Posted by Steve
Finally some good news this off-season. The Brewers have signed Trevor Hoffman. Details haven’t been released yet, but multiple sources are confirming. The Crew now has their closer, and a good one at that. Aside from being the all-time saves leader, he has a career 89% save conversion rate (best ever), a career 1.05 WHIP, 3.85 K/BB, 2.5 BB/9 and 9.61 K/9. Considering that’s over an entire career, those are stellar numbers. He is 41, but aside from a spike in his home run rate, most of his numbers stayed pretty consistent with his career figures. Age shouldn’t affect him as much as other pitchers considering he’s a changeup specialist, so I don’t think it’s very risky.
Whether it’s for one guaranteed year or two, this is a very good signing. The Brewers can now turn their attention to starting pitching.
2 responses so far ↓
Dan // January 8, 2009 at 4:33 pm |
Yeah, his HR’s jumped a bit last year to 1.72 per 9 innings. But 17.4% of fly balls hit were against him were HR last year. Just a thought I had now, but that almost seems flukey. Since 2004 he’s allowed HR/FB percentages of 11, 5.4, 9.1, 2.9 and 17.4. He is 41 years old, but his K/9 last year was his best since 2004 and his BB/9 was second best over that span which doesn’t scream rapidly declining skills. Also, his second half last year was lights out* (I’ve heard concerns he’ll wear down on the radio) —
*small sample size disclaimer
Steve // January 8, 2009 at 6:57 pm |
Yeah, I don’t see any way someone could call it a bad signing. A general rule I have is I like any one-year deal. I liked the Gagne signing a lot because the one-year deal made it low-risk (even though it didn’t work out I still stand by it). Hoffman has a better recent track record and his deal is for less money, so what’s not to like?