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Could B.J. Ryan make the Angels bullpen better?
July 9th, 2009, 6:45 am · 14 Comments · posted by Earl Bloom, staff writer
There’s a Toronto Blue Jays pitcher who, I believe, the Angels can obtain for a lot less than it might take to get Roy Halladay out of Canada.
Left-hander B.J. Ryan, who saved 32 games in 36 tries last year, was released Wednesday by the Blue Jays.
No, Ryan, above, hasn’t been pitching well this year (6.53 ERA, 17 walks in 20 2/3 IP). Yes, he had elbow ligament replacement surgery in 2007.
But the Blue Jays are on the hook for the rest of Ryan’s five-year, $47 million contract (this is that deal’s fourth season). And left-handed hitters are batting .250 against him, .179 in his career.
Landing Ryan might mean Mike Scioscia wouldn’t have to waste Darren Oliver in lefty-lefty situations. The Blue Jays have only been pitching Ryan in blowout games lately; he could probably take that role from Kevin Jepsen initially while Ryan gets acclimated in Anaheim and Mike Butcher does some firsthand evaluation.
I get it, by the way, that Jepsen is a kid with a million-dollar arm, 
and Scioscia has been trying to nurture his confidence. appears to be working, and Jepsen’s new pitch, a cut fastball that sure looks like a wicked 90-mph slider, has been impressive in a small sample.
In a column last week, I stated that I believed the Angels had four relief pitchers who looked like mopup men to me.
Jepsen is emerging from that group, one went back to the minors, and none of those remaining are accomplished 33-year-old left-handers with 117 career saves.
Ryan, right, also has 77 holds, most from his Baltimore days.
Lack of work since he returned from April upper-back problems might have hurt his velocity as well as his control. In his last outing for Toronto — only his third appearance in two weeks — Ryan’s fastball was 86 mph.
Well, Jepsen throws 98, and until recently, had a high four-figure ERA. Now it’s 9.00. Velocity is no guarantee of anything without command.
The Angels have tried to bolster their bullpen, exploring trades and signing venerable Rudy Seanez to a minor-league deal.
Ryan makes a lot of sense to me, but I don’t write the checks.
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I don’t write the checks either, but I DO write the checks for THIS house, and I know that I surely wouldn’t pay $9000 for a recliner chair, when I already HAVE two in the house. I don’t need another mop-up guy. What I DO need is an eighth-inning holder, so, if i’m paying for a guy like Ryan, i’d BETTER be getting a guy that PITCHES like Arredondo.
Really, even at the pro-rated minimum, or slightly above? The Blue Jays are on the hook for the $15 million owed to Ryan.
Earl you’re thinking about what Ryan used to be or maybe could be next year. We don’t need someone throwing 85. It doesn’t help.
You guys have been screaming about Jepsen for months but I’m telling you he’s a keeper. Even when he was given up two hits an inning they were fluke hits. I saw him throw live in S.F. and he gave up 3 runs in one inning. It was the flukiest 3 runs I ever saw. He strikes out the first two guys. Next guy hits a 27 hopper into left field. Next guys breaks his bat and dinks one in to center and then that freak Pablo Sandoval hits a nasty curveball off his shoe-tops or a 3 run homer. Jepsen was the most impressive pitcher I saw that night on both teams.
Screw his ERA this guy has electric stuff. Ryan’s time is over or maybe he gets healthy next year, but he makes the bullpen worse not better.
It’s not a good move.
Earl,
It will never happen but I’m starting to think more about your idea of trading Lackey. I said they only way you trade Lackey is if you’re giving up on THIS season. Well after watching the Angels play 82 games I’ve come to the conclusion that THIS team is not going to win the West. It’s not a horrible team but its just not good enough. Bullpen is lacking, rotation is definately lacking. Offense is good not great. Very quietly in the last week of July, shop Lackey, Vlad, and Figgy. If someone gives you two electric arms for Lackey do the deal. Same with Vlad and Figgy, if you can get two major-league close to being ready, dynamic young players do the deal.
It would take major stones on Reagins’ part but if you could add 6 young talents it could set the Halos up for years.
Like I said it’ll never happenand the fans would go ballistic, but something to think about.
Earl, if he was any good, the Blue Jays would not flush umpteen million dollars down the toilet by kicking him to the curb. I love how you quote a bunch of stats that were compiled when Ryan still had an arm. It looks great on the back of a baseball card, but has no predictive value once he injured his arm. Yes, our bullpen needs help, but we’re not going to find the help we need picking through another club’s trash.
He had 32 saves in 36 tries last year AFTER he hurt his arm.
Saves, LOL. Let’s look at some relevant statistics.
*After* Ryan returned from surgery, his hits allowed went UP, his walks allowed went UP, his homeruns allowed went UP, his strikeouts went DOWN, and his velocity continued it’s steady decline. And the team that is still on the hook to pay him a small fortune decided the best way to get a return on that investment was to give their own hitters a chance to face him.
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/the-blue-jays-dump-bj-ryan
Well, that clinches it. FanGraphs should be used for all baseball decisions, especially now that Moneyball is completely discredited.
The Blue Jays gave up on Reed Johnson, too, and he wasn’t exactly done. And they sent Randy Wells back to the Cubs after drafting him. We’re not talking about Pat Gillick calling the shots there any longer.
I am simply asking that a once-quality reliever who can be had on the cheap be tried in a lesser role. If you enjoy those five-run innings, the Angels bullpen can stay as it is.
Nice non sequitur, Earl. Fangraphs was only offered to you since you clearly haven’t taken a look at the radar gun. Stick a fork in him.
Just curious, have you taken a look at the radar gun when Jamie Moyer or Trevor Hoffman pitches?
Why should I? I’m not discussing signing Jamie Moyer or Trevor Hoffman.
Good point., Mike L. Morgensen.
I am going to concede on that one, because anyone who uses “non sequitur” in a baseball blog has to be a lawyer.
I might be dumb, but not dumb enough to argue with someone who gets paid to do so. It is about as futile as it gets.
Excellent discussion, though. Thanks for reading.
Back at ya. I’d rather get paid to watch baseball, though. ;-)
BJ Ryan has more upside than 75% of our pen, and even a watered down BJ Ryan is still better than or equal to everyone other than Bulger, Oliver and Fuentes.