The Indians have announced the signings of Danny Graves and Steve
Karsay to minor league contracts with invitations to Spring Training.

I always liked Graves. I doubt if Karsay has much left. But who knows?

steve

Ummm...What about Graves leads you to think he has anything left..??

bill g

I doubt either has anything left, but they're both very cheap unless they
actually do pitch well. It's not a bad gamble, but I doubt either pays off.

Karsay IP ERA+
'01 88 190
'02 88.3 134
'03 DNP
'04 6.7 167
'05 21.7 63

He missed all of '03, didn't pitch nearly enough innings in '04 to know if
that 167 was real, and then was simply awful in 2005. The Yankees paid him
$21M over 4 years and got 1 very good season of 88 innings, and then less
than 13 innings over the next 3 years (he finished '05 with Texas).

He'll be 34 next spring and will be about 3 years removed from his surgery.
That's plenty of time for it to heal. He'll either have it, or he won't. I
bet Karsay retires before spring training is over.


Graves IP H HR BB K WHIP ERA+
'99-'02* 95 88 8 34 57 1.28 147,192,104,138
'02 99 99 7 25 58 1.26 138
'03 169 204 30 41 60 1.45 80
'04 68 77 12 13 40 1.32 102
'05 39 59 9 20 20 2.04 66
* average of '99-'02 when he was the closer

2002 marked the 4th straight season as the Red's closer, 3 of which were
very good. He was never a strikeout pitcher, but had a very good sinker,
and was effective by keeping players off base and his homerun totals down.

2002 also marked the the first time Graves started a game, with 4 in '02.
So the Reds made him a starter in '03, and he didn't respond well. He
hasn't been nearly as effective since the experiment as a starter.

'98-'02 H/9 was 8.3, HR/9 was 0.74.
'03-'05 H/9 was 1.23, HR/9 was 1.66

He never could rely on a strikeout, and at 32 isn't going to suddenly get a
better fastball. Now that he can't keep players off base or the baseball in
the park, he'll be lucky if he ever pitches in the bigs again.

jumping jack flash

I'm looking forward to the signing of Heathcliff Slo***b and Kevin
Wickander.

big normy

Karsay was really good when he was here if I remember correctly...then
again so was Doug Jones eh?

jumping jack flash

Both were very good. I like bringing back Karsay and Graves to minor league
deals. No risk.

william wilson

Slo***b might be too young, but I'll bet Fred Beene and Blue Moon Odom
are itching to make a comeback and can be had cheap. Can we still get
Oil Can boyd from the mexican league? And, if Julio Franco is still
playing at 48 (err 68), Rico Carty should be a viable right-handed
stick. According to Baseball Almanac he's a young 66 years old.
--
----------------------------------------------
Posted with NewsLeecher v3.0 Final
* Binary Usenet Leeching Made Easy
* http://www.newsleecher.com/?usenet
----------------------------------------------

Where's Frank Funk when you really need him????