George Sherrill Loses Value
Fantasy owners shouldn’t be at all surprised that the Baltimore Orioles finally traded closer George Sherrill. We’ve been preparing people for this day for awhile, whether in “Relief Efforts” or other content online and in podcasts and on television. Sure, last-place teams like the Orioles need closers, too, but generally not 32-year-old lefties with limited experience in the role who don’t figure to develop with a young team.
George Sherill racked up 51 saves in two seasons with the Orioles, but he'll be a set-up guy for the Dodgers.
The Dodgers, on the other hand, have one of the most overworked bullpens in baseball, and desperately needed help for Jonathan Broxton, Hong-Chih Kuo, Ramon Troncoso and pals. Entering Thursday, Dodgers relief pitchers had thrown an amazing 350 innings, with only the Padres bullpen logging more. Of the seven bullpens currently logging the most innings, only the Dodgers would be playoff participants if the season ended today.
Sherrill will certainly help, but from a fantasy aspect, don’t expect saves. This is the danger of owning closers on bad teams, that they sometimes get dealt and become setup men for good teams. Broxton, abused or not, has been fantasy’s top closer this season, in part from his seven wins, but he also leads all relief pitchers in strikeouts and he’s among the league leaders in saves. Troncoso, a 26-year-old right-hander, leads all major league relief pitchers in innings. Kuo just returned from an elbow injury that three months ago was rumored to possibly end his career. The Dodgers needed Sherrill bad to help set up Broxton. I don’t envision saves coming the left-hander’s way.
The Orioles now need someone to save games, and don’t think this is a meaningless role. Sherrill had 20 saves for a team with 43 wins, which is not a bad percentage at all. The obvious choice would be the team’s main set-up man, Jim Johnson, a groundball-throwing right-hander who leads the Orioles with 14 holds, and pitched in with two saves as well. Johnson has a solid 3.17 ERA and 1.24 WHIP, but he isn’t having quite the same season he did in 2008, when he threw 68 2/3 innings and allowed nary a home run. Johnson has already given up five home runs, and right-handed batters held a .296 batting average against him. Johnson could pick up 10 or more saves the rest of the way, so he’s worth adding in pretty much any format, but he’s no guarantee to be successful.
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