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Pineiro gets verbally Killed

By Randy Booth

Joel Pineiro should close his eyes from Nico's post at Athletics Nation:

Folks, we need to have a serious talk about Joel Piñeiro, whom the Boston Red Sox signed, Thursday, to a one-year deal worth up to $4,000,000. You see, Piñeiro's "Suckitude," a stat measured by taking a pitcher's Suckosity and dividing it by his Suckability Factor, can only adequately be conveyed by unleashing a relentless barrage of embarrassing statistical observations that will end with a question I wish to pose to Theo Epstein.

[...]

Oh right, the question: MY GOD, THEO, WHAT ARE YOU THINKING???

In a baseball world were stats are everything, this signing was not a stat-based signing. It was the complete opposite. It was a signing based off scouting by Allan Baird.

Closers the Red Sox looked at were either too expensive (in terms of prospects) or had medical issues. Red Sox special assistant Allard Baird went to Seattle late in the season and watched Pineiro come out of the bullpen after he was demoted as a starter. He watched his stuff, how he conducted himself, how he approached the job. And Baird came away thinking this is a guy who could successfully work out of the bullpen.

Stats don't tell everything. The eyes don't tell everything. Baird is apparently a really good scout, but something worries me about trusting Baird who used to be the general manager of a 56-106 Royals team. Two different elements, but I'm sure he did some scouting while in Kansas City.

Pineiro could blow up in our face, but it is four million dollars. A lot to me and you, but not to most of the players on the Red Sox. I'm sure the Red Sox front office burned four million just lighting their cigars back in 2004.

As Red Sox fans, I don't think we need to worry about Pineiro. He may pitch horribly, but if so, he'll either be in Pawtucket or in the unemployment agency shortly after. The Sox can afford to burn four million, if need be. It's not like he's being paid a lot of money so the Sox feel like they need to play him.

However, I'm optimistic about Pineiro. I don't think he'll be our closer coming out of spring training, but I think he'll earn a spot in the bullpen. He could be a nice mop-up pitcher, a spot starter, or a 6th or 7th inning kind of guy.

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