Winners vs. Losers
Just a few thoughts before the good stuff.
A DITr welcome to another new reader, Mike Sosnowski, from Denver and a Yankees fan. At least Kevin Brown had enough sense to punch the wall with his non-pitching hand.
Now that I think about it, there is a slight resemblance between Frank Francisco of the Texas Rangers and Bobby Knight. (I wrote this Thursday, BEFORE Win, Lose and Drew came out on Friday.)
Friday night while watching the rox, it finally dawned on me the difference between a winner and a loser. A winner is Eric Gagne and a loser is Shawn Chacon. Now, I like Shawn Chacon and I want him to do well. He’s a fellow Coloradoan and a product of the rox’ draft and minor league system, so there are compelling reasons to wish him success. Unfortunately, he hasn’t experienced much success in the last year or so. Gagne and Chacon do have something in common. Both began their careers as a starter, but concerns emerged about their arm strength and were converted to a closer. That’s where the similarities begin and end.
To begin with, Gagne set a mlb record by converting 76 save opportunities straight to begin his career as a closer. Chacon blew his first save opportunity of his career. Taking a look at 2004 stats paints a vastly different picture also. Gagne is 7-3 with 17 walks, 109 strikeouts, 42 saves in 44 chances and has an era of 2.00. Chacon, on the other hand, is 1-9, with 47 walks, 50
strikeouts, 34 saves in 43 chances and has an era of 6.68. Browsing the boxscores from Friday and Sunday will provide an accurate snapshot of both of these pitchers.
In Monday's RMN(Rocky Mountain News), Chacon was quoted as saying that he hopes the rox "keep the faith in him" and keep him as closer next season. I have no idea what Hurdle and Dealin' Dan will do, but I can tell you that I cringe when Chacon comes into a close game. We as sports fans tend to have a short memory (often times that's good). Last year the rox ran off Jose Jimenez for similar short-comings in the closer role.
My opinion is that the only success Chacon will enjoy will be as a middle reliever. If there had been occasional signs of brilliance with missteps along the way then the rox would have a legitimate reason to stick with Chacon as the closer. Unfortunately, that has not been the case. The alternatives are few and far between for the rox, but Chacon as the closer for the 2005 season is not the answer in my book.
There will be several questions for the rox heading into next spring, but the role of Chacon, and who will be the closer, should be high on that list of questions.
A DITr welcome to another new reader, Mike Sosnowski, from Denver and a Yankees fan. At least Kevin Brown had enough sense to punch the wall with his non-pitching hand.
Now that I think about it, there is a slight resemblance between Frank Francisco of the Texas Rangers and Bobby Knight. (I wrote this Thursday, BEFORE Win, Lose and Drew came out on Friday.)
Friday night while watching the rox, it finally dawned on me the difference between a winner and a loser. A winner is Eric Gagne and a loser is Shawn Chacon. Now, I like Shawn Chacon and I want him to do well. He’s a fellow Coloradoan and a product of the rox’ draft and minor league system, so there are compelling reasons to wish him success. Unfortunately, he hasn’t experienced much success in the last year or so. Gagne and Chacon do have something in common. Both began their careers as a starter, but concerns emerged about their arm strength and were converted to a closer. That’s where the similarities begin and end.
To begin with, Gagne set a mlb record by converting 76 save opportunities straight to begin his career as a closer. Chacon blew his first save opportunity of his career. Taking a look at 2004 stats paints a vastly different picture also. Gagne is 7-3 with 17 walks, 109 strikeouts, 42 saves in 44 chances and has an era of 2.00. Chacon, on the other hand, is 1-9, with 47 walks, 50
strikeouts, 34 saves in 43 chances and has an era of 6.68. Browsing the boxscores from Friday and Sunday will provide an accurate snapshot of both of these pitchers.
In Monday's RMN(Rocky Mountain News), Chacon was quoted as saying that he hopes the rox "keep the faith in him" and keep him as closer next season. I have no idea what Hurdle and Dealin' Dan will do, but I can tell you that I cringe when Chacon comes into a close game. We as sports fans tend to have a short memory (often times that's good). Last year the rox ran off Jose Jimenez for similar short-comings in the closer role.
My opinion is that the only success Chacon will enjoy will be as a middle reliever. If there had been occasional signs of brilliance with missteps along the way then the rox would have a legitimate reason to stick with Chacon as the closer. Unfortunately, that has not been the case. The alternatives are few and far between for the rox, but Chacon as the closer for the 2005 season is not the answer in my book.
There will be several questions for the rox heading into next spring, but the role of Chacon, and who will be the closer, should be high on that list of questions.
posted by Todd Nikkel | 7:30 AM
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