The Shockingly Sudden Fall of George Sherrill
July 14, 2010 at 6:38 pm | Posted in George Sherrill | 19 Comments
Slightly less than a year ago, George Sherrill was so highly thought of that the Dodgers surrendered two minor leaguers, including highly regarded Josh Bell, to the Orioles for his services. He came to LA and was excellent, posting a 0.65 ERA to close out the season.
Yet today, he’s not even worthy of a roster spot in a bullpen which already has seen Ronald Belisario and Ramon Troncoso disappear:
The Dodgers put George Sherrill on outright waivers, according to Ed Price of AOL FanHouse (via Twitter). Price suggests Sherrill, who makes $4.5MM this season, will clear waivers. That would enable the Dodgers to option the reliever to the minor leagues. The 33-year-old lefty has a 7.32 ERA and nearly as many walks (16 BB) as innings (19.2 IP) so far in 2010.
Outright waivers are not revocable, so the Dodgers won’t be able to pull Sherrill back if a rival team claims him. A claim seems unlikely, given his salary and performance so far in 2010. If Sherrill clears waivers, the Dodgers will have an open 40-man roster spot.
It’s amazing, really. This is going to lead to a whole new wave of “Ned Colletti stupidly gave up prospects for a failed veteran” remarks, but even the most negative prognosticator couldn’t have foreseen just what would happen to Sherrill. His numbers are almost so bad that you can’t believe them: 2.237 WHIP, 12.8 hits per 9, and free passes to 7.3 per 9.
Yet it was even worse than that. Even the official baseball-reference blog posted a chart which showed his ERA+ to be the second worst in all of baseball among pitchers with at least 30 games, behind only Chad Qualls.When I dissected him a few weeks ago, I noted that he had gone six weeks without a strikeout. Think about that for a second.
A quicker fall from grace I simply cannot remember, and it’s shocking.
So what’s next? It’s unlikely that he’ll be claimed off of waivers with that kind of performance, so assuming he clears the Dodgers will likely try to option him to AAA, since they’re on the hook for his salary anyway. A veteran of his tenure cannot be sent down without his permission, so he’d have the choice of becoming a free agent instead, but he’d have to forfeit his salary to do so. (I think. Double-checking that.)(Yep, Ken Gurnick confirms it.)
As for the Dodgers, they do need a fifth starter on Monday against San Francisco, meaning John Ely is ineligible since it’s inside his ten-day window, unless someone gets hurt. (Speaking of which, we couldn’t have found a way to say Sherrill was hurt?) James McDonald is the likely choice for that role, but there’s also no need to recall him until just before that game. Personally, I’d love to see fireballing ex-catcher Kenley Jansen get a shot; he’s striking out an insane 16.1/9 for AA Chattanooga, while sporting a 1.88 ERA.
******
If you haven’t yet, please be sure to read Molly Knight’s profile of the McCourt divorce mess for ESPN the Magazine. It’s illuminating, but it’s not going to make you feel any better about the situation.
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The fall of George Sherrill is really a remarkable one. From the sounds of it, he’s finally agreed to go to the minor leagues to work out whatever seems to be bothering him (mechanical or otherwise), which is a positive step. Still, if a veteran of his stature can’t figure things out with the help of Honey, I’m concerned.
And like you, I don’t place the blame on Ned Colletti. Sherrill was money in the bank last season and there was no reason to suspect he would fall apart like he has recently (that strikeout statistic you give is really shocking).
Comment by Chris— July 14, 2010 #
I thought Sherrill’s number was 6 because Joe Torre was out there as soon as he was brought in. Who knoew?
Comment by Squirrelmetrix— July 14, 2010 #
I asked this hypothetical question elsewhere, and nobody has yet ventured an answer: Could George Sherrill retire Garret Anderson?
Comment by WBB— July 14, 2010 #
it’d be like that episode of south park where the boys hate baseball so much, they try to lose. only the other team tries to lose too, so they end up batting/pitching in reverse, swinging at balls and taking strikes. and the pitcher tries to fool them into getting on base somehow, so that THEY can lose.
but the lesson is the same – no matter who wins, we all lose.
Comment by sumdumfu— July 14, 2010 #
Like Knight’s relay of the McCourts’ sentiments, on an individual level, I feel incredibly sad for them both but as a fan of the Dodgers, it’s been absolutely despicable the way that they have handled the Dodgers as owners. It’s much akin to my other favourite team, Man Utd and their American owners, both viewing their teams as a golden goose.
As far as Sherrill, it’s just another black mark on Torre, for using him too much last year, and Ned Colletti.
Comment by Greg— July 14, 2010 #
I would say that Andruw Jones would rival Sherrill’s fall, but in Jones’ case it was evident as a gradual decline. Sherrill literally fell off a cliff. Having watched him since spring training, I can only hope that some team feels he has a whisper of a chance of returning to his former ability, thus picking up his prorated salary for the remainder of the year.
Comment by SamAdams— July 14, 2010 #
3 good days in a row for Garret
Comment by Davids— July 14, 2010 #
Yeah, his line has been holding steady at .173/.194/.276….maybe he needs more time off like this….LIKE RETIREMENT??
Comment by Gibby's Limp— July 14, 2010 #
lol yeah, I’m sure he can counsel some little kids and “show them how to be big leaguers” without killing us offensively.
Comment by Tom— July 14, 2010 #
When I read the Gurnick article, I read something different than you do about Sherrill’s pay.
“As a player with more than five years service Sherrill has the choice to consent to a Minor League assignment, reject a Minor League assignment or declare free agency, which would nullify the remainder of his $4.5 million salary. If Sherrill rejected such an assignment, the club must either release him to become a free agent (and pay him) or keep him on the active roster.”
Sherrill apparently has three options. As I read it, the second one involves Sherrill rejecting the assignment, which would mean that he would still be owed the money whether through release, being put on the active roster, or being traded (not mentioned by Gurnick, but by SamAdams above).
Comment by J. Steve— July 15, 2010 #
I think the problem we all had with acquiring Sherrill last season was that Arthur Rhodes could have been obtained at a much cheaper price, say a middling prospect (instead of Josh Bell). Ned just fell in love with the big shiny Save statistic, and gave up our best corner infield prospect. Yes, Sherrill was lights out last season, but it sure appeared to be a lot of smoke and mirrors. He only threw around 90 on his fastball, but his slider command was pretty good. This year, his fastball seems noticeably slower, and he has little control and absolutely no command. Ugh.
Comment by The Dude Abides— July 15, 2010 #
The column makes it sound like you want Kenley Jansen to be brought up as a starter, and specifically for Monday’s start. Jansen has been pitching only in relief, with 24 IP in 19 G since he was promoted to the Lookouts. Although he’s been doing great as a reliever, there’s no way he could pitch the innings needed to start.
Comment by nsxtasy— July 15, 2010 #
I suppose I did word it that way, but unintentionally. I did mean him as a RP.
Comment by Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— July 15, 2010 #
I’m a little sick of the “we gave up our best prospect” crap I hear every time a deal is made. Too many people value prospects too highly. Bell is a nice little player but he’s no David Wright. Granted he’s still young but he’s hitting an unremarkable .266 with a .311 OBP in AAA. Yes he’s got 10 dingers and 24 DB, but that’s in over 300 PA’s. To be honest, the minors are full of guys like him. Was it a bad deal? I’d say yes, but he did the job last season and no one could forsee the fall he took this year. Every time I hear the “we gave our best” away line all I can think of are Hee Seop Choi and Wilson Betemit. The wailing and hand wringing were at an all time high when we let those guys go. And I’m willing to admit the Santana deal was not wise, but could you see Josh Bell manning the hot corner for us right now? Or at the end of last year when we were fighting to win the West? If he’s not ready to crack the O’s lineup then he’s not ready for ours either.
Comment by carolinabluedodger— July 15, 2010 #
Right but.. I agree with you.
Comment by Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— July 15, 2010 #
[...] Sherrill. All-Star to waivers in the space of a year. Just unreal. Like Haeger, I bet we haven’t seen the last of him, because no one’s claiming that [...]
Pingback by First Half in Review « Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— July 15, 2010 #
Regarding Ely: It would take a pitcher going to the DL for him to be allowed to come back early, right? Reed Johnson to the DL wouldn’t work?
Comment by Josh S.— July 15, 2010 #
Is it me or does Sherrill look less in shape than he did last year. He certainly has put on a belly since compared to last year.
Comment by Mike H— July 17, 2010 #
[...] gave up runs in two of his next three outings, and the other shoe dropped over the All-Star Break, as he was put on waivers. That fooled a lot of people into thinking that he was off the roster immediately – since he [...]
Pingback by MSTI’s 2010 in Review: Relievers, Part 4 « Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— November 18, 2010 #