As expected, the Cubs signed pitcher B.J. Ryan to a minor league deal after he was released by Toronto. The 33-year old Ryan was a dominant closer just a year or two ago, but he has recently lost velocity on his fastball and is struggling with control. Ryan’s first stop will be extended spring training in Mesa, AZ to work on his mechanics and then Triple-A Iowa when he is ready.
Ryan signed a $47 million deal with Toronto in 2006. He is still owed $15 million, but Toronto is on the hook for most of that. He will only cost the Cubs about $200,000 in 2009 and $600,000 in 2010. Coinsidering the cost and the upside potential, this is definitely a risk worth taking.
When he’s ready, Ryan figures to slot into the Cubs bullpen as a left-handed specialist, allowing Sean Marshall to return to the rotation. It has been speculated that ryan may also contend for the closer’s role, but I think that is unlikley.
Over his career, Ryan has some suprisingly impressive numbers (at least I was surprised…and impressed). Over his 11-year career, Ryan has compiled a record of 21-28 and an ERA of 3.37. He has 117 saves and he averages 10.5 strikeouts per nine innings pitched. Admittedly, his stats haven’t looked good this year (especially against right handed hitters), but his history gives reason to be hopeful.
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The Cubs started the secon half of the season in good fashion by beating the Nationals in Washington 6-2. Rich Harden pitched 6.0 innings giving up just three hits and one earned run. According to the radar gun on CSN, Harden was consistently hitting between 93-96 with his fast ball. He also was throwing his slider with confidence, a feat not seen in recent outings.
Derrek Lee hit 3/4 of a cycle, missing the full cycle by just a triple. On the night he was 3-4 with a homerun and an RBI. Alfonso Soriano batted fifth and went 1-3 with a run scored. Reed Johnson assumed the lead-off duties and went 2-5 with an RBI.
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Rich Harden has some rather odd home-road splits this year. So far this season, Harden is 6-6 with a 5.06 ERA. But on the road, he is 4-1 with a 2.17 ERA. Harden downplays the splits, but Piniella said he thought that Harden had some troubles with day games, particularly with the heat.
Last night, Harden recorded his 700th career strikeout. Congratulations, Rich! For his career, Harden has struckout 702 batters in 692.2 innings over just 124 games. That’s good.
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Yesterday I talked about a possible Roy Halladay trade and mentioned that the Cardinals might be one of Halladay’s likely destinations. But according to Joe Stauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Cardinals are downplaying any interest in Halladay because they don’t have the necessary pitching to trade and because they are unwilling to give up CF Colby Rasmus.
If they don’t have the pitching, then they don’t have the pitching. But why wouldn’t they trade Rasmus? I understand that Rasmus is a highly respected prospect, but Holliday is argueably the best pitcher in baseball. I don’t understand teams’ refusal to trade guys who might someday be good for players that are very good now. Of course, I’m happy to hear that St. Louis may not be in the Roy Halladay sweepstakes after all, but their refusal to part with Colby Rasmus puzzles me.
