Brian Fuentes

ing arm angle.

3-Anaheim Angels: Justin Speier, Darren Oliver, Scott Shields, Jose Arredondo, and Brian Fuentes.

I'm not an Arredondo lover -- I think his numbers belied his ability in '08 -- but I can't deny the astounding success he had. Fuentes seemed to settle back in as a closer last year, and Shields is as steady as they come in setup situations. 

Continue reading "MLB's Top Five Bullpens"

e Mets need is another bullpen arm.  The Rockies no longer appear to be shopping their closer, Brian Fuentes, and Damaso Marte has already been moved.  Neither of those players would have been worth giving up Martinez or Niese anyway, but now there are definitely no relievers on the block that would warrant a top prospect in a trade.  Will Ohman of Atlanta is available but he is just a lefthanded specialist, and the Mets already have Pedro Feliciano and Scott Schoenweis.  John Grabow of the Pirates appears available, but he is not much of an upgrade over anything the Mets have.  The Padres' Heath Bell, Cla Meredith or Mike Adams are all decent relievers who could be paired with Giles in a possible deal, but the Mets might have to give up too much to get both players.  Likewise, Seattle's Sean Green and Arthur Rhodes would be upgrades over Carlos Muniz, but acquiring both Ibanez and a reliever might cost the Mets a top prospect.  The Mets might be able to get Cleveland's Rafael Betancourt on the cheap.  He had a superb season last year, but has struggled this year, so maybe a change of scenery could benefit him.  The other possibility is the Royals' lefty Ron Mahay, but they just signed him to a lucrative contract this offseason so they might ask for a lot in return.

Continue reading "Trade Market: Will The Mets Be Involved?"

s this year, compared to 13 earned runs in only 39 non-save innings (3.00 ERA).  Jon Rauch and Brian Fuentes, two pitchers who have spent significant time both in set-up and closer roles over the last few seasons, have similar splits in performance.  When Rauch was closing for the Nationals, he had a 1.61 ERA in save situations and a 4.15 ERA in non-save situations.  Fuentes, who assumed the closer role in late April and has since saved 17 games in 19 chances for Colorado, has a 2.45 ERA in save chances and a 4.62 mark in non-save situations since he was named the closer.  The all-time leader in saves, Trevor Hoffman has been having a sub-par season so far, but his numbers are still much more respectable in save situations than otherwise.  He has saved 22 games in 25 chances with a 4.03 ERA in those 25 games, as opposed to a 5.40 ERA in 10 innings of other circumstances.

Continue reading "Mets Fried By Fish, Maine Leaves Early"

First baseman Mark Teixeira is the big name that's been bandied about in baseball, and (except for Brian Fuentes and Matt Holliday, who will either go close to the deadline or not at all) is the Last Man Standing as far as frontline trade candidates go.

Continue reading "Waiting for the Other Shoe to Drop"