Now Serving Fungible Pitcher #1837…

December 11, 2009 at 9:34 pm | Posted in Josh Towers | 3 Comments

…Josh Towers, come on down! Via the most low-key announcement ever:

Among lower-level free agents, three right-handers agreed to minor league contracts: Elmer Dessens (notes) with the New York Mets ($700,000 in majors, $90,000 in minors), Josh Towers (notes) with the Los Angeles Dodgers ($700,000/$100,000) and Ryan Speier (notes) with the Nationals ($425,000/$90,000).

You’d think I’d hate this, because, well, he’s not any good. In the 6 seasons in which he’s appeared in more than ten games, his ERA has been below 4.48 all of once. He was so bad in 2006 (2-10, 8.42) and 2007 (5-10, 5.38) that he was basically banished from the bigs for two full years, save for 2 token appearances with the Yankees this year. (Wait, is he getting a RING out of that? Good lord.) He’s only once allowed fewer than 10 hits per 9, and his career strikeout rate is just 4.8/9. At 33 next year, signs aren’t ripe for a turnaround.

Still, it’s just a minor-league deal, and he was at least passable in AAA in 2009 (2.74 ERA, 1.111 WHIP). It’s not going to lead to big-league success – trust me, it won’t - but it’s also not worth getting all worked up over. That is, until it turns out that he’s the big-ticket signing of the off-season who ends up starting 24 games.

3 Comments »

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI

This is some serious dumpster diving, Ned should have demanded a hazmat suit in his extension

Comment by bluetrain— December 12, 2009 #

Reply
Josh Towers, huh? That is proof that Ned is turning over every stone and dumpster for some semblance of pitching depth. Excuse me, I feel the need to cry like a six year old with a skinned knee.

What? We didn’t get Elmer Dessens? At this point, I would be happy with Dessens.

Comment by grabarkewitz— December 12, 2009 #

Reply
[...] was signed as a non-roster invite in December, Lindblom nearly made the team last year, and Link was part of the return for Juan Pierre from the [...]

Pingback by At the Very Least, ABQ Should Have Some Pitching Talent « Mike Scioscia’s tragic illness— March 14, 2010 #

Reply