Market for Hoffman Begins to Heat Up

January 1, 2009

Happy New Year!

Now that the top three closers on the market have signed for 4 years @ $13.375 million per - K Rod, 3 years @ $10.25 million per - Wood, and 3 years @ $9 million per - Fuentes; what does this presage for Future HOF Closer Trevor Hoffman?

The Mets also acquired Seattle Closer JJ Putz in trade as a setup man. So really 4 closers are off the market.

Who needs a closer now? Great question.

Seattle needs a closer. Aaron Heilman is currently listed as closer on most depth charts in the media, but he is not the closer type.

The Dodgers non tendered Takashi Saito so unless they go with Broxton, who blew 8 of 22 save opportunities in 2008, they need a closer. The Dodgers have been spoken about as a possible landing point for Hoffman in many quarters including MLBTradeRumors.com

The Diamondbacks have Chad Qualls listed as their closer on their depth chart but he blew 8 save opportunities of just 17 total and they had Brandon Lyon at closerlast year, but he struggled mightily in 2008. They could use an effective closer.

Unless they plan on using the oft-injured Joel Zumaya as a closer, Detroit stands in need of a closer.

CJ Wilson, the closer for the Rangers had a 6.02 ERA so they could use an effective closer.

Tampa Bay has the aging Troy Percival(39 years old) who ended the season on the DL and had back surgery in December listed as their closer. The World Series demonstrated the need for a healthy and great closer in those pressure games. They also need a closer.

Eric Gagne proved ineffective and Solomon Torres retired so the Brewers could use a closers also.

That is at least 7 teams with a glaring need (not including the Giants whose closer had a 4.62 era and the Pirates who can't afford anyone) and there are no other top level closers on the market other than Hoffman.

With so many teams in need of a closer, Hoffman should garner a deal that is worth more than the Padres offer of one year @ $4 million with no incentives.

I would guess that he will get offers for a two year deal at $5 million plus per year before this is all over.

Will the Padres increase their offer to match? I would not think so unless they are able to trade Peavy and that is a discussion for another post.

Get ready for the first season in 15 years without Hells Bells in San Diego

Now I've had my say. What do you think?