MVN: Most Valuable Network

Some great news hit my inbox this morning as an Indians fan. The Seattle Mariners are now willingly open to trading their closer J.J. Putz. The same Putz who was arguably the top shutdown closer in the game just two short seasons ago before giving his best "Wild Thing" Rick Vaughn impersonation with over five walks per nine innings in 2008.

Though, that problem can be somewhat, if not completely, attributed to the fact that Putz was not healthy for the majority of the year, as he struggled with a rib cage injury in April, and then a hyperexteded elbow in June. Before this, Putz was known for having excellent command of the strike zone with K/BB ratios of over six in '06 and '07!

Other than this sudden batch of wildness, one other thing changed. A stat that arguably has a hint of luck (or bad luck) involved. Putz' batting average on balls in play (BABIP) against was an extremely high .360 (albeit in a small sample size). This is a stat that ranges in the .290-.310 range for pitchers, and there is no reason to not think it will be back down this season.

Back in 2006 when Putz burst out as the dominant force, he had a .320 BABIP and still had an ERA of 2.30. So when that number and the unusual wildness regress back down to earthly numbers, Putz' production can only improve, and give potential for a tremendous upside.

Everything else about Putz remained in '08, including his mid-to-upper 90's velocity, usual 10-plus strikeouts per nine innings, typical amount of home runs allowed (<1.0 HR/9), and 80-percent strand rate. All great qualities to have in a closer.

How does this fit in with the Indians? Well, with the Winter Meetings coming up, and Mark Shapiro stating that the club needs to add an experienced closer, J.J. Putz and his reasonable contract may be the cure for what ails the backend of the bullpen while allowing the Indians to maintain flexibility if things don't go as planned. Putz is set to make $5 million next season and has a reasonable (if he returns to form) club option for 2010 worth $8.3 million that includes a $1 million buyout.

So if Putz does not recover to become a great closer again, or even just good for the Indians, the Tribe could buyout his club option and still utilizes the team's depth in young bullpen arms that would remain after the trade (most likely one lighter after the deal...maybe Adam Miller??).

When there are talks this offseason of the major players in this market getting $10-plus million per season, Putz will become a hot commodity that not only the Indians will be key players in. The Mets among others will pursue heavily as well, which in turn will also bring down the contract potentials of the rest of the closer pool, especially Francisco Rodriguez and Brian Fuentes.

In the end, it only helps the Indians in their search, even if they do not end up with Putz. The fact that another option has come available in an already deep pool of closers will make others, which might have been off of the radar, even more appealing and possible.

Having Fun with the rumor...

With this rumor clicked the thought that Adrian Beltre (who would be a great help to Jhonny Peralta as the Fielding Bible award winner at 3B) could become a part of a monster package between the Indians and Mariners. He will be in the last year of his deal in Seattle in '09, and has been rumored to be on the move because he wants to be on a winning team, and lets face it, the Mariners are again rebuilding.

In fact, it has been talked about on USS Mariner where they talked about a deal (in fun) where Putz and Beltre would be packaged in a deal to the Brewers, but as a second deal had the Indians trading Andy Marte, Adam Miller, and Beau Mills for Erik Bedard and Jose Lopez.

Well, maybe they could end up just having the teams switched? Maybe the Indians could work out a deal to obtain both Beltre and Putz, putting to rest any and all questions about the much talked about weaknesses heading into 2009.

It is fun to think about and one could wish that it happen, but the hard part would be giving up a few names like Miller or Mills. The Mariners would have to be looking at getting those sorts of equivalencies in return, if not a bit more. But for the chance to make such an upgrade is certainly worth the gamble for this season, much moreso than the Astros' Wiggington/Valverde possibility.

I would argue that Wes Hodges would be in the deal since Mills is more of a first baseman, and there has been persistent talk of the Mariners moving catching phenom Jeff Clement to first base in the long run, which could then make available the thought of adding Kelly Shoppach to any deal.

Also potential targets of the Mariners could be an outfielder that could play now in either left or center...maybe Francisco or Gutierrez?

Adding Beltre would add not only the stellar defense, but a right-handed power bat that has been missing in the middle of the Indians lineup in recent years. The bad part is that Beltre would cost $12 million off of the payroll, but the risk is not too much. Beltre has little injury history, and at a still yet ripe age of 29 (yes 29! I couldn't believe it either) could give the Indians a chance to have a third baseman in his prime for the foreseeable future, if they could resign him.

Anyway, with the baron wasteland that is Cleveland Indians hot stove rumors, the moment that this popped up spurned some great thoughts and potential, I just had to share it. None of this may happen and is all speculation, but ain't the hot stove season fun to at least dream?