Randy Johnson now a Giant

[ohms_law]

The two power pitchers that come to my mind when I think "power pitcher" are Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens...and well...they both had incredible longevity. I would say SMALL power pitchers, think Pedro Martinez, tend not to last that long, but power pitchers who get their power from their strong physiques probably last longer than the average pitcher.

Right but, when they go they go. Quickly.

I think he's going to turn out to be a huge steal at the price they got him for.

The Giants are likely the only team willing to take the risk...

[HoustonGM]

The Giants are likely the only team willing to take the risk...

I don't think so, at all. A one year contract for less than $10 million isn't a risk for, well, any team. Many teams were mentioned as "in it" for Johnson, but he wanted to stay on the west coast, which likely was the deciding factor.

[ohms_law]

I'm generally suspicious of the "Many teams were mentioned" line. Quite often agents will put that sort of story into the press, especially about popular vets. Even teams seem to get in on the game, occasionally. I really have to wonder how true those sorts of statements are. call my a cynic, I guess.

If halfway though the season he ends up loosing his movement and not being able to throw harder then ~80 and becomes unable to strike anyone out any longer, is that $10 mil still a well spent investment?

I'm not saying that it is a bad signing at all, especially at only 1 year. I might actually do that myself if I were in Sabean's shoes. Mostly I'm just kind of curious about how Johnson is really doing. The statements about this putting the Giants pitching into some sort of new category or something kind of... bug me, I guess.

[HoustonGM]

I'm not saying that it is a bad signing at all, especially at only 1 year. I might actually do that myself if I were in Sabean's shoes. Mostly I'm just kind of curious about how Johnson is really doing. The statements about this putting the Giants pitching into some sort of new category or something kind of... bug me, I guess.

Well, I don't think it puts them into "some sort of new category." It just makes their already strong pitching a bit better .

I think you're greatly overstating the likelihood of him falling off a cliff though. His fastball was 91 MPH on average last season. I don't think any pitcher is likely to lose 10 mph off his fastball over the course of one winter.

Even if that extremely unlikely scenario happens, it won't hurt them. No, the money wouldn't have been well spent, but there's always risks involved in signings. This is cheap and short, which maximizes the potential value while minimizing the damage.

FWIW, FanGraphs analysis of the signing.

[ohms_law]

Brian Sabean needs to do something silly soon. Like, trade Jonathan Sanchez for Jorge Cantu or Tim Lincecum for Alexis Rios silly, otherwise, the Giants are having an amusingly solid off-season.

That was worth a grin, at least!

[ragecage]

**** I wanted him to go to the A's.

[Fish Troll]

Yes I already know he's a giant.

[rogue9]

I'm pretty happy with this. There will at least be someone entertaining pitching 4/5 games now.
This was funny tho:

“He’s looking forward to pitching between Lincecum and Cain and serving as a mentor for the young pitching staff,” Meister said.

from http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_yl...v=ap&type=lgns

I don't think any pitcher is likely to lose 10 mph off his fastball over the course of one winter.

Just gotta keep him away from Zito


I guess the time during that Giants/Dbacks brawl where he put the Giants hat on accidently was a bit prophetic. Thats a funny video clip btw.

[flatcap]

This probably means Giants will be dealing Matt Cain. I heard he's really rocky with the front office right now and pushing for a trade. Randy Johnson would be filling his spot.

[rogue9]

wtf?

[dps]

Right but, when they go they go. Quickly.

That's true of 90% of pitchers, probably. And most of those who don't go quickly are going to be power pitchers. A power pitcher who loses something off his fastball can possibly learn a new pitch, or just concentrate more on the off-speed pitches he already has--Tom Seaver would be a good example. A finesse pitcher who loses his control, on the other hand, isn't going to be able to magically add 5-10 MPH to his fastball.

[HoustonGM]

Just gotta keep him away from Zito

Zito never lost ~10 MPH. In 2005, it was 87.3. In 2006, it dropped to 85.8, and it's been 84.5 and 84.9 in his two years with San Fran.

[rogue9]

I know. I was just being fecitious.

[ohms_law]

Zito lost movement, which is always more important then velocity anyway from what I've read up about it...

In terms of power pitchers, I think that we need to be careful of who we're talking about. When you use the Tom Seaver, Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens level of player as a comparison point it's easy to fall into a selection error trap. The "average" power pitcher pitches well until they loose something off of their pitch, and then their done. The great guys are simply great, and receive time and attention so that they could learn to adjust. Most importantly though, there is a skill to learning, and pitchers being pitchers... it's an intellectual athletic pursuit.
On the other hand, we are talking about Randy Johnson here. Nolan Ryan is probably the most solid model to look towards... I wonder if Randy has a personal relationship with anyone in the Giants organization? I could see him parlaying a season or even two of work on the field into a significant position in the front office.

[HoustonGM]

In terms of power pitchers, I think that we need to be careful of who we're talking about. When you use the Tom Seaver, Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens level of player as a comparison point it's easy to fall into a selection error trap. The "average" power pitcher pitches well until they loose something off of their pitch, and then their done. The great guys are simply great, and receive time and attention so that they could learn to adjust. Most importantly though, there is a skill to learning, and pitchers being pitchers... it's an intellectual athletic pursuit.

I think we can safely put Randy Johnson into a group with Tom Seaver, Nolan Ryan, and Roger Clemens.

On the other hand, we are talking about Randy Johnson here.

Ah, there we go!