DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Indians Sign Joe Borowski

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Indians sign reliever Borowski


11:25 a.m.

Lake Buena Vista, Fla. ? The Indians have reached a one-year, $4 million deal with right-hander Joe Borowski. The deal includes a club option for 2008.

Borowski, 35, is the third free-agent reliever the Indians have signed in the last five days as GM Mark Shapiro tries to rebuild a bullpen that was last in saves in the big leagues in 2006.

It?s unclear if Borowski will close for the Indians, but he saved 36 games for the Marlins last season. He is 80-for-101 in save situations for his career.

Shapiro wanted to change the dynamics of last year?s pen and he?s done that. He signed veterans Aaron Fultz and Roberto Hernandez on Sunday.

Borowski doesn?t throw hard, but a scout described him as ?gutty and savvy. If he doesn?t close, he can pitch the seventh or eighth inning.?

Last season Borowski went 3-3 with a 3.74 ERA and coverted 36 saves in 43 chances. He threw 69 2/3 innings, striking out 64 and walking 33.

The Indians also officially announced the signing of outfielder David Delluci, who passed his physical Tuesday.

- Paul Hoynes


I think this is a solid move for depth, but not as our closer. I've heard the Indians are potentially interested in Gagne. I say we take a risk and go after him hard, and if he's back at full strenght we hit the jackpot. If not, we now have Borowski as insurance. Thoughts?

I think it is a good move no matter how we use him.

The more decent arms we put in the pen, the closer our starting staff is to being 6-7 inning pitchers.

I agree 'Peen. We need to be OVERSTOCKED on arms, look at last year.

If he can close, sweet. If he can pitch the 7th or 8th, sweet also.

Hope he stays healthy.

Generally, I do not like pitchers coming from the NL, as a rule, but any bullpen help we can get is money.

I hope we try and get a solid lefty though.

I guess, he could be our closer....but he has Todd Jones written all over him.

:::Shakes head again::::

no offense to smokin' Joe, but an 80% save ratio is no better than what we had last year, and as stated earlier, NL pitchers rarely come over and put up better numbers than they had over there.

Good move, as the saying goes, ya never have enough pitching....

closer or not, he will bring veteran leadership and a proven arm..

Gagne, i'm not against it, but only if he's ready to go, none of this he will be ready in May or june, that never seems to work out, it always ends up being, August or next year, and only if the price is right, and actually if our price is right, i'm sure many other teams can beat it...

Don't look now Clay, but Dolen just forked over another four million for this year, and the "I want to spend like the Yankees club" is still not happy <img src="/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

He is coming from the NL, he failed one physical, his road ERA was like 4.5. Cant say that Im extremely excited about the signing. I guess we will see.

who among us haven't failed at least one physical? <img src="/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

Im not getting paid 4 million though. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

The physical isnt a huge deal, you never know what the other team is looking for and I think when he did fail it they were talking multi year deal. We got him for 1 year, so Im not too worried about it, but its just an observation.

I understand your concerns about Gagne, I feel the same. But if you look at the closer market it is extremely thin. The other closer/backend guys we are supposedly interested in are Dotel and Foulke. Both of these guys have injury concerns as well. So if our only option at closer is a guy with some risk, Gagne seems to have the highest potential for reward. When healthy, the guy is untouchable.

I wouldnt mind taking a risk on Gagne, but I dont know about 10 million dollar risk for one year.

and who might that be?


I didn't see anyone saying they didn't want or like Joe.

Gagne hasnt really pitched in two years, and the injury was to his pitching arm if i remember right, these to me are hugh risks, paying a guy who as far as i know isnt ready or released to pitch yet, that might be wrong, MLB dosent tell me everything....LOL....Gagne is gonna want $$$, becuase he knows he better get it now with a bad closer market and this might be his only chance to get a big contract, based on his injury past. risk V.S. reward risk paying a guy millions who has all this against him..???? to me it's not worth it, nobody knows if he can even be the lights out like he use to be, to me this has John Rocker all over it, great today goat tomorrow, but who knows,

Foulk, I think might be a better safer option for your money, injuries were to one or both knees I believe, didnt pitch alot, but arm is rested and no injury to it, and he's a AL pitcher, he knows the hitters.

Just my .02.......gotta go shaprio is on the other line.... <img src="/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

I'll say it, I didn't want Borowski. I thought he was the shakiest of the closers out there. Foulke was good in September last year. Gagne has at least been dominant in the past. Even though I don't like the idea of Dotel, he has a closer's repertoire and has been as successful as Borowski (which isn't overly successful). He had a 4.5 road ERA, shoulder problems, and is coming to the better hitting league, out of a VERY pitcher-friendly ballpark. In the situation he had before, he was Wickman-esque, in escaping danger, but putting himself into the danger. I'm not sure his pitching can do that in the AL in Jacobs Field. Plus, this contract likely pushes a second lefty out of the bullpen, which would have been a young guy like Perez or Sipp. We'll see and I desperately hope I'm wrong, but this is one of the few Shapiro moves that I look at and just scratch my head.

Coincedentally, to the person who said that 80% was the save conversion rate last year, I can only wish. It was around 50%. 80% is considered the threshold for "successful" closers.

I heard Gagne was going for a 1 year deal to "prove himself" I heard that one year deal was gonna cost someone in the 10 Million+ range. <img src="/images/graemlins/plthumbsdown.gif" alt="" />

$10 Mill for one year??? he isn't freaking Manny! or Jeter.

What a joke, it is a great year to be a free agent pitcher!!! <img src="/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />

Thats what I heard, who knows though.

Some people are never happy....I call them sober... <img src="/images/graemlins/rofl.gif" alt="" />

I truly believe people want Dolen to pay big bucks, over spend, so later in the summer they can complaine how we spent too much for the production were getting, for this guy....it gives them something to look forward too.... <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Boras is asking for a one-year $10 mill deal for Gagne. What I expect to happen is Gagne to get a one-year deal for a base of $5-7 million with the other $3-5 million being in incentives. That way, no team gave $10 million guaranteed, and Boras can claim he got his $10 million deal for Gagne. The deal will probably be similar to the one Boras got Kevin Millwood with the Indians.

The market is even crazier than usual this off season. I don't know that you can blame anybody for not shopping very hard this year.

Gagne does only want a one year deal. He wants to prove to everyone he is healthy, then next year he wants to get a HUGE multiyear contract. My question is this, if he is THAT confident in his health and ability, would he be opposed to signing a 4 or 5 million dollar deal, with 5 or 6 million in incentives? 2 million for a certain amount of innings, 2 million for 30+ saves, something like that?? If he is willing to do that then I say sign him. If he saves 35 games and is dominant, then he's worth the money. If he gets hurt, you waste 4 or 5 million, cut your losses, and move on.

Only problem is, Boras is his agent. So I seriously doubt logic and reasoning will be a factor in contract negotiations.

Logdawg,

Looks like we're on the same page <img src="/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif" alt="" />

BINGO...you said it all, Boras get a certain percentage of his contract, so he knows, 1. If Gagne fails he might not get a big contract offer next year
2. Closers are scares this year it's now or never,

So i cant blame Boras or Gagne for asking for the moon, i'd do it another year like this may not come around again while your still playing,

again if he did offer to stage his contract like you were saying, i'd take a chance on that, of course after passing a physical.... <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

this is a decent sign... a definite upgrade over what we have...

he can set up too, if wedge wants to go to betancourt to finish games, he actually did very well...

i just can't stand these 1 year contracts that we constantly have to put up with... we're basically a stage for players to play better and then take off for bigger money, that doesn't sit well with the cleveland fans that love to embrace their players...

That's my problem with this signing as well. I'd have preferred Foulke, but Borowski was my no. 2. I had a feeling Shapiro wasn't going to roll the dice with Gagne.

I feel better about our bullpen this year, but I still expect to see a lot of the young guns this year, as all of the bullpen veterans we've signed so far are only on one-year deals

I agree it's a decent sign. He brings experianced depth, and he helps fill that need.
I would rather have Mastny closing than Betancourt. The thought of Betancourt closing, makes Gagne at 10 million very attractive.

Gagne at 10 million, is too risky. The 5 and 5 would be worth it, if he can pass a physical imo.

I'm Ok with what we have done so far, considering what is available, and what our needs are.

I'm with you on the one year contracts, I have noticed a few have a second year tied in as a option year at the club desretion, I'm sure both side see it as a win, win, have a good year, player can get more next season, with the same team or with another, bad year, team can cut ya loose and not have to have your salary on payroll and use that money on another one ear contract..

borowski was a good sign,

From what I've heard, Wedge wants Benancourt and Hernandez to be set up guys, 7th & 8th innings, Borowski even though they wont say it was brought in to close. Fultz is gonna be a spot left hander used mostly for match up in situations. other than that all spots are open.

http://cbs.sportsline.com/mlb/story/9855368


LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- In the first big trade at baseball's winter meetings, the Chicago White Sox sent starting pitcher Freddy Garcia to the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday night for right-hander Gavin Floyd and a player to be named.


Then, Chicago general manager Kenny Williams mistakenly named that player.

Williams let slip during the announcement that the other player in the deal is pitcher Gio Gonzalez -- traded by the White Sox to Philadelphia a year ago in the Jim Thome deal.

"It's 11 o'clock at night, what do you want?" Williams said.

The winter meetings often feature one GM after another parading to the podium, ready to announce their latest deal. This trade was the first announced at the workroom podium this year -- and it came 90 minutes before midnight on the final full day of the meetings.

Garcia was 17-9 with a 4.53 ERA for Chicago last season. The year before, he won Game 4 of the World Series as the White Sox swept Houston to clinch their first title since 1917.

"He's had to pitch when it's on the line. He's had the opportunity to do things you want a pitcher to be able to do," said Phillies assistant general manager Mike Arbuckle, who filled in because GM Pat Gillick lost his voice. "He's going to fit nicely into our rotation and we feel like he's a guy that's going to be able to give us innings. He's a proven winner."


Chicago acquires pitcher Gavin Floyd from Philly in exchange for Freddy Garcia. (Getty Images)
Garcia was traded from Houston to Seattle in 1998 in a deal that sent Randy Johnson to the Astros. The right-hander then was dealt to the White Sox in the middle of the 2004 season.

"We went out on a limb a few years ago to trade for him. I have no regrets," Williams said. "He handled the news with class. He's excited to be back with Pat Gillick. We're going to miss Freddy Garcia.

"But where we are in our evolution, where we are with our ballclub now is such where we needed to create room for what we also knew is a very special pitcher in Brandon McCarthy. We realized that if we're going to have any sort of sustained success, we're going to have to filter in some of the young players, and we think we've acquired two special ones."

Adding Garcia gives the Phillies a surplus of starting pitchers. Philadelphia was thought to have completed its rotation when it gave former Texas Rangers right-hander Adam Eaton a $24.5 million, three-year contract last week.

It's possible the Phillies will look to deal one of their other starters, probably veteran Jon Lieber, for bullpen help. Brett Myers and Cole Hamels aren't going anywhere, and 44-year-old Jamie Moyer signed a $10.5 million, two-year contract extension in October.

Gillick had also been looking for a right-handed bat to protect NL MVP Ryan Howard, but said he didn't expect to find one and turned his attention to pitching.

"There were a lot of suitors out there and a lot of creative deals that came our way," Williams said. "The best baseball deal out there was the deal with the Phillies."


Floyd was 4-3 with a 7.29 ERA in 11 starts for the Phillies last season before being optioned to Triple-A on June 3. The fourth overall selection in the 2001 draft, he turns 24 next month.

"I think Gavin's going to be a little bit of a late bloomer," Arbuckle said.

The White Sox traded Gonzalez to the Phillies in November 2005 as part of the deal that sent Thome to Chicago and Aaron Rowand to Philadelphia. The 21-year-old lefty was 7-12 with a 4.66 ERA and 166 strikeouts in 154 2-3 innings at Double-A Reading last season.

"We have to do what's best," Williams said. "We'll take a few punches along the way and hopefully people will say, 'Oh, that's why he did that two-three years ago."'

And he isn't necessarily done dealing.

"The Chicago White Sox are still open for business," Williams said. "This is a good first step. ... As we move through this year and next year, we feel these two guys will be able to feed into that rotation in an as-needed basis."


Copyright 2005-2006, The Associated Press, All Rights Reserved

Buster Olney seems to think the Tribe has done well this offseason ... I dont' have ESPN insider, so I can only get the first two paragraphs ... maybe someone else can post the full article?

From ESPN.com:

Rise of the Tribe
posted: Thursday, December 7, 2006

The Indians haven't spent the most dollars or landed the biggest names, but they have quietly had a very nice offseason so far, augmenting a team that could be very dangerous next season.
Some scouts believed that at season's end, Cleveland was playing the best baseball of any American League club. The Indians ranked third in the AL in ERA in August, fourth in September, and they finished the year ranked second in the majors in runs scored, behind the Yankees. Cleveland went into the winter as one of the very few teams with its starting rotation -- C.C. Sabathia, Cliff Lee, Jake Westbrook, Jeremy Sowers and Paul Byrd -- basically set, and in good shape.

Cleveland needed bullpen help and a second baseman, and right away the Indians landed second baseman Josh Barfield from San Diego without giving up any of their frontline guys.

----------------

We've picked up three arms for the bullpen, and a good 2nd baseman. I'd prefer if we had a slightly better closer in Foulke, but we'll see how it goes. I'm not sure I'd touch Gagne with a 10-foot pole right now. He makes Larry Hughes look healthy, plus he seems to have "steroids" written all over him ... with one big year, followed by a bunch of injuries.

We cant post Insider articles on the board anyway.

Are you sure? I thought the reason that the old site couldn't do it was because it was the "official site" of the Browns, and didn't want to risk legal problems for the team.

Not sure, I know I have seen posts here and people said we could not post them.


Check your inbox though.

http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/NASApp/...sp&c_id=cle



LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- The Indians didn't have any interest in the players available in the Major League portion of Thursday morning's Rule 5 Draft.
But that didn't mean other teams didn't take an interest in the Tribe's selectable players.

In fact, Triple-A Buffalo outfielder Ryan Goleski was swiped from the Indians as the No. 1 overall pick of the Draft by the Devil Rays. Later, in the second round, right-hander Jim Ed Warden was taken by the Phillies.

Goleski, 24, had been the Indians' 24th-round pick in the 2003 First-Year Player Draft. Generally, teams stray from taking corner outfielders in the Rule 5 Draft, but that obviously wasn't the case here.

It's no secret what the Devil Rays like about Goleski. He can simply mash the ball, as proven by his 80 home runs over four professional seasons.

"He's got right-handed power," Tribe farm director Ross Atkins said. "That's very hard to find. The Rule 5 Draft is a creative way to find it. That's a great pickup for them."

Shortly after the conclusion of the Draft came a rumor that the Devil Rays might be shopping Goleski to the A's, though that's merely speculation at this point.

In 2006, Goleski ranked first in the organization in home runs (27) and RBIs (106), as he batted .306 with 31 doubles and 76 runs scored in 125 games between Class A Kinston and Double-A Akron. In 10 playoff games for the Aeros, he hit .286 with a homer and eight RBIs.

After the season, Baseball America ranked Goleski as the best power hitter and the best outfield arm in the Indians' farm system.

The Indians came into the Draft with an official roster of 39, though a completed Roberto Hernandez physical will bump it up to the limit of 40.

In assessing the club's Minor League talent before the Draft, a choice for an outfield spot on the 40-man came down to Ben Francisco and Goleski, Atkins said. Francisco's versatility and ability to play all three outfield spots won out.

"Francisco is a little more versatile," Atkins said. "It came down to our club at this point and what our needs are."

Still, the loss of Goleski was a tough one for the Tribe.



Complete coverage >
"That's a hit," a disappointed Atkins said.

While Goleski was grabbed quickly, another power-hitting outfielder in the Tribe system, Ryan Mulhern, went unprotected and unselected for the second straight year.

The Phillies picked up Warden presumably to flesh out their bullpen mix. The 6-foot-7 Warden, 27, was a sixth-round pick by the Tribe in the 2001 First-Year Player Draft out of Tennessee Tech University.

This past season, Warden went 5-2 with a 2.90 ERA in a team-high 55 appearances for the Aeros. In the playoffs, he was 2-0 with a 3.18 ERA and two saves in five games.

"He came on extremely strong," Atkins said. "He delivers from a lower arm slot and has strength and power. He's a great bullpen piece."

If Goleski and Warden don't remain on their respective clubs' big-league rosters for the length of the '07 season, they will be returned to the Tribe.

Anthony Castrovince is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

I don't necessarily know that those two will amount to anything, but I really enjoyed watching each player at Akron this year. Goleski has a cannon and a good power bat (has a great sound coming off of it, Ks too much). But I have a problem losing ANYBODY in this year's Rule V. Teams were given an extra year to protect players, meaning that any player with close to ML talent should be protected. Instead, Shapiro & Co. elected to keep players like Mike Rouse, Brian Sikorski and Jeremy Guthrie (who has an option that the team likely won't even pick up to be on the roster next year). Losing a player like Goleski is inexcusable, IMO. If there is room for those other players, there is room for a Goleski and maybe a Warden.

Johan Santana was a rule 5 draft pick. <img src="/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

If these players picked up in the rule 5 draft are not put on thier major leauge roster, they have to go back to thier original club, right, so there still is a chance we can see one or both coming back,

Yes.

I'll be wishing Jim Ed well!!

Over the last 4 years I've got to know Jim Ed. It all started when I bought his game worn Lake County Captains jersey. I've seen him play on 3 different Tribe teams in 10 stadiums and he always comes over to say hi. In Frederick MD 2 years ago he went out of his way to come over and shake my hand.

The pic below is Jim Ed & I. He had a day off in Akron and came up to Lake County to watch the Captains. We talked about the Indians changing him to a sidearm and he said it was doing him well.



A week ago I bought his Kinston jersey. It would be great to wear it if at a Phillies game. .