Thursday, November 17, 2005

 

Arugula Out

Scotty Eyre is no longer a San Francisco Giant.

According to a story I just saw on my Blackberry, courtesy of CNN/Sports Illustrated, Scott Eyre has just signed a contract with Dusty Baker's Chicago Cubs. Two years, with Scotty getting a player option for the third year. Don't know how many dollars yet, but I imagine we'll find out soon.

Scott Eyre will be missed. He was one of the best relievers in the league last year, leading the league with 86 appearences. He posted an ERA+ of 157 (meaning his ERA was about 57% better than league average, when you account for stuff like park factors). He struck out more than twice as many batters as he walked. He owned both lefties and righties. He is able to say "arugula" without smiling.

Giants fans are going to be pissed that Eyre left. That is perfectly understandable, but the Giants had next to no chance of resigning him unless they simply blew him away with a ton of cash. Putting myself in Scott Eyre's shoes, I can see why the Giants had no chance:

Family. Eyre's public reason for moving east was to be closer to home. I'm sure this was on his mind. Chicago is a lot closer to Florida. Since he didn't sign with the Marlins, though, let's look at some other reasons.

Felipe Alou. Once again, Eyre led the league in appearances in 2005. In 2004, Eyre was 6th in the league. Felipe Alou burns through his relievers like they were some cheap part of a car that I don't understand. Eyre has watched a parade of good relievers get fried by Felipe Alou: Herges, Brower, Christiansen, Worrell, Hermanson. If you were him, wouldn't you want to work for a different manager?

Friends. The Giants clubhouse last year wasn't very cheery. It wasn't exactly a fun place (did anyone ever end up going out to dinner with Moises?), and by all accounts Scott Eyre is a fun-loving guy. He's pretty close to the Cubs bench coach Dick Pole (and seriously, I did not make that name up).

These are three solid reasons for anyone in any job to want a change of scenery. Do you remember a few years ago, when the conventional wisdom was that free agents wanted to come to the Giants, because they loved the manager and the atmosphere? Eyre's departure is a huge red flag that this is no longer true. I mean, he went to play for Dusty Baker--the manager guys loved to play for when he led the Giants.

There is, finally, a fourth and overwhelming reason why the Giants were not going to resign Scott Eyre:

Cost. Middle relievers simply cost more than they're worth. Eyre has earned a big paycheck for his outstanding work with the Giants. But given how much he's been overworked, and given how quickly a good reliever can lose it even in normal circumstances, how could the Giants justify cutting him the huge check he was bound to get? No matter what, Eyre was going to get overpaid. The safe angle was to let someone else do the overpaying.

I'm happy for Scott Eyre, and I wish him well in Chicago. Say hi to Dusty for me, dude.

Jefferson 6:35 PM

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