http://blogs.suntimes.com/whitesox/2009/12...eliever_jj.html

 

Sox closing in on reliever J.J. Putz

By

Joe Cowley

on December 8, 2009 5:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

 

jj-putz1.jpgINDIANAPOLIS - Matt Thornton doesn't start his offseason throwing program until December ends.

Until then, nothing like passing the time by playing recruiter.

According to the White Sox left-hander, the Sox are interested in adding free agent reliever J.J. Putz to the bullpen and it's Thornton's job to try and make the feeling mutual.

"There's no doubt that Kenny has interest in him,'' Thornton said on Tuesday. "[Putz] has been asking me what I think about it, what I think about the Sox. I told him we expect to win. I tell that to anyone that asks me, we expect to win. We prepare to win and if we don't win, well, we're pissed. I told [Putz] that if you're a free agent you want to go to a winner.''

Thornton and Putz have been good buddies since early on in their Seattle days.

"We've known each other for over a decade,'' Thornton said laughing. "It's a bromance.''

And the Sox, specifically general manager Ken Williams, have a history of having their current players try and persuade the opposition to join the club when it's time to get serious. The latest example was Scott Linebrink playing pitchman to Jake Peavy this past season.

It eventually worked, with Peavy waiving his no-trade clause to come to the South Side after initially turning it down earlier in the year.

The one problem is that the market on Putz is clouded. Enough so that Thornton said that Putz is still trying to figure out the value of a hard-throwing right-hander coming off a shortened season that resulted in surgery to remove bone spurs from his elbow.

"You just don't know what the market will be,'' Thornton added.

Putz was front and center during last year's Winter Meetings, joining the Mets in a three-way trade. The elbow problems, however, limited him to just 29 1/3 innings. Back in 2006-07, Putz was as dominant a reliever as there was, fanning 186 and walking just 26 while posting a 1.86 ERA.

"If this gets done I need to talk to [the Sox] about some extra money for being the pitch guy,'' Thornton said.

Adding Putz makes a ton of sense for the club on a couple of fronts. It gives them a weapon in the set-up spot just in case Linebrink doesn't bounce back from a dismal second half, and it would also allow them to move a Bobby Jenks if they so choose because of Putz's versatility to close games as well.

Thornton and Putz would give manager Ozzie Guillen interchangeable parts for the eighth and ninth in Jenks' absence, depending on matchups or which reliever is hotter at the moment.

If it was up to Thornton, however, he would like the club to add Putz as well as keep Jenks.

"I think what happened is Bobby set his bar very high for what he did in 2005,'' Thornton said of all the Jenks trade talk this offseason. "To be the closer in the World Series in this city, and then what he did in 2006 and '07 ... this year he slipped up a bit but on his own standards. You look at the numbers in 2009 and they're good for most closers.''

Thornton has spoken to Jenks several times this offseason and said that the right-hander is facing a lot of uncertainty with all the trade talk. At the same time, Thornton said if Jenks is moved and he is pushed into the closer role, he'll embrace it.

"I'm comfortable in that role,'' Thornton added. "I enjoyed that feeling I had knowing that I was going into the ninth, I enjoyed that preparation. I like that routine. I enjoyed that sequence of, 'Hey, we have a lead, that's my inning.' In the same boat, if Bobby comes back right now I have no problem being the guy that gets Bobby the ball. Right now I'm preparing to be the seventh, eighth inning guy, and we'll see what happens.''

"It's a bromance" my favorite quote in that whole article, otherwise i like the idea of Putz in the Pen.

Edited December 9, 200916 yr by sayitaintso

Depending on the price, I'd love this move.

Even if Kenny can get him cheap, you have to worry about his ability to stay healthy. As an addition, he'd be great, but I wouldn't want to trade Jenks and roll the dice on Putz.

 

Just imagine all the pun potential if we acquired him.

Matt Thornton has always been a bromantic. That being said, as long as this doesn't result in moving Jenks, this is a decent way to replace Octavio.

This would totally be a move to be able to dump Jenks.

For the right price I'd be completely on board.

This would totally be a move to be able to dump Jenks.

I don't think so. It could give them insurance and allow them to do it at a later point in time, but to get rid of Jenks for a guy who we don't know is going to hold up and be healthy would be a mistake, imo.

I am curious as to why thornton would be so vocal about this unless he knew something was imminent. I mean why talk tot he press about this.

Id give him a reasonable sized contract with incentives to be a good sized one for IP and ERA or K's or whatever the club seems fit. Id also think with Hudson likely being in the pen and Garcia being our 5th that the bp would be pretty damn good.

a healthy putz, thor and jenksy cat = chubby

Id give him a reasonable sized contract with incentives to be a good sized one for IP and ERA or K's or whatever the club seems fit. Id also think with Hudson likely being in the pen and Garcia being our 5th that the bp would be pretty damn good.

You can't include incentives for either, not allowed.

 

It'd be a very low base salary with substantial incentives for IP and games finished with the bigger money being available via games finished.

This would totally be a move to be able to dump Jenks.

 

I wouldn't bank on putz to being anything close to his 2006 and 2007 numbers. His past 75.2 innings have been pretty disgusting. Seemingly he has lost his command. I would of course take a chance on him, but i think it would be silly to move jenks in favor of putz.

Great reclamation project, but you can't really count on him at this point.

ERA

2003 4.91

2004 4.71

2005 3.60

2006 2.30

2007 1.38

2008 3.88

2009 5.22

 

 

 

Mets statement last season:

Putz has been shut down indefinitely and will not return this year after an MRI on Tuesday found that he has some new fraying and a slightly torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.

 

Putz had surgery on the elbow in June to remove a bone spur and fragments of bone and was slated to make his first rehab appearance Tuesday for Class-A Brooklyn. But he was scratched from that appearance after complaining of soreness in his right forearm, the team said in a statement.

its a lot about luck when it comes to filling out spots in the pen. every team needs a guy or two to have a good yr that u wouldnt expect of. happens every yr like with us in 05. im all for it

 

 

Just a hypothetical question here...

 

If the Sox traded Jenks for a prospect or two (taking on no added salary commitments and adding no one else to the 40-man) and then gave the roughly $7-8M they were going to commit to Jenks to Putz ($2-3M base + incentives) and Chapmann ($4-5M total in 2010 including signing bonus), would anyone be upset about that?

 

First half bullpen:

Closer: Thornton

Righty setup man: Linebrink/Pena battle

Lefty setup man: Chapmann/Williams competition (Chapmann would be the fav, but the Sox could opt to ease him in first)

Righty specialist: Putz (ease him in to the picture, let him get up to speed)

Lefty specialist: Williams/Chapmann

Middle reliever: Pena/Linebrink

Middle reliever: Hudson (ease Hudson in, letting him work to both lefties and righties)

Long reliever: Carrasco

 

Then in the second half the Sox could switch things around. If Pena becomes dominant, or if Putz gets back to where he had been in Seattle, and if this happens in tandem with Thornton or Williams struggling, then Thornton could go back to 8th inning duties, pushing back Chapmann. If Linebrink hits the second half swoon that he usually does, then Hudson can move up to a setup role with Linebrink basically being phased out. There are all kinds of possibilities with a pen like that because Carrasco and Williams are the only ones who don't profile as setup men or closers.

 

What would also be great about a move like this is it would give us added insurance to our rotation in 2010, plus it provides us with a possible Hudson vs. Chapmann 5th starter battle in 2011. And if we love both pitchers and we think they'll both work as starters, it allows us to look into shopping one of our other starters during the 2010-11 offseason. Basically, we'd have 5 proven MLB starters in our rotation, 2 high-caliber SP prospects in the bullpen, plus a spot starter in Carrasco. That's 8 SP options in 2010, plus added depth for future rotations.

 

*Edit: LOL, I just looked at my post and that's an 8-man bullpen, so that's not going to work.

Edited December 9, 200916 yr by Kenny Hates Prospects

That freed up money has to and will be spent on offense. Putz will probably come quite cheap considering his terrible year and injury.

Yes, please.

 

Putz can be insurance for Pena and Linebrink.

I'm all for this move, I'd get to add a guy to my sig after removing Richard and Getz.

I'd be all for getting Putz for a reasonable deal and I hope the Sox give him a team option. With Herm and Coop keeping him going, he could be a nice pickup.

What do we wanna do with this guy? He's a Putz!

Edited December 9, 200916 yr by bschmaranz

Obviously health is one of the big questions with Putz, but I'm all for signing this guy. He doesn't have to be as dominant as he was in Seattle for those couple years, but I think if he is healthy, he will be solid for us. I also agree though that he shouldn't be signed to replace the void left by a Jenks trade.

Has Putz been injury prone his entire career or just last year?

 

I don't know much about his history, but he does have good stuff.

Edited December 9, 200916 yr by kwolf68