Red Sox sign Colon!

by 101halo on Feb 24, 2008 3:10 PM PST

Too bad its only a minor league deal. This should make them contenders this year. It might just be enough to push them over the top. The scale has been tipped in their favor (pun intented).

Good luck chewing on this one, Sox fans... I know Colon will. Twinkies, that is. Ho hos, maybe.

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From what I heard

he had an offer at one point with the White Sox. Not sure why he would take a minor league contract offer from the Red Sox when there MUST be (and, in reality, is) at least one team in baseball that should be giving him a Major League contract. If the White Sox rumor was true, he was damn well good enough to be make their rotation without even auditioning.

by Caseys Kiss of Death on Feb 24, 2008 3:24 PM PST reply actions

White Sox

Withdrew their major league offer afer watching him pitch in the Dominican...he's still injured and its readily apparent.

by akathelorax @ Halos Heaven on Feb 24, 2008 5:01 PM PST up reply actions

so

the red sox have, what, 24 starters now?

daisuke
beckett
wakefield
bucholz
lester
tavarez
colon
schilling

am i missing anyone?

by ihearhowie2.0 on Feb 24, 2008 4:02 PM PST reply actions

Well

Tavarez barely counts as a reliever, let alone a starter. Colon is gonna be in the minors, and Schilling's career might be over.

by Caseys Kiss of Death on Feb 24, 2008 4:06 PM PST up reply actions

odd

I can't believe the red sox signed a player that is known for playing horrible against the yankees

legen... wait for it... dary

by thebigA on Feb 24, 2008 4:08 PM PST reply actions

An Angels free agent bust.

I watched almost all of his starts during his Angels career and it was evident he was nothing without his fastball. His secondary pitches (slider, change-up) are poor. His best starts were when he was throwing 95+ (not that often). The games where he was topping out at 90-91 (way too often), he got lit up. Basically the Angels got 1.5 years of decent pitching.

On top of his poor performance was a most atrocious conditioning routine that should have been grounds for breach of contract. For $51 million Colon could have AT THE VERY LEAST stayed in reasonable shape.

by Fan Since 1981 on Feb 24, 2008 6:10 PM PST reply actions

Bust?

The man won a Cy Young award for the Angels. And, he was a very consistent and pretty darn good starter when he was healthy.

I don't understand any Angel fan having bad feelings towards Bart. Did he get alot of money? Yes. But, he was in no way a bust.

by ValisJason on Feb 24, 2008 9:08 PM PST up reply actions

3 years of 5+ era

is a bust

Get rid of Quinlan

by edhoo on Feb 25, 2008 12:03 AM PST up reply actions

When you sign a pitcher at that age

like the Angels did, it is assumed they will eat some of the money later. You give more years than you should to lock up high quality for the other years.

Bart-Bart had a terrible first half of 2004. Look at the micro-picture, though. He had a great post-all star break for the Angels, and won 18 games that year. All in all, he had a respectable season, and was good when it counted. His ERA was solely the product of some very bad first half games.

In his second year, he was one of the best pitchers in the A.L. I don't care about debates about whether or not he deserved the Cy Young Award, but he won 21 games with a 3.48ERA. That's just dominant. Period.

So he completely flaked out in years 3 and 4 because of injury. Certainly no defense to it.

HOWEVER, in the macro-picture now: Bartolo Colon won 46 games and pitched about 550+ innings for the Angels. Averages say 11.5 wins and 140IP a year. Not a bust. Worth every penny? Hardly. But he was a good pitcher for half his contract, and even at spots throughout 2007.

There's something called a middle ground. Bart falls into it. Not the greatest signing ever. Not a bust. Anyone pushing either side is lying to themselves.

by Caseys Kiss of Death on Feb 25, 2008 12:45 AM PST up reply actions

I agree

100% with everything you said.

On the other hand, for purposes of comparison...

The Angels signed Kelvim Escobar in the same offseason as Colon. Over the exact same time frame, Escobar won 43 games, averaged 163 IP, with a 3.60 ERA, for a total of $27,750,000 - slightly more than half of what they paid Bart. A much better return on their investment, to be sure.

by jjackflash on Feb 25, 2008 7:34 AM PST up reply actions

He was paid to be the ACE. He was one for 1.5 yrs

"When you sign a pitcher at that age
like the Angels did, it is assumed they will eat some of the money later. You give more years than you should to lock up high quality for the other years." I think Bart ate all of the money and then some.

The Angels paid *$30 MILLION* over the final two years of the contract. This is what they got:

GS W L ERA IP H HR BB K
28 7 13 5.90 155.6 203 26 40 107

That's just not good enough. Bust? Maybe not given the Angels won the West in 2004 and 2005 and Bart played a significant role. But 2006 and 2007 were unacceptable, especially given that Colon decided to impersonate the Good Year blimp.

by Fan Since 1981 on Feb 25, 2008 1:57 PM PST up reply actions

Read back to what I said

you spent the first half of your post refuting me, only to come down the exact same conclusion.

Don't get caught up in the stats I use as somehow justifying my point. The entire POINT of what I said was very simple: he wasn't a bust. No man in their right mind would call him a great signing, or even a good one...or even a marginally above average one. ALL I said, and I was abundantly clear about it, is that he wasn't a BUST. No more, no less. That's it. Not a bust.

by Caseys Kiss of Death on Feb 25, 2008 5:51 PM PST up reply actions

The word "Bust" caused a firestorm

Perhaps too strong a term. I would have been better off simply titling the post as "Fartolo Fat Ass" and all of this could have been avoided. LOL! ;)

by Fan Since 1981 on Feb 25, 2008 6:19 PM PST up reply actions

I still just call him Bart-Bart

makes me think of the Simpsons. Plus, double the Bart for double the man.

by Caseys Kiss of Death on Feb 25, 2008 6:20 PM PST up reply actions

Also, for bust

please see:

Pavano, Carl

by Caseys Kiss of Death on Feb 25, 2008 6:20 PM PST up reply actions

Or Darren Dreifort. Or Chan Ho Park.

Hey, Fartolo doesn't look so bad now.

by Fan Since 1981 on Feb 25, 2008 6:28 PM PST up reply actions

How many playoff games did Bart win as an Angel?

He was an enormous bust.

And I'm not talking about his equally large bra size.

by bc56274 on Feb 25, 2008 2:56 PM PST up reply actions

BOTTOM LINE

Without Bartolo Colon we don't win the division in 2004 and 2005.

End of discussion.

by Rev Halofan on Feb 25, 2008 6:48 PM PST up reply actions

You liked that 5+ ERA in '04?

Are you telling me Bart's tenure as an Angel was a success?

Zero playoff wins from your supposed ace can't be categorized as a success. Ask Randy Johnson.

by bc56274 on Feb 25, 2008 10:59 PM PST up reply actions

There's a long, barren wasteland

between "success" and "bust" known as "middle ground." I know it's difficult to acknowledge its existence in any debate, but it's there.

And therein, lies Bart-Bart.

by Caseys Kiss of Death on Feb 26, 2008 12:04 AM PST up reply actions

Stayed?

He was never in reasonable shape. The Angels signed a fat man. They knew what they were getting.

I don't think that had Bartolo dropped 50-75 pounds after signing that he would have had any better luck staying healthy. Look at David Wells, he pitched forever. Bart's arm gave out, happens to skinny pitchers too - just look at Pedro Martinez.

Reagins on a return to Fenway: "Mr. Henry, tear down this wall!"

by RallyMonkey5 on Feb 26, 2008 11:45 AM PST up reply actions

Go, Bart

Also, skinny fat guy article -- includes Bill James/Mike Scioscia Wladimir Guerrero analysis.

by Bilko 420 on Feb 24, 2008 6:36 PM PST reply actions

Another

fun article. And not that it'd ever happen... (Spare me the flames, please.)

by Bilko 420 on Feb 24, 2008 7:08 PM PST up reply actions

GA

Interesting interview with GA, it sounds like he is hoping for a new 2 year deal after this year but isn't sure what will happen. Whatever the Angels decide to do, I hope GA has a big year and thus he has some say about how he ends his career (either as an Angel or not).

Angels in 08!

by tanana40 on Feb 24, 2008 8:10 PM PST up reply actions

I interpret the same way.

by wumbug on Feb 24, 2008 8:13 PM PST up reply actions

At Tempe...

GA MASHED through his BP sessions Sunday and Monday (2/24 and 2/25). Hitting moon shots further than Vladdy was for the same two days. Amazing. He is looking STRONG with the bat right now.

Quit yer whinin' and START CHEERING!

by Downing Rules on Feb 26, 2008 1:38 PM PST up reply actions

Re: fun article..........

Reality is setting in.

by wumbug on Feb 24, 2008 8:23 PM PST up reply actions

I get irrational

when it comes to resigning guys like GA. I'd do it in a heartbeat. It would break my heart to see him in another uni. That's how I feel about Erstad and Perci. GA is just so damn smooth. Not lazy - all you haters - smooooth.

"Erstad says he's got it. Erstad makes the catch!..."

by Rally Manatee on Feb 25, 2008 3:22 PM PST up reply actions