Others have done it, but I’ve avoided touching on free agent pitcher Mark Buehrle at length. I kept saying that I wanted to like Buehrle, but I just couldn’t bring myself to want him on the Yankees. Part of me thought this was okay because of Buehrle’s average home run rates and way below average strikeout rates. But, part of me loved his generally strong ground ball rates and his remarkable durability.
Yesterday at FanGraphs, Dave Cameron delved into what Buehrle does–or rather doesn’t do–that has separated him over the course of his career. The end of the article is what caught my eye:
If we sort all starting pitchers with at least 1,000 innings pitched since 2000, Buehrle’s 3.83 ERA puts him as a peer of Ben Sheets (3.79), Zack Greinke (3.82), Josh Beckett (3.84), and Andy Pettitte (3.86). If you ignore the subjective earned runs tag and sort by runs allowed per nine innings, however, Buehrle’s 4.26 RA/9 makes him a peer of Al Leiter (4.23), Barry Zito (4.24), Randy Wolf (4.29), and Jarrod Washburn (4.29).
There’s nothing wrong with the second group of pitchers, but I think we’d all agree that they aren’t as good as the first group. If a team thinks they’re getting more of the former than the latter, they may very well end up disappointed.
The thing that I think I’ve missed or not acknowledged enough when it comes to Buehrle is that the Yankees wouldn’t need him to be anything spectacular. After reading those last two paragraphs of the Cameron piece, I asked myself: Would I be happy with 180-200 innings of a 4.2something run average from any pitcher? Yeah, I think I would be. That doesn’t sound sparkly or shiny, but given the Yankee offense, that’s going to lead to wins more often than losses.
We can all agree that the Yankees need pitching. But I think we can still have some discussion over to what degree they need that pitching. If the Yankees add Buehrle, that should by no means be the only pitching they add. I’d like to see them take a shot at Yu Darvish, but you know that already. If they did stop after adding Buehrle, the rotation would look like this:
CC Sabathia
Buehrle
Ivan Nova
Phil Hughes
A.J.Burnett
That’s one elite pitcher, a solid lefty, a young guy building on success, and then, well, yeah. The 4-5 doesn’t look too great after last season, but both pitchers have talent and have shown the ability to be solid for long stretches of time. It might not be the best rotation possible, but combined with a dynamite bullpen and an explosive lineup, it’s more than good enough to get the job done. Looking at what Mark Buerhle could provide and what the Yankees need, I think I’m ready to do a 180 on this situation.
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9 Responses to On Mark Buehrle
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TIQ IQ
I wrote this on your devils post the other day, but I obviously agree:
‘Why not Mark Buehrle on a 3 year deal? This guy is so consistent. Every year he has been a starter (since 2001) he has logged over 200 innings. I think he could really help in stabilizing the rotation while we wait for the B’s, and doesn’t make the yanks rush them up to the majors. He does give up the long ball a little much and gives up a good amount of hits. But this is a guy they could plug in there and not worry about, in my opinion.’
Have you heard anything on the hot stove about Cashman talking with him? I have not.
Buster Olney or Ken Rosenthal said the other day that Cashman has called Buehrle’s agent, but that is was “highly unlikely” they actually make an offer.
Matt, I see your point, but the level of pitching Burhle is likely to give the team in 2012 is possibly acheivable by Garcia, at less cost and on a shorter contract. While I don’t think Garcia will pitch to his level of last year, I’d rather take my chances with him and the AAA arms and wait for the trade deadline, next year’s FA crop or even the younger arms to develop some more. While Burhle is certainly solid (I think we’d all take an Andy Pettitte-level of performance), I don’t like signing him to a 3 year deal. I wouldn’t be too upset on a 2 year deal, but at what price?
If Buehrle wants a three year deal, he can go find it somewhere else.
Seems he’s looking for a deal longer than 2 years. I’m with you … go look elswhere.
From what I’ve read the White Sox are willing to give him 2 years. So if he leaves I can’t see him doing so for less than 3 years. To be honest I wouldn’t want Mark for anymore than 1 year, considering he should be no more than a stop gap in the rotation.
I also hope they are not seriously considering Wilson.
You want a 33 year old Buehrle on a 3 year deal but not a 31 year old Wilson on 5? I don’t see the logic.
If we had a solid number 2 pitcher and the main focus on our rotation was adding a reliable back of the rotation starter, Buehrle would be a perfect fit. Unfortunately that isn’t where we are. We need a legit number 2 starter for the playoffs. The Yankees rotation should always be looked at in terms of the playoffs in my opinion and come playoffs time Buehrle will be at best a 3 starter. This isn’t a team that simply needs innings, we need an impact arm and Mark simply doesn’t fit the need.
If Buehrle was willing to take a 1 year 14 million dollar deal I’d do it. But reports are he’s walking away from 2 years from the White Sox, and I would think the Marlins will offer at least 2 years with Ozzie Guillen as their manager. As one poster said I would rather have Garcia on a 1 year deal than Buehrle on a multiple year contract. Both essentially fill the same spot in the playoffs, unless the Yankees make a trade or sign someone else. In which case both drop to a number 4 starter anyway.