-brainer. I would have picked up the "valuable option" and traded him to get some value in return.

[sk7326]

It might have been a no-brainer in terms statistical value, but not in terms of team building strategy. He is a half year pitcher that always leaves a hole in your rotation around the All Star break. That is very disruptive to the rotation and it affects the entire pitching staff. The strategy was misguided regardless of his $ value. It may have been a no-brainer topickup the option, but keeping him was not a no-brainer. I would have picked up the "valuable option" and traded him to get some value in return.

 

Picking him up means there are options - I would worry more about team building if there was a law which beheads people who attempt to make moves during the season. Things tend to sort themselves out.

 

Buchholz might leave a hold in your rotation but that you can plan for - and he was expected to be decent during the time you had him. And at (for a veteran starter) a pretty low price. Now he has not held up his end of the deal - which is a shame. Fortunately this team can absorb it for a little while.

[S5Dewey]

Yeah, the early signs aren't encouraging at all, but I don't think we'll be able to make this call until near the end of the season.

 

The problem with this of course is that if he doesn't pick it up soon he's not going to be around during the second half of the season. I'm predicting The Dreaded Fenway Flu if he's not pitching better after his next couple of starts to help him get his head together and then see if he can help the team in July and going forward.

[mvp 78]

Totally! Great move imo!

[Kingface]

That SHOULD have been a bargain considering his talent. I think it's getting to the point where his biggest issue is the 6 inches between his ears. Once that goes.....it's over. Bard and Knoblauch come to mind whenever I think of excellent players that just LOST it upstairs.

 

Obviously at this point we have to wait and see.....however, if some of you caught what Farrell said the other day when he wasn't ever ASKED about Buch.....he pretty much said the same thing. Farrell NEVER does that to one of his players......so you gotta think there is something going on.

[a700hitter]

Picking him up means there are options - I would worry more about team building if there was a law which beheads people who attempt to make moves during the season. Things tend to sort themselves out.

 

Buchholz might leave a hold in your rotation but that you can plan for - and he was expected to be decent during the time you had him. And at (for a veteran starter) a pretty low price. Now he has not held up his end of the deal - which is a shame. Fortunately this team can absorb it for a little while.

Beheading? That's a little dramatic. Losing your #2 pitcher half way through the year is a big blow to a team. We are going to disagree on this, but I think it is very disruptive to a pitching staff and taxes the bullpen physically. It is also very difficult to replace that kind of production during the season. Even if you are able to acquire a suitable replacement, the process usually takes some time - 2 weeks maybe a month. In that amount of time, damage can be done to the bullpen. Certainly, they could have gone in another direction before the season started rather than have to scramble in season to find a replacement.

[User Name]

Exercising the option was not the problem. Not getting more depth was the problem. Not exercising his option would simply have created another hole (for the full season, not just half) to fix. Guys like Mat Latos, Doug Fister, our very own Rich Hill, Juan Nicasio and Joulys Chacin were available, all of them with varying degrees of upside.

[Kingface]

Exercising the option was not the problem. Not getting more depth was the problem. Not exercising his option would simply have created another hole (for the full season, not just half) to fix. Guys like Mat Latos, Doug Fister, our very own Rich Hill, Juan Nicasio and Joulys Chacin were available, all of them with varying degrees of upside.

 

Not signing Rich Hill was stupid............ That one will bother me all year....and could have been a HUGE upgrade for this season.

[Spudboy]

Totally! Great move imo!

 

Lol.

 

Or you are suffering from Sun Stroke!

[mvp 78]

Lol.

 

Or you are suffering from Sun Stroke!

 

Safely on a porch drinking a Cigar City "Tampa Style Lager." The kids are lucky to have recieved my wife's tan skin.

[Slasher9]

BTW - now might be a good time to let everyone know.

the stats on my OP are NOT Clay Buchholz stats. they are Mr. David Price's stats.

[mvp 78]

BTW - now might be a good time to let everyone know.

the stats on my OP are NOT Clay Buchholz stats. they are Mr. David Price's stats.

 

What are Buchholz's stats then?

[Spudboy]

Safely on a porch drinking a Cigar City "Tampa Style Lager." The kids are lucky to have recieved my wife's tan skin.

 

With your complexion I bet your skin responds to a lot of Sun like mine. I flambe, not tan.

 

Is the beer any good? And have you smoked any cigars? They are supposed to be pretty good around the Tampa area. Of course if you do smoke cigars, you can forget about kissing your Wife!!!

[mvp 78]

No cigars. Beer is good. Ocean is warm. Weather is great.

[mvp 78]

In case anyone was wondering, Price's stats are better than Buchholz's across the board.

[Slasher9]

In case anyone was wondering, Price's stats are better than Buchholz's across the board.

 

yes. 6.2 ERA is better than 6.5. but that's like saying dog s*** tastes better than cat s***.

but that's not really the point. everyone had a chance to look at those numbers and thought "jesus christ clay sucks. DD is an idiot for picking up his option. clay is a bitch". but in reality those are the states for $31MM x 7 year signing. and that is scary.

 

FTR - i am a yuuuge believer that Clay's option should have been picked up and i expect we will pick up the final option next season as well.

[mvp 78]

1. Price has a better track record and people have been endlessly talking about his current performance

2. Clay's stats are even worse so you're proving their point

[Slasher9]

1. Price has a better track record and people have been endlessly talking about his current performance

2. Clay's stats are even worse so you're proving their point

 

ok. you can continue to miss the point. that's fine with me.

but since you want to believe Clay is so obviously pitching worse than Mr. Price because his ERA is .3 higher than DP's 6.2 ok.

you may have a chance for mea culpa after Clay logs his 6th start. you know....apples to apples.

for me...regardless of what Clay does in start #6 - Price's stats are UGLY. as ugly as one would expect injury prone, delicate, thin skinned, mental defect Clay's to be. and that says something.

[mvp 78]

I'm missing a point? You've completely ignored my point.

 

Clay's stats suck. "Full stop." People have a right to discuss it. Price's struggles have been talked about elsewhere.

 

Weak trolling job here.

[a700hitter]

Clay vs. Price is a weak argument. There is no comparison between the 2. Price's stats may be ugly right now, but he has 5 months to turn it around. Clay has 2 months before he says good bye for the season.