Huston Street's new contract, Jonathan Papelbon's current one
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Huston Street's new contract, Jonathan Papelbon's current one
David Murphy
Every Phillies bullpen arm not named Jonathan Papelbon has combined for a 5.08 ERA. (Kathy Kmonicek/AP)
Huston Street signed a two-year, $14 million contract extension today, the latest closer deal that will be dwarfed by the four-year, $50 million contract that the Phillies signed Jonathan Papelbon to this season. We'll never know how the market would have ended up valuing Papelbon had the Phillies been less aggressive in their pursuit of him, but it is interesting to note that the two teams who committed more than two years to a closer this offseason are two of the more disappointing teams in the majors.
The Marlins have already given up on 2012, and they are in that position thanks in part to the struggles of Heath Bell, who has a 5.75 ERA and six blown saves in 25 opportunities after signing a three-year, $27 million deal over the offseason. Papelbon, conversely, has been the pitcher the Phillies expected, converting 22-of-25 save opportunities with a 3.29 ERA in 41 innings. Yet even with the production they expected out of their closer, the Phillies are 11 games under .500 and, for all intents and purposes, out of the National League playoff picture. Which suggests that there might have been a wiser way to spend the money they dedicated to Papelbon. An elite closer is a luxury, not a necessity. If you already have a nice house and have money left over, go ahead and add the swimming pool. But if you have water pouring into the attic, then you are probably better off spending the 10 grand on a new roof.
Just like there are other ways to cool off, there are other ways to handle the ninth inning then to pay a guy $12.5 million a year over four years to handle it. Street has had significant injury problems over the last few seasons, missing 28 games this season with a right latissimus dorsi strain and 29 in 2011 with groin and arm injuries, and the first three months of 2010 with right shoulder inflammation. When healthy, he has been very good: a 3.12 ERA, 88 percent save rate, and 139 strikeouts against 28 walks in 135 1/3 innings since the start of 2010. Papelbon's numbers during that same stretch: 3.39 ERA, 86.5 percent save rate, 214 strikeouts, 47 walks in 172 1/3 innings.
Is the extra $5.5 million a year and two extra years worth the better health history and higher workload of Papelbon?
Comments (50)
come on murph! why even ask the question? if we signed bell everybody would have touted that move as cost saving for a good reliever. yet anyone with a brain would know that when you take him out of the cavernous park he's not so graet. now you ask about street vs papelbon? i'd sign street as a pen piece, but not as the primary piece with his injury history. and if the phils would have given madson a 44 m 4 yr contract everybody would have been happy! till he went down in the spring. then everyone including you would be saying that they should have gone after paps! and now at this stage of the year you're still fanning the fires of the amount of his contract and if he's worth it? well if we were in first place nobody would be giving it a second thought! bad article !— Ryne Duren- Bell or Papelbon? Doesn't matter. Only an idiot gives that kind of loot for a closer. Aceves replaced Papelbon for $1MM and has saved 22 games. Rodney 30 saves for $2MM. Johnson 30 saves for $1.5MM. Hanrahan 31 saves for $4MM. And on and on. You cannot overpay every position like Amaro. Otherwise, you end up lopsided and exactly where they are right now. — JodyMac
- No, and you might want to edit your piece, says 58 million should be 50. This was just another nail in bobo's incompetence resume. The fact he came close to inking Madson to a 4/44 deal is another. He's jut an idiot. He doesn't know baseball and can't negotiate. I think he's getting kick backs. It would explain the bloated contracts he hands out. 175 million, last place team. Injuries are just an excuse Hungry Hippo isn't that good anymore and droopy dog signed all these guys...how about some accountability and a real GM?— lazyboy
- Uh....no— m82492
- Murph, you're making this point now?
Are you kidding?
Here's an update - the ship has sunk and you've been floating around in your lifejacket for a couple of months...— Cameiros - This is an easy one, of course he was. What about Palpalbon has been impressive this year? Paying 50 million for a closer when your offense needed help and the rest of your bullpen was leaking oil is not a good move. Besides, if the guy was so great, Boston would have kept him.— Hemingway
- Huston Street is not a reliable closer. The guy has a good season and then stinks. He's been extremely streaky over his career and the Phils have owned him. He's now pitching in the pitcher-friendliest park there is which helps him keep his HRs down. He'd give up too many bombs here. You need to be asking this question in 4 years, he didn't sign a 1 year deal. If they hadn't signed Papelbon, then they would have given 10+ million per year to Madson who ended up blowing out his arm. So I'd have rather have signed Papelbon than Madson, in hindsight.— JimG
no- Write an article not this drool, please!— Rumrunner11
- Hindsight is 20-20. Murph preferred Madson over Papelbon.— EL Zorro
- Not worth it. Needed to fill out the bench and the bullpen. Which is what most of here have been writing just about everyday for the past 2 years.— F. Harry Stowe
Sitting here watching Doc get pounded in the first inning by the Braves makes me think none of the players are worth the obscene money they get paid, especially for long term contracts.— dogman5- I keep hearing the submarine dive sirens going off as this team continues to sink......New manager, bring up some kids, and get this ship right for 2013.— drhoffman
- The sad thing is that all of this was painfully obvious to any logical baseball observer before they ever even took the field, that is, except the guys upstairs
- This just in...
We should have never traded Ryne Sandberg!
— Jerome99RIP - Sub-lime! Just sublime! That kismet continues to this day. — mccloudmj
- Since when is having a 3.29 era for a closer good? Check out some of the better teams closers era— ziller0604
- I would never sign a relief pitcher to more than a 2 year contract, even in Mariano Rivera's best season he has never been more than a 1.5 WAR. Relief pitcher's performances fluctuate from year to year, I prefer Tampa's approach, sign a vetran who has a decent K rate and is coming off a bad season to a 1 year deal. It's why guys like Friedman and Daniels will always be > than Amaro they get the economics of baseball post steroid era.— Ed Gein
- Hey Murph, are you willing to admit this team isn't a playoff team? Isn't a .500 team? This article seems to be a small step in the direction of criticizing management. Hopefully you begin to call for Rube to be held to account like most fans have been saying for months.
Simply put, Rube KILLED THIS TEAM and this deal is a fine example of his work. He jumped the gun on Papelbon by signing him to an untradable contract and lost a first rounder in the process because he just couldn't wait to sign him later. All this and he ignored the offense by bringing in spare parts on the cheap. Fire Ruben Amaro Jr!— Repubrebirth - look phreaks, raj is a total efin MORON!!!!!
I never once had a good feelin bout the papelbum.
bosox shed no tears and phreaks - theres a reason for that! OK?!
raj has completely and utterly DEVASTATED this franchise. the ole days have returned. playoffs every couple decades. oh well, u get what u deserve. WOOT!
— depressed - NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO— hardball
- raj has thrown around money and prospects like there were no tomorrow. now we have one of baseballs worst teams. the incompetence is breath taking! the fact is, we should get rid of utley howard and papelbum too. but no we cant! cuz nobody is so psychotic to want them! only raj! the only difference between now and the historic track record of phils phutility is that we pay 175 MIL for that phutility! god bless raj. WOOT! nothing less than complete wholesale changes need to be in order for this team. that means a new gm and a new head coach. OK?! these boys been spoilt. bring back BOWA NOW!
time to CRACK DA WHIP!!!!!!
— depressed - With the team pushing a $170 million payroll, I think that it's a stretch to say that the Papelbon deal hamstrings the Phillies' ability to field a contending team. He's literally the last player (and his is the last contract) that I'd bring up when discussing the team's problems. Putting some $75 million of elite talent on the DL at a time is what sunk this season.— Dan K
- Terrible deal. They just came off living through the reason you don't go big bucks for 3 years on a closer and Amaro one-ups it to 4 years. What I don't get is that Papelbon doesn't seem to have anything special. Lidge had the slider, Madson had the change-up, when those guys are healthy they are unfair. Papelbon has a 93-94 MPH fastball. Big whoop!— jtj06
- Lousy baseball, they need some youth instead of these jaded vets!!!!!!!— Rumrunner11
- for God's sakes, Murph, grow a set and take a position here, instead of posing your concern as a question the fans need to answer. You've become Rich Hofmann. How could you let that happen?— advantasux
- In a vacuum, Papelbon is fine. The problem is that the money allocated to him tied RAJ's hands to address other shortcomings of the team. This team is too top heavy and Cole's new deal only back them into a tighter corner. They are not going to be aggressive at the trade deadline. Because the salaries are so bloated, they can put the players through waivers and continue to try to trade them.— Steve Jeltz
- This year, none of the contracts are worth the money except to Chooch. The one -two run wonders are back and Carlton, Grover Cleveland Alex . could not win with this team. If someone asks for Doc, the Phils should consider what they could get.— Koons
- Why expect anything less of our RAJ? The same GM that extended Howard with a 25 mil/yr contract two years early because he was afraid of the "market". He got screwed. He also waited till the last minute to extend Hamels because he wanted to see "the market". he got screwed again. See a pattern? RAJ has very little "vision". That's why this team is a mess right now.— scootch
- Beltran and 2-3 bone fide bullpen arms for the cost of Papelbon would have been more prudent, and this isn't simply hindsight. Plenty of questions were there about the lineup and the fading youngsters in the bullpen even before Utley started playing his games with information about his troubled knees.— EaglesWest
- HELL NO— tobyjoe
- How Murph likes Jimmy's contract after coming very small in this series?— EL Zorro
- Let's remember that RAJ took over a WS champ that was built on offense and power and changed it into a team of pitching and aging vets. If he was GM of any other business he would be out the door and not contemplating if the team is out of the playoffs. It was clear in May that the team was in trouble. Yet, he says that the Braves series was crucial in determining the team's future. It's scary that he will be responsible for correcting this teams many flaws.— butchcat
- A friend of mine is from Boston, he thank me for taking Papelbon off their hands. I though at the time he might be crazy. Now I know what he was talking about. Our problem is Charlie M. I have to belive that some of the players he puts in the line up are his illigment kids.(Mayberry,Pence,Howard, and some of the bullpen) Get rid of Chas and the socalled batting coach. Either he has no idea about hitting or the players are the dumbist in base ball.If you swing the bat you might hit something. Stop guessing and swing!!!!— old SC Frank
- most even said it then....no he is not worth the contract. what a waste.— psualum
- No. There were already signs of decline in Papelbon's performance. If the alternative was Madson, we would have been in deep water without a liferaft anyway. Some times the best intentions fail. I would have signed Madson and Furcal instaed of Pap and Rollins. Then I would have second guessed myself into next week over Madson's injury.— johnny eagle
- Problem is the Phillies thought they HAD a nice house when they put the pool in.— elrey97
- Channeling Ruben last February: I have bet the house on starting pitching, with Halladay, Lee and (hopefully an extended) Hamels. Seeing how great they were in our 102-win 2011 season, the last friggin' thing I would do is turn their 7- or 8-inning starts over to Bastardo-Qualls-Contreres, or a gamble of a closer! No, I get the most reliable free agent closer out there. And, guess what? He's not perfect but he's pretty darn good. LaRussa didn't put him on the NL All Star team for kicks. Say what you want, but Papelbon has been a strength of this team. Has our starting rotation been one? No. Other than Ruiz, no one has impressed, really. So let's got over the closer signing. We can't score, our three aces haven't been nearly as good as in 2011, etc. Come on.— eman
- Murph, I think it was totally worth it, are you crazy? EVERY last place team (with a decrepit, aging roster and no young players or prospects on the way) should have a $12,000,000/yr closer signed for the next 3 years. Duh!— Curlydubs
- As several other readers have stated, hindsight is 20/20.Ruben expected the Phillies to hang at least close to the wild card so a good closer seemed like a good idea.This signing seemed like a slight upgrade over Madison and since Madison went down in spring training, who was arguing?The real topic of your article should be"Did Amaro ignore middle relief pitching issue"— donnie65
- Really Murph? Really? This topic (again) and on this day? The Paps signing was fine in my book. We can't blame Amaro for jumping at him, because afterall, as soon as Madson had his physical (in secret, wink, wink!) and it was found he was damaged, Amaro had to act quickly, lest some other big pockets team sign Paps out from under him. It all had to be done quickly and on the QT, don't you know? The Phils weren't the only team with money. He's done fine. Every closer blows a couple. It's not like he's Heath (half an arm) Bell! And as far as Huston Street's new contract, why is his $7 mil per any better of a deal than Paps' $12.5 mil per? Street as you, yourself said has dealt with a host of injuries over the years! I wouldn't have signed him for more than 5 bucks! He's about 1 pitch away from stealing his last $14 mil!!!!!! Please Murph, I know the players are phoning it in, don't you start doing it, too.........— Mark1npt
- NO closers are NEVER worth the kind of money Amaro signed Pappi for! Have no faith in Amaro's ability to fix this team No mone & no prospects .. sad!!— bill poore
- only,if they can make a BIG TRADE for him, b4 Tues 4:00 pm.Ya certainly dont need a high priced closer, for the remainder of this season
Pence,Pappelbon,Victorino,and Halladay are the guys I would get rid of this week.— flyers11 - Granted papelbon could be having a better yearbut he is not the problem this year the problem is having a manager by the name of Charlie Manuel a pitching coach by the name of rich dubee. They have cost this team 5 times as many games as papelbon. The sad part is they will probably both be with the phils next year and Murphy and the other toadey beat writers will still be singing their praises— gates2012
- To those pinheads congratulating themselves by observing how Murph is 'just getting it' on the Papelbon investment, feel free to check out this piece of his from 9JAN12: http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/phillies/Grading-the-Phillies-offseason.html. Or this one from 11NOV11: http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/phillies/Phillies-take-risk-with-Papelbon.html— P2will
- The elite closer was intended to save the elite starters. The team is 11-20 with the number one and number two guys. None of us would have ever predicted that. Add to that a disappointing season for Vance Worley. There are only a handful of players who have truly earned their keep this year for the Phils.— PhilsfaninNebraska
- He overpaid for one year to many with Papelbon it could have been worse with he could have sighed Madsen.— angrywhtguy
- Papelbon is the most over rated closer in baseball!— FetchDixon
- What you mean you expected more than a guy with two pitches and a 96mph fast ball? Come on by Ryan Howard and Chase Utley standards that'a bargain for his production. It's classic RAJ, we got a winner in town!
- Ruben took a risk on a pitching strategy to make up for the fading offensive power. Get the high paid starters to go 7 ot 8 innings and give up no more than 2 or 3 runs and have Papp come in and close the game. Unfortunately the Aces didn't live up to their part of the plan and were more like tres or more a game, bullpen collapsed and gave up too many runs for papp to have been useful. The risk did now work and Ruben is stuck with an overpaid pitching staff and a continuningly weaker aging offense.— atp2007
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