Reds Pick Up Rick White
By
Amanda
Posted at 7:01 pm
Veteran reliever Rick White has agreed to a one-year, $600,000 major league contract with the Reds. He also could earn up to $300,000 more in performance bonuses.
White, 37, is a lifelong resident of Springfield, Ohio. He made 71 appearances for the Pirates last year, going 4-7 with a 3.72 ERA and picking up a couple of saves. He has 520 career big-league appearances for the Pirates, Devil Rays, Mets, Rockies, Cardinals, White Sox, Astros and Indians.
The Reds will have to make a move to free up a slot on the 40-man roster. Could this be the end of the Bubba Nelson era?
I don't know about a 37-year old pitcher, but it's hard to quibble about the price. And with Gabe White gone, Rick White will fill that gaping White-Guy-Out-of-the-Bullpen hole that he left behind.
We’re running out of bullpen spots, really.
I’ve got Weathers, Mercker, Hammond, Coffey, and White as locks at this point. That’s five of our seven bullpen spots, and we really need one guy who could spot start, and none of those guys can.
That leaves us with two spots for Belisle, Standridge, Wags, Love Shack, Simpson, Hudson, Hancock, Burns, and maybe even Balfour, though he probably won’t be ready until June or July. Out of those three, I really think Belisle and Shackelford earned spots last year, and Wags is still the best closer candidate the team has.
Really, I just don’t like this signing. It’s a good price, but White’s WHIP is shit and he’s not likely to do anything besides be a middle reliever with a 4.50 ERA and no upside. I’d prefer giving the spot to a younger guy who could possibly close and contribute in the future.
That’s about right for White. He put up a good ERA last year, but let guys on base like crazy and (though I don’t have the numbers in front of me) let inherited runners score like it was his job. I have to say that I’m absolutely shocked he got a major league deal from anyone, especially at his age.
Should make this clear, when I said that’s about right for White I was referring to Geki’s comment about being a middle reliever with a 4.50 ERA and no upside. He was absolutely painful to watch at points last year.
That is so not what I wanted to hear. Rumor had it that our interim GM Kullman was desperate to make a move to prove his mettle. If what you say is true, well, yikes.
This wasn’t really a bad signing, but if White is being guaranteed a bullpen spot, it just doesn’t make much sense. It’s lateral movement at best.
Just don’t put him into a game with people on base. His ERA last year was a fluke, if you look, his WHIP was higher last year than it had been in previous years where his ERA was over 5.00.
[strong]He put up a good ERA last year, but let guys on base like crazy and (though I don’t have the numbers in front of me) let inherited runners score like it was his job. [/strong]
Just checked up on Pat’s statement using BP’s Inherited Runs Prevented and Bequeathed Runs Prevented, and it doesn’t look good for White. He was the 9th worst in baseball last season allowing about 4 more inherited runners to score than the average reliever last season. He also benefited from help from his fellow relievers who prevented 11 more runners from scoring than the average reliever. So he gave up more runs that didn’t factor into his ERA and he was saved from more runs than the typical reliever. His 3.72 ERA definitely looks more suspicious in that context. Even still, he’s not a terrible pitcher, but simply an average, aged reliever that, like Geki said, simply represents a lateral move at best.