By Ryan Oleniczak
December 18th, 2009
The next installment of the MLB Network’s Prime 9 list of top players at each position takes us to the closer’s role. This decade has seen the role of the closer become extremely important in many teams’ eyes as it can be difficult to find the right guy to get those all important last 3 outs of the game. Here are the guys who were the best at closing out a win for their teams this decade: 9. Troy Percival – Despite missing the entire 2006 season due to injury, Percival finished the decade with 219 saves mostly with the Los Angeles Angels. He posted a record of 21-21 with a 3.37 ERA and posted an impressive 7 saves in [...]
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• Category:
Atlanta Braves, Houston Astros, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Oakland Athletics, Philadelphia Phillies, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Teams
• Tagged as Billy wagner, Eric Gagne, Francisco Rodriguez, Jason Isringhausen, Joe Nathan, Jonathan Papelbon, Mariano Rivera, Trevor Hoffman, Troy Percival
By Andrew Swanson
December 2nd, 2009
Ken Rosenthal is reporting that the Atlanta Braves have signed Billy Wagner to a one year $7 million deal with a vesting option for 2011 pending a physical. Billy Wagner was one of the premier relievers on the free agent market this off season. At 38 years old, he has show remarkable resiliency in coming back from Tommy John surgery posting a 1.98 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 26/8 K/BB ratio in 15 appearances. Wagner is slotted to take over the closing duties in Atlanta with the pending departure of free agents Mike Gonzalez and Raphael Soriano. The Boston Red Sox offered salary arbitration Tuesday to Wagner, a Type A free agent. If Wagner passes his physical, the Sox will receive the Braves’ first-round pick next [...]
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• Category:
Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox, Free Agents
• Tagged as Billy wagner, Mike Gonzalez, Raphael Soriano
By Andrew Swanson
November 23rd, 2009
The Baltimore Orioles have positioned themselves well this off season to make some impact signings in the free agent market. They only have $29.5 million committed to six players for 2010. After renewals and arbitration, the O’s should see their payroll fall right around $45 million mark. They also only have commitments to three players (Brian Roberts, Nick Markakis and Brian Matsuz) beyond the 2010 season. The last time they spent big bucks in the free agent market was the 2003-04 off season when they signed Miguel Tejada, Javy Lopez, Sidney Ponson and Rafael Palmeiro for a combined total of over $120 million. Andy McPhail has owner Peter Angelos to contend with when making decisions on who to pursue. Jeff [...]
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• Category:
Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Free Agents, New York Yankees, Rumors, Tampa Bay Rays
• Tagged as Adam Jones, Andy McPhail, Billy wagner, Brandon Snyder, Brian Matsuz, Brian Roberts, Evan Longoria, Fernando Rodney, Hank Blalock, Javy Lopez, Joel Zumaya, John Lackey, Josh Bell, Miguel Tejada, Mike Gonzalez, Nick Markakis, Peter Angelos, Rafael Palmeiro, Sidney Ponson
