Sox Extend Barnes; 2 years, $18.75 M

vicirus

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amRadio

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Why do we need to make excuses to pretend a player - who has been a one inning reliever for the vast majority of his career - with a career 4.04 ERA is worth more than he is? Barnes was never a closer. He really shouldn't be a high leverage candidate on a potential division winner.
 

EddieYost

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Why do we need to make excuses to pretend a player - who has been a one inning reliever for the vast majority of his career - with a career 4.04 ERA is worth more than he is? Barnes was never a closer. He really shouldn't be a high leverage candidate on a potential division winner.
He’s been pretty good for long stretches of his career. Lights out relievers sometimes have terrible stretches and then go back to being really good.
 

Lose Remerswaal

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Why do we need to make excuses to pretend a player - who has been a one inning reliever for the vast majority of his career - with a career 4.04 ERA is worth more than he is? Barnes was never a closer. He really shouldn't be a high leverage candidate on a potential division winner.
Did you see him in the first half of the season?
 

amRadio

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He’s been pretty good for long stretches of his career. Lights out relievers sometimes have terrible stretches and then go back to being really good.
I agree, but those players usually aren't closer candidates for teams with real winning aspirations, and if they find themselves in that role it's typically with a razor thin margin for error. He deserved a look at the beginning of the year, but my perspective on the other side of that trial is that "he is who we thought he was."
 

EddieYost

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I agree, but those players usually aren't closer candidates for teams with real winning aspirations, and if they find themselves in that role it's typically with a razor thin margin for error. He deserved a look at the beginning of the year, but my perspective on the other side of that trial is that "he is who we thought he was."
Craig Kimbrel, Trevor Rosenthal and Greg Holland come to mind as guys who have had big ups and downs in their careers. Each of them became successful closers again after a big drop off.
 

amRadio

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Craig Kimbrel, Trevor Rosenthal and Greg Holland come to mind as guys who have had big ups and downs in their careers. Each of them became successful closers again after a big drop off.
Greg Holland has a career 2.97 FIP and a career 3.10 ERA. I shouldn't have to cite Kimbrel's stats. Barnes has a career 4.04 ERA and a 3.57 FIP. Kimbrel is likely a HOF reliever. What are you talking about? This post honestly didn't deserve a response but I was bored. If you put Barnes with Holland and Kimbrel you're a homer.
 

EddieYost

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@amRadio all I am saying is because Barnes had a really bad second half doesn’t mean he can’t be a successful late inning reliever again.

I won’t reply again. Have a good night.
 

amRadio

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@amRadio all I am saying is because Barnes had a really bad second half doesn’t mean he can’t be a successful late inning reliever again.

I won’t reply again. Have a good night.
I apologise. You have a fair point. I think I let my game day nerves lead to some condescension in my post that didn't belong to be there and that you as a person certainly did not deserve. I'm going to take a some days off and try not to bring so much tension to my posts. I appreciate a back and forth and I really kinda shit on that and I understand you not wanting to reply to me.

I've always been just kind of curious of the Barnes support for a high leverage reliever. The K-rate is super alluring, but he seems to not have the control of a reliable late inning pitcher - especially with short leads.

I apologise again, EddieYost. I'm up a wall during the playoffs.
 

mauf

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Greg Holland has a career 2.97 FIP and a career 3.10 ERA. I shouldn't have to cite Kimbrel's stats. Barnes has a career 4.04 ERA and a 3.57 FIP. Kimbrel is likely a HOF reliever. What are you talking about? This post honestly didn't deserve a response but I was bored. If you put Barnes with Holland and Kimbrel you're a homer.
Check out Barnes’s xERA numbers since 2017, excluding the weird 2020 season. He’s always had better stuff than his results would suggest. When he started getting the results earlier this season, the FO placed a bet. I’m sure they wouldn’t place that bet again now. It’s at least encouraging, though, that there were physical ailments that played a major role in his struggles. Maybe he can get his groove back in 2022.
 

derekson

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He should still be on the roster over Hernandez. At least there’s the upside of him finding his form which the former has never done.
 

mikcou

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Generally using career numbers is kinda silly to tell what a 6+ year veteran currently is. Its especially so when there was a clear improvement in the players game after his first couple seasons in the league. In the 2017-2021 period Barnes was a consistently very good, but not elite (other than the first half of 2021) reliever. He seems to be as a good a bet as any to be a very good reliever in 2022.
 

Harry Hooper

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I feel like there’s a pretty decent list of WTF hand injuries in Boston area sports team history:
Barnes this year
Brady’s thumb in 2018
Irving Fryar???
Some other pitcher in the 80s/90s who cut his hand on a water glass???
Bob Stanley cut the tendon in his pitching hand when he fell taking out the trash.

Vaughn Eshelman burnt his hand putting out a fire.

For good measure, Paxton Crawford fell out of bed and sliced up his abdomen on a glass.

The 100% truth on any of these will likely never be known.
 

normstalls

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Crawford was an all timer. Best I remember pretty sure that dude must have been hammered.
 

Saints Rest

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Bob Stanley cut the tendon in his pitching hand when he fell taking out the trash.

Vaughn Eshelman burnt his hand putting out a fire.

For good measure, Paxton Crawford fell out of bed and sliced up his abdomen on a glass.

The 100% truth on any of these will likely never be known.
Paxton Crawford! That was the one I was thinking of. Thought he cut his pitching hand or arm
 

Harry Hooper

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In the annals of dumb-yet-questionable MLB injuries, for my money nothing will ever beat Glenallen Hill's "dream".
Spiders?


Other Sox tales included Wade Boggs hurting his ribs taking off his boots and an enraged Carson Smith dislocating his shoulder tossing his glove. Clemens was bitten by an injured dog.

In the non-Sox category, there's Joel Zumaya hurting his wrist playing video games and hurting his shoulder moving boxes out of his father's house to escape an impending wildfire.

As a nice complement to Marty Cordova in the non-MLB category, there's Antonio Brown freeze-drying himself in the cryo chamber.
 
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Spelunker

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Spiders?


Other Sox tales included Wade Boggs hurting his ribs taking off his boots and an enraged Carson Smith dislocating his shoulder tossing his glove.

In the non-Sox category, there's Joel Zumaya hurting his wrist playing video games and hurting his shoulder moving boxes out of his father's house to escape an impending wildfire.

As a nice complement to Marty Cordova in the non-MLB category, there's Antonio Brown freeze-drying himself in the cryo chamber.
Spiders, and then "falling through a glass table". I think when I was younger I initially heard that he stabbed himself with a pen or something, trying to kill said spiders, but that must have been a telephone game sort of thing.

I also enjoy when Steve Sparks dislocated his shoulder trying to rip a phone book in half. Because knuckleballers are known for their strength.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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Jeff Kent once broke his wrist back in spring training of 2001 washing his truck. Well, except that in Kentese, "washing your truck" actually means riding your dirtbike.

Barnes may have been making an omelette when he cut his thumb but skepticism about the actual source and the impact of the injury is warranted.
 

TapeAndPosts

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For good measure, Paxton Crawford fell out of bed and sliced up his abdomen on a glass.
I could have sworn I read somewhere years later that Crawford admitted the injury came from a bar fight, and it has made me suspicious of every funny-sounding player injury ever since. However, I've been googling and can't find any documentation corroborating my memory. Maybe someone remembers, or maybe I imagined the whole thing.
 

Cesar Crespo

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He’s been pretty good for long stretches of his career. Lights out relievers sometimes have terrible stretches and then go back to being really good.
He's interesting because he's never put it together for an entire year. For someone with his stuff, you'd think he'd have a true dominating season or two. He's also never been totally awful for a season either.
 

RIrooter09

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Who was the pitcher who stabbed himself while trying to open a dvd?
"Back in the days when DVDs were the hottest new technology, Padres pitcher Adam Eaton stabbed himself in the abdomen with a paring knife while attempting to open the plastic packaging on a DVD. To be fair, that packaging is a real pain. Probably not as painful as stabbing yourself in the stomach, though."

Source
 

Humphrey

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Larry Bird's alleged bar fight allegedly cost the Celts 3 titles in a row (85, in between the two they won).
 

DisgruntledSoxFan77

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"Back in the days when DVDs were the hottest new technology, Padres pitcher Adam Eaton stabbed himself in the abdomen with a paring knife while attempting to open the plastic packaging on a DVD. To be fair, that packaging is a real pain. Probably not as painful as stabbing yourself in the stomach, though."

Source
Yep that’s the one. Thanks!
 

MuppetAsteriskTalk

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I feel like there’s a pretty decent list of WTF hand injuries in Boston area sports team history:
Barnes this year
Brady’s thumb in 2018
Irving Fryar???
Some other pitcher in the 80s/90s who cut his hand on a water glass???
There was also that mysterious finger injury to the girlfriend of Randy Moss leading up to the Super Bowl.
 

mauidano

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Didnt we have a guy that hurt his back or shoulder because he slept wrong?

Feels like another Buchholz injury.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Paxton Crawford cut his pitching hand when he fell off his bed and landed on glass he placed on the floor.
 

GB5

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I am old so forgetting names but the Sox had a rookie pitcher arrive on the scene in maybe the late 90’s/ early 2000’s who came out on fire. Threw a shutout in Toronto on a Friday night, backed it up with another great start and then I thought had a weird injury and disappeared forever. Domican I believe. Pena?
 

DisgruntledSoxFan77

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I am old so forgetting names but the Sox had a rookie pitcher arrive on the scene in maybe the late 90’s/ early 2000’s who came out on fire. Threw a shutout in Toronto on a Friday night, backed it up with another great start and then I thought had a weird injury and disappeared forever. Domican I believe. Pena?
Juan Pena
 

lexrageorge

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I am old so forgetting names but the Sox had a rookie pitcher arrive on the scene in maybe the late 90’s/ early 2000’s who came out on fire. Threw a shutout in Toronto on a Friday night, backed it up with another great start and then I thought had a weird injury and disappeared forever. Domican I believe. Pena?
You must be thinking about Juan Pena. 2 starts in May of 1999, 2 wins, 1 earned run and 15K's in 13 innings. Hurt his shoulder missed the rest of the season. Looked really good in the following spring training, but needed Tommy John, and never made it back to the majors. Wasn't anything weird about his injury to my knowledge, however.