Sunday, July 24, 2005 |
Break Out The Kris-co: Mets 6, Dodgers 0
There are some things I don't get, and the fascination with Kris Benson is one of them. He's 30, with a career ERA of 4.28 in 850 innings. The only truly good year in his career came four years and an elbow surgery ago, and while he's finally a decent pitcher again, it's not like his '04 performance screamed "star." His strikeout rate of 6.02 remains below league average, and his command, 2.20 K/BB, isn't exceptional.The thing he missed was the incredible shortage of quality pitchers in last year's free agent class. That's okay, because that shortage eluded guys who aren't noteworthy for their idiocy, including Paul DePodesta and Brian Cashman. If anything, the Benson signing triggered a wave of other, even more ridiculous deals, a wave that Jerrod Washburn (among others) will ride to big fat contracts this offseason.Other than being a former #1 pick, it's not clear to me how Benson is four million bucks a year better than the class of guys who are out there with two-year deals in the $3 million range, guys like Jeff Suppan, John Thomson, Jason Johnson and Cory Lidle. There's just nothing in his performance record to suggest that he's more than a mid-rotation guy.
Mets fans will likely point to his 51/17 K/BB in two months under Rick Peterson, but it was 11 starts, and the improved control came packaged with a doubled home-run rate. Benson would have to improve to a level he hasn't reached yet to justify this contract. This looks like it will be yet another disappointing free-agent signing by a team that never seems to make the right choices in the market.
And then there's his actual performance. Benson had a 20.2 VORP going into today's game, which puts him within hailing distance of Mark Prior (22.5), Matt Morris (23.2), Tim Hudson (20.7), and better than much-coveted trade project A.J. Burnett (20.0). His 5.89 K/9 is around Brad Penny's (5.52) and Livan Hernandez's (5.42), so it's not like he's some kind of Kirk Reuter waiting for a call from his golf caddy.
Needless to say, the Dodgers were horrible offensively, and Robles' 0-4 highlighted that. Only four hits on the game while giving up twelve -- well, let's say it was better to have not watched.
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