The Jays would overpay for Steve Phillips

by BH

On ESPN.com, former Mets GM Steve Phillips has listed his top 50 free agents, along with predictions about where each player will play next year. So far, on predictions, he's 2 for 15. In baseball terms, that's a .133 average. His evaluations of players are crazy. Thay usually say something along the lines of "He's a gamer," "He has a belly full of guts," "He takes the ball and gets the job done more often than not." Why isn't this guy a GM? Hmmm.

Below are excerpts from a story on sfgiants.com about the Giant's lack of communication with Brett Tomko.

"There are 10, 12 teams we know are interested," said Tomko, "I'd like to stay in San Francisco but they've made minimal efforts to contact us. That's surprising to me because I had a decent feeling when the season ended."
To pitch?! Seriously? 10 to 12 Major League Baseball teams? I can't believe there are 10 to 12 teams out there who think a head case might be just what that team needs. I had a decent feeling when you ended the season too. It consisted of "Thank God I don't have to watch Brett Tomko pitch anymore."

The 32-year-old veteran had an 8-15 record and 4.48 ERA last season, but he still led the team with three complete games, was second with 30 starts and 190 2/3 innings and third with 114 strikeouts.
I don't have anything to say about this except that it should tell us how bad the Giants were that he could lead them in anything other than home runs allowed, walks, and meltdowns.

At times he was a hard-luck hurler, often receiving little run support or watching the bullpen blow a lead.
That did happen a couple of times, but a guy doesn't have an 8-15 record because of the bullpen. When you go out there with a 4.48 ERA, your entire record basically is reliant on run support.

All Star on the "Coulda" team

"The two years I've had here have been great," said Tomko. "But we [he and agent Joe Longo] have heard little to nothing from the Giants. It's been surprising they didn't at least make more of an effort.
Let's tell you why it's not surprising Brett. In your next to last start, a game the Giants absolutely needed to stay in the race, you were bombed. The start after that, a start in which the Giants had been eliminated, you looked like Cy Young. If you were the Giants, would the guy who comes up small in big games be on your priority list?

"I feel I could have had 15, 16 wins last year," said the right-hander. "I'm a good quality guy who brings a lot to a team, including close to 200 innings."
Basically, Tomko's only real baseball claim to fame seems to be that he's an innings eater. Every year, that's what we hear when anyone discusses what he brings to the table. It's hard to imagine how this guy thinks a 4.48 ERA is going to get him 15 or 16 wins anywhere other than Colorado or St. Louis.

Tomko has awesome stuff. He can throw in the mid-90's with movement. His breaking stuff is sharp. At points he looks unbelieveable, yet can pitch like crap in the same inning. It's crazy that this guy seems to languish at or below .500 year after year, despite his talent. He's one of those guys who's perpetually on the verge of having a breakout year.