Yes! The Closer-By-Committee is back in Boston. Long ridiculed by the casual fan and WEEIdiot, long argued for by the Legion of Bill James Fanatics, is this the year the Red Sox turn the league on its ear with its Five Closers bullpen? I certainly hope so.
The last time that I checked, the American League champion Detroit Tigers made it to the World Series with a variation of the idea. To be fair, Jim Leyland was bringing his closer in the game in the seventh and eighth inning. Jones was the mop-up guy. Joel Zumaya was the closer. He closed them down when it was needed the most and Jones just vultured a bunch of saves, further diluting an already useless statistic.
The Sox took another step in that direction by scooping up set-up man extraordinaire Brendan Donnelly from the Angels for a 27 year-old prospect. Phil Seibel? Here is what the AP release said about Seibel:
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The last time that I checked, the American League champion Detroit Tigers made it to the World Series with a variation of the idea. To be fair, Jim Leyland was bringing his closer in the game in the seventh and eighth inning. Jones was the mop-up guy. Joel Zumaya was the closer. He closed them down when it was needed the most and Jones just vultured a bunch of saves, further diluting an already useless statistic.
The Sox took another step in that direction by scooping up set-up man extraordinaire Brendan Donnelly from the Angels for a 27 year-old prospect. Phil Seibel? Here is what the AP release said about Seibel:
Seibel went 6-3 with a 1.24 ERA for three Boston farm clubs last season. He didn't pitch in 2005 after undergoing reconstructive surgery on his pitching elbow following the 2004 season.Wow, they must be partying down in Anaheim now. Of course, there was one negative to dealing Seibel:
Before turning professional, Seibel pitched three seasons for the University ofHOOK ‘EM HORNS! YEE-HAW!
Texas.
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