Willis signs Extension with Tigers

[Balta1701]

Link.

 

I really hope that Willis is actually declining as much as he looked to be last year.

Dontrelle Willis agreed Thursday to a $29 million, three-year contract with the Detroit Tigers, three weeks after he was acquired from the Florida Marlins in the biggest trade of the offseason.....

 

The 2003 NL Rookie of the Year and a two-time All-Star, Willis is coming off a down season in which he went 10-15 with a 5.17 ERA. The deal includes incentives that could push the total value to more than $30 million, a source said.

 

"I want to thank you guys for believing in me," Willis said during the announcement. "I'm eager to join an already great ballclub, and hopefully I can help bring a world championship to the club."

 

Willis joins a rotation that already included Justin Verlander, Kenny Rogers and Jeremy Bonderman as Detroit tries to reach the World Series again after losing to St. Louis in 2006.

 

Willis, 25, has a 68-54 record an a 3.78 ERA in parts of five seasons with the Marlins.

 

Willis earned a base salary of $6.45 million for Florida last year. He would have been eligible for free agency after the 2009 season, but is now locked up through 2010.

[DBAHO]

Yeah that contract could turn out to be really, really good, or really, really bad if Willis continues on the form of last season.

 

And looking at his splits, if teams just load up with RHH against him, I think he'll struggle in the AL.

[fathom]

This makes the Tigers trade even better.

[Vance Law]

This makes the Tigers trade even better.

 

for us

[fathom]

for us

 

I think Willis at 3 yr, 29 mil is quite worth it for Detroit.

[bschmaranz]

Don't like it... I honestly think Willis is gonna get smoked in the AL.

[fathom]

Don't like it... I honestly think Willis is gonna get smoked in the AL.

 

Willis, who is significantly better vs lefties than righties, should do decent against a lot of the top hitters in the AL Central.

[Balta1701]

Willis, who is significantly better vs lefties than righties, should do decent against a lot of the top hitters in the AL Central.

I really don't care whether the best hitters in this division are righty or lefty...If he puts up that .913 OPS against righties again next year, he's toast. Put up a .760 OPS against righties in 06. We'll see which one harkens to the future better.

[Rowand44]

Good.

[southsideirish71]

for us

 

You must of missed the part that the sox suck against lefties for the last few years. Now you suddenly think that adding another lefty is a good thing. And before you quote me how bad Willis is, I can show you a list of crappy lefties that have wrecked this team over the years. If he can match the outings of JP Howell and other associated crap he should do fine against us.

[DBAHO]

I really don't care whether the best hitters in this division are righty or lefty...If he puts up that .913 OPS against righties again next year, he's toast. Put up a .760 OPS against righties in 06. We'll see which one harkens to the future better.

Yeah exactly.

 

It won't matter if he does well against Thome, Hafner and Morneau, if he's getting hammered by the likes of Konerko, Guillen, Fields etc.

[DBAHO]

You must of missed the part that the sox suck against lefties for the last few years. Now you suddenly think that adding another lefty is a good thing. And before you quote me how bad Willis is, I can show you a list of crappy lefties that have wrecked this team over the years. If he can match the outings of JP Howell and other associated crap he should do fine against us.

Well considering the splits, if I were Dye, Fields, Konerko etc., I'd be most looking forward to facing Dontrelle in 08.

 

And it's a chance for the likes of Toby Hall, Ozuna in their platoon roles to produce good numbers against him.

 

It would be nice to have a good RHH DH/1B such as Josh Phelps to use in these situations as well though (if there was room on the bench).

[Vance Law]

You must of missed the part that the sox suck against lefties for the last few years. Now you suddenly think that adding another lefty is a good thing. And before you quote me how bad Willis is, I can show you a list of crappy lefties that have wrecked this team over the years. If he can match the outings of JP Howell and other associated crap he should do fine against us.

 

The Sox hit better against lefties than righties last year.

 

I am sure you can find bad lefties like JP Howell and others who beat the Sox, just like you can find bad righties who've beaten us. Konerko, Dye, and Fields have mauled lefties over the past 2 years. Add the improvements of Quentin and Cabrera now.

The fact that the top 2 pitchers in the division clearly are Santana and Sabathia certainly doesn't help the numbers. Not only are the 2 best pitchers lefties, but there are so few (relatively) lefties to begin with, that Santana and Sabathia skew the numbers further than would 2 great righties.

 

Adding another lefty to the division in Willis, if he is as bad as he was last year, is a good thing in my book.

 

[beck72]

The first thing I think of is--"Willis is hurting".

[southsideirish71]

The Sox hit better against lefties than righties last year.

 

I am sure you can find bad lefties like JP Howell and others who beat the Sox, just like you can find bad righties who've beaten us. Konerko, Dye, and Fields have mauled lefties over the past 2 years. Add the improvements of Quentin and Cabrera now.

The fact that the top 2 pitchers in the division clearly are Santana and Sabathia certainly doesn't help the numbers. Not only are the 2 best pitchers lefties, but there are so few (relatively) lefties to begin with, that Santana and Sabathia skew the numbers further than would 2 great righties.

 

Adding another lefty to the division in Willis, if he is as bad as he was last year, is a good thing in my book.

 

We were 30th in baseball last year against lefties and the year before we were 20th in baseball.

 

In 06 we were tops in the league against righties.

 

We were 30th in baseball against lefties last year. .242 with a .741 OPS.

We were 28th in baseball with a .248 BA, and a .719OPS against righties.

 

The year before the splits were off the charts. We were 20th in baseball against lefties, and 1st against righties.

 

 

 

 

[Vance Law]

We were 30th in baseball last year against lefties and the year before we were 20th in baseball.

 

In 06 we were tops in the league against righties.

 

We were 30th in baseball against lefties last year. .242 with a .741 OPS.

We were 28th in baseball with a .248 BA, and a .719OPS against righties.

 

The year before the splits were off the charts. We were 20th in baseball against lefties, and 1st against righties.

 

I would first respond by saying- everything from my previous post. Again.

 

I will reiterate with- the Sox had 1476 at bats against lefties last year and 3965 against righties. That is a gigantic difference in sample size. The two best pitchers in the division are both lefties. Therefore a much higher percentage of "against lefty at bats" are against the top 2 pitchers in the division, compared to the "against righty at bats" with the top righties (who are not as good as Santana and Sabathia).

 

And also.

 

So the "splits were off the charts" in 2006 and in 2007 they went the other way, with the Sox hitting for a better OPS against lefties than righties. How does that fit into your constructed premise.

 

The splits for many players vary each year. Why did Iguchi put up an .812 OPS against lefties in 2005 and .650 OPS while with the Sox in 2007? If your suggestion is that there is something about the actual White Sox uniforms that causes them to be unable to hit lefties well, I have to disagree.

 

And I will state again, Konerko, Dye, and Fields have crushed lefties. No problem there. And we have now replaced Uribe (doesn't hit anyone well) with Cabrera. We replaced Pods (doesn't put up a high OPS against anyone) with Quentin.

 

[knightni]

Good.

 

for us

 

 

[RockRaines]

He'll make less than Carlos Silva. That alone is a good value.

[GreatScott82]

As long as Miguel Cabrera doesn't sign an extension im fine... The Sox better make a HUGE push for him in a couple years.

[RME JICO]

Willis has been declining for two years now. I could see one year as a fluke/bad luck/injury year, but not two straight.

 

He has declined in every major statistical category since 2005. Then you add the NL to AL factor, and things will get interesting.

 

      W-L    IP  CG  H   ER  BB   K  ERA   WHIP  BAA

2005 22-10 236.1  7 213  69  55  170 2.63  1.13  .243

2006 12-12 223.1  4 234  96  83  160 3.87  1.42  .274

2007 10-15 205.1  0 241 118  87  146 5.17  1.60  .294

 

Obviously he and his agent only felt like he was worth that much, which doesn't seem like a vote of confidence.

 

 

 

[RME JICO]

As long as Miguel Cabrera doesn't sign an extension im fine... The Sox better make a HUGE push for him in a couple years.

MCab will never play in a Sox uniform. His next contract is going to be A-Rod like.

[ChiSox_Sonix]

I'm somewhat surprised Willis signed to stay in the AL. He's declined in recent years and would probably fare better in the NL. Plus he loves to hit and obviously wont be able to do that playing in the American .League

[Steve9347]

I think Willis at 3 yr, 29 mil is quite worth it for Detroit.

No s***. Guys like Carlos Silva are getting more. I know people are pissed that Detroit pulled that deal off, and I also think an era under 4 in the AL Central might be pushing it... but this is a young lefty for less than 10 mill per... this cannot be painted as a bad contract.

[Gregory Pratt]

Detroit takes big risks. First Magglio, and it's continued to this. I love their management.

[Balta1701]

MCab will never play in a Sox uniform. His next contract is going to be A-Rod like.

I actually disagree. The way the Sox are set right now, they could certainly be in the bidding for a high priced guy 2 years from now. They've added a bunch of young guys to their roster to fill holes, and in 2 years, Thome and Contreras will have their contracts cleared, along with Cabrera and some amount of inflation. With one or two more young guys coming along in the rotation or maybe in the OF, and some amount of revenue inflation, we'll be more than in a position to go after a big guy 2 years from now...as long as we don't do something horrendously stupid like blowing $18 million a year on a 33 year old CF.