it's the walks, that bother me. His breaking ball is so huge sometimes that he can't throw the slider for strikes. But I remain a big fan of Frankie and hope he is extended at some point. Remember only 2 years ago the guy was practically impossible to score against. He needs to try and get in front in the counts more, maybe throw the fastball more and then set up the slider for a two strike pitch. Then again, I have never been a big time major league closer so who am I to say.

Al Conin is in my ear forever.

If the two of them are that similar, what is Rev talking about?

You look at his outings in that WS, and he had GREAT balance on the mound. It wasn't like he was falling over every time.

Thats a liitle extreme.....................................Actually a bit ludicrous.

I'll take K-Rod anyday.

to send a guy to the minors because his delivery looks bad is about the most ridiculous thing i've ever heard. he saves 40+ three years in a row, and he's 2 for 2 so far this year. what exactly is he doing to hurt the team right now? succeeding too much?

on your logic, vlad should never be allowed to hit in the majors again because his swing looks bad. let's trade him for troy glaus, because troy just looks better at the plate. insane!

But we got 300 saves out of a guy with only "one plus pitch."

And towards the back end, he didn't even have a plus pitch.

Ya know, 10 years ago, 91 octane gas was like $1.75. Now 87 is $3.35.

It's called a market, folks. And if you don't think Frankie is worth keeping around because you don't think he's as good as HE used to be, you need to find someone to replace him. There's a reason lots of relievers move from team to team to team. It's because there aren't that many that are good enough to keep around for a long time. The difference between how good you think Frankie should be and how good he is is completely irrelevant. What's relevant is the difference between how good he is (pretty damn good) and how good his replacement is (speculative at best).

Now, feel free to make an argument that there is a comparable alternative that makes more sense. But comparisons to Percival or to Frankie of years past is just dumb, and meaningless. Percival v1.996 and Frankie v2.004 ARE NOT ON THE MARKET. Of course, this will bring the inevitable "What about guys lik eDerrick Turnbow and Kevin Gregg?!?!" responses. Both of those guys are mediocre at best. In fact, Turnbow sucks. If you're comfortable turning over a championship caliber team to one of them, well, good luck with that.

If I had to choose a non-Frankie closer out of our bullpen, it'd be Speier.

Percival was making me sweat profusely. It happens with closers. It is just something we have to deal with.

"You win some, you lose some."

Frankie is a great closer and we should be thankful we have a closer of his quality.

Frankie's no longer as good as the greatest closer in the history of the game in his prime!! What a shock!!

Hey, ya know what else? Compared to Babe Ruth in his prime, there is no longer the fear that Vlad is an automatic baserunner anymore. And compared to Sandy Koufax in his prime, there is no longer the fear that John Lackey is going to throw a complete game with few baserunners allowed and 11/12 strikeouts every time he's on the mound.

The standards some of you hold this guy to are pretty amazing. By the way, Troy Percival's Angels career as a closer, he had a save percentage of 87% (315/362). In his best three year stretch, 2001-2003, he had a save percentage of 91% 112/123). Frankie, in his first three years as a closer, has been 89.8% (132/147). So Frankie's only three years as a closer have been almost as good as Troy's BEST three years as a closer, plus you'd ignore the fact that Frankie threw 40! more innings in those three years.

This is not meant to denigrate Troy Percival. I'm a fellow Highlander, and I sponsor his B-Ref page. But you people tend to think that if Frankie doesn't reproduce his 3 IP, 25 pitches, 22 strikes, 6k performance against the Giants in the 2002 WS, then he must suck now. Again, the apt comparison is not Frankie then vs. Frankie now. It's Frankie now vs. what else is out there now. Sorry to tell you, but there's not much out there.

He falls in love with one pitch and throws it like 5-6 times in a row.

I shit bricks when he does goes, Fastball-Fastball-Fastball-Fastball-Slider-Slider-Slider-Slider. Mix it up Frankie!

Watch Frankie's last save and you'll see that he struck out both Carlos Gomez and Cuddyer with that slider. Cuddyer was in a 3-2 count with men on 1st and 2nd, and Frankie was still able to throw the slider for a strike a couple of times. He has lost velocity on his fastball, but he can still get hitters to chase the slider.

Was it Diosthenes or Pat Benatar who said "Hit me with your best shot" ????

And last season, when he gave up 50 hits in 67.3 innings, and three homers, the second lowest homer total in his career.

In fact, his ERA last year was fairly similar to what it was in 2003 and 2005. Both of those years were followed by excellent seasons. So far, he's fluctuated back and forth a bit. In fact, his numbers last year are striking similar to his 2005 numbers. 67.3 IP both years. A few more hits and walks last year, but half the home runs he had in 2005. Strikeouts dead even. So basically, if everyone here had been around in 2005, the calls would have surely been "Dump Frankie!! Don't re-sign him!". It would have been a great move, too, because all we would have missed out on was a 2006 campaign in which he save 47 games, with a 1.73 ERA. How about we let this season play out before we decide he's done?