Sadly, there may now never be a creative commons licensed photo of Ryan Madson in a Reds uniform (a gentle tear is shed) (Photo by phillymads63 on Flickr)

We now have a much better picture of what the Reds bullpen will look like in 2013. Jonathan Broxton has signed with the Reds on a $21 million, 3 year contract. It’s incredibly backloaded: the Reds will pay him 4 million in 2013, but that jumps to 7 and 9 million in subsequent years. Like most of Walt’s moves, I find this acceptable, and in fact, I may be a little higher than average on this. It’s an expensive deal for the Reds, but good closers are pricy. Will Broxton be a great closer? Maybe not, but he’s got a better than average chance of being a good one. Broxton’s peripherals do worry me a little bit: walks are alright for a closer – especially the way Dusty uses ‘em, but Broxton’s career K/9 of 11.0 might be misleading -as he hasn’t posted outstanding strikeout rates like that since his injury-riddled 2011.

Let’s be realistic, though. Remember Francisco Cordero?  Coco probably had a more solid track record when he signed his much-more-expensive contract with the Reds back in 2008, but he was also 5 years older – which we definitely saw in the second half of that $45mill/4 yr deal.

I guess I’d say it’s an overpay on the value of Broxton, but it’s not an overpay for an above average chance of having a solid closer.

Meanwhile, Ryan Madson has agreed to a one year, 3.5 million deal with the Angels, which could rise to as much as 7 million, if Madson is healthy enough to contribute to the team, coming off of Tommy John surgery. I’ll  miss Madson (Oh, straight change, we hardly knew ye) , but I don’t know that the Broxton deal might not be better for us. Given the projections for TJ recovery, Madson’s at least as much of a gamble as Broxton for 2013. Think of it this way: if they both suck, Broxton gets 4 mill, and Madson gets 3.5 mill – almost the same. But if they’re both pretty good – Madson gets 7, and Broxton still gets 4,  which means a little more cash to pay for that left fielder we’re hoping for. Sure, a GM with more experience than me probably a has a little better idea of how risky Broxton and Madson are respectively, but I figure there’s decent odds for all outcomes, here.

Do we have internal options that are better for the money? Probably. But the Reds going after an “established” “closer” is just a Tradition at this point – let’s not be surprised about it.

(Then again, if Ryan Madson pitches like RYAN MAAAAADSON in 2013, it’s totally possible that Bob would’ve been happy to find a little more cash in the banana stand.)

I am mildly concerned about the state of the payroll in, say, 2015, but that’s a long way away in baseball terms. n financial terms. that’s Walt’s problem (and Bob’s problem), not mine.

**In unrelated news: Zach Stewart returns to the NL Central after being acquired by the Pirates. Hi, Zach Stewart! Maybe we could Rolen to the Pirates for you.

(Photo by sideonecincy on Flickr)

Reds Awesome! Ok, that doesn’t work.

But you know what does work? Our bullpen. That’s right. Even withstanding the loss of the magnificent Ryan Madson and his spectacular changeup (I like to think of Ryan Madson and his oevre as an early 20th century magic act), the Reds bullpen has really come into its own recently. Partially this is because we put Chapman in the bullpen, and Aroldis has been really really good. But Ondrusek’s been great, Hoover’s  been good in his short callup, and even Alfredo Simon’s been pretty steady after his initial struggles. Not bad, considering that we’ve had no value from Madson, Masset, or Bray , who we assumed we’d be relying before the season. As noted on twitter and elsewhere, the Reds bullpen is building on a 20+ inning scoreless inning streak, which is not too shabs.

Here’s how the bullpen stacks up in various stats around the league, not counting tonight’s games.

• ERA: NL 1st, MLB 4th
• WHIP: NL 2nd, MLB 6th
• K/9: NL 1st, MLB 1st
• BB/9: NL, 10th, MLB, 23rd (I guess we have to be bad at something)
• HR/9: NL, 7th, MLB, 9th
• xFIP: NL, 2nd, MLB, 3rd
• WAR: NL 3rd, MLB, 6th

Yeah, that’s pretty great.

Photo by SD Dirk on Flickr

In the last week, there’s been a multitude of predictions of Chapman’s April destination. Obviously the Reds have been giving him a shot at making the rotation in Cincinnati – but, if he doesn’t, where does he go? And with the bullpen looking shakier, maybe we need him in the bullpen afterall?

That’s what Tim Kurkjian thinks, stating emphatically that Chapman would start in the bullpen in his column on Tuesday. Fay came back with some Dusty quotes that made it seem like things were more up in the air, and Rob Neyer over at baseball nation has contributed his own opinion – that Chapman is destined for the rotation. Interspersed with this was increasingly bad Madson news, as today brought word that our supposed closer is heading back to Cincinnati to get checked out by the team doctors. Any bad Madson news is probably a stronger argument for Chapman heading to the Cincinnati bullpen, as Marshall will probably be drafted in for the closer spot, leaving open a “general lefty” spot in the pen.

As a stopgap measure, I have to say I’m not totally opposed to this. I know I’ve argued for Chapman to go to Louisville to learn how to start, and I still want that this year. However, at this point, it will be nearly impossible for Madson to be ready and with the major league club on opening day. We’re in it to win it this year, so that means we want the best possible club in Cincinnati that we can get. With Marshall closing, and Bray’s status still up in the air, Chapman’s presence as a threatening lefty in late innings is important. Of course, this has a consequence for future years, as Chapman won’t reach his full potential, in my opinion, without given a chance to learn how to start. But it’s important to remember that Chapman’s starting will most likely be fairly limited this season. In 2011, Chapman pitched only 63 innings between MLB and AAA, and even in 2010, pitched just 118 innings total, including 13 starts in Louisville. While this probably isn’t a case of the 20 additional innings rule, I would still be a little tentative to have Chapman pitch 150 innings in Louisville.

I think it makes a lot of sense, on balance of present and future needs, to have Chapman start in the Cincinnati bullpen, move back to Lousiville to make 15 or so starts when Madson is ready, and then consider bringing Chapman back to relieve for the Reds as we head, hopefully, to a pennant race and maybe the playoffs. Honestly, this seems pretty good, and actually possible (unlike most of my wishes, like “TODD FRAZIER  FOR LYFE”).  In any case, we’ll probably get a better read on the Reds intention as the fifth starter competition closes up. Chapman actually hasn’t appeared in a spring training game for awhile, but is scheduled to start one of the split squad games tomorrow. If he doesn’t go four or five innings, I think I would start to assume that he won’t be a starter on opening day.

Yeah, tonight we're gonna panic like it's 1857. /prince

The sky is falling. Despite the fact that we heard almost a week ago that Madson’s elbow was almost back to 100%, the new news is that Madson’s been scratched from the minor league game he was supposed to pitch in today. According to Fay, the Reds are being pretty darned mum about the whole thing. I’ve heard multiple statements that this is some kind of recurring injury for Madson (The previous Fay blog said it’s a spring thing. This Sheldon article just says it’s a recurring issue he’s dealt with before.)

I’m a little curious about this, just because I can’t find any record of Madson having previous elbow injuries. There was a big hand injury in 2011, the self-inflicted toe in jury in 2010, and even some shoulder soreness in 2007. Of course, this doesn’t necessarily mean anything. If it didn’t result on a DL trip, and happened before he became the closer last year, it may not have been covered so extensively that I’d be able to find records of it two years later. It could be something that the Reds just want to take more seriously than the Phillies’ staff did, who knows? (It also could be related to this extremely mysterious ‘soreness’ report from late April 2011.

Additionally, the past spring training records show that Madson usually does get a full complement of spring training innings in:

• 2011: 12.0 IP, 49 batters faced
• 2010: 10.0 IP, 44 batters faced
• 2009: 14.1 IP, 61 batters faced
• 2008: 12.0 IP, 47 batters faced
• 2007: 10.2 IP, 38 batters faced

For reference, we’re just under 2/3 of the way through spring training, and most of our uninjured relievers are looking at about 6-8 innings pitched right now. By this, I just mean that if Madson had elbow issues in previous springs, they have not prevented him from getting into spring training games before. But, like I said before, this could just be a case of our organization being different, or Madson changing his mind about how serious he thinks it might be. On the other hand, there are only 12 possible games remaining for Madson to pitch in. Even if he has an instant turn around tomorrow, I can’t help but think that he’s just not going to have enough time to be truly ready on Opening Day. That’s not a good reason to panic, but it’s probably good enough for “mild consternation.” (It’s going to be the Joey Votto prince of Canada scenario, I can just feel it.)

Photo by SD Dirk on Flickr

So, as I promised yesterday in part 1, I looked at some comparisons for Chapman and his very hypothetical Madson style changeup. What I got is data from 2009, 2010, and 2011, and included all pitchers with at least 20 innings in the season, an average fastball velocity of 95 or over, and who threw a change-up at least like 4-5% of the time.  Then I included just provided the fastball-changeup speed differential and spin differential  for your benefit.

I sorted it by the difference on the average spin between the changeups and fastballs, in order to really look at guys who throw a straight change like Madson. Of course, this wasn’t perfectly reliable, as outliers, misclassified pitches, and general noise didn’t always make this difference reliable. Just look at some of the year to year numbers on the guys who show up in multiple seasons. Some of this reflects actual differences, but some of it is just ridiculousness.

I think Felipe Paulino clearly sticks out as a guy who does throw hard, starts, and throws a straight change. This isn’t exactly great news, as Felipe Paulino hasn’t been lights out the last three years. However, last year’s 4.46 ERA wasn’t terrible. Additionally, even as a starter, Aroldis will probably throw a harder, as Paulino’s fastball hovers around 95-95.5 mph. David Price also seems to at least sort of fit the profile we’re looking for, and is a lefty to boot. However, Price relies much more heavily on good breaking pitches, which is not exactly what we’re looking for.

* is lefties, ^ is partial starters. Please click for full size image that is readable.

Blake Wood, Mark Lowe, and Andrew Cashner are all relievers who fit what we’re looking for. While none of them are what I would call great relievers, this seems to mostly be an issue with the lack of control that plagues most hard-throwing relievers, and there’s nothing about the changeup in particular that looks problematic at all.

Two interesting stories here are Alexi Ogando and Daniel Bard. Both guys who throw hard and throw changeups – but these pitchers are more in the hard-breaking changeup category (2010 Alexi Ogando’s numbers look like there’s a straight change, but that’s misleading because it includes a lot of misclassified sliders with less spin). However, Alexi Ogando went from really throwing majority bullpen innings in 2010 to making 29 starts in 2011. Ogando is an unusual case because of his, uh, immigration problems keeping him out of the US, and out of the majors for over five years. So he was more of a mature, fully-developed pitcher going into 2011 and his transition to starting full time. Still, while his fastball velocity dropped by just 1 mph average, he was a pretty good starter in 2011 – boasting a 3.51 ERA.

Daniel Bard, at 27,  is someone to keep an eye on, as the Red Sox are putting him in the rotation, though he hasn’t started since 2007, in A ball. Bard is a very hard thrower, who’s been good in the Sox bullpen. Again, he’s a little older than Aroldis, but is similar in that he hasn’t started in a long time.

Overall, there’s no one who quite matches up with what we’re looking for in a case of Aroldis + the best changeup ever. That’s a little worrying, but, isn’t that in part because Aroldis is such a unique pitcher himself? Very few men can throw as hard as him – which means that it’s very hard to predict what he’ll do. Clearly if Aroldis can’t refine his control, it seems very unlikely that he can make it as a starter in any case – but if he can, a great pitch like Madson’s straight change could do a lot to bring his game to the next level.

This is pretty horrifying. And not in the ideal "scares opposing batters" way. In a "we have inverted the laws of nature, and will not live long to regret it" way

Many of us were excited to hear from Ryan Madson on the Reds 30 in 30 show on MLB network last year, especially when he said that Aroldis Chapman had been expressing interest in his changeup. If you can put together Chapman’s fastball and Madson’s changeup in a way that works, that’s scary. It’s ridiculous. It’s two platonic ideals of pitches embodied in a single, 6’5″ Titan, who throws from both sides, and is impressively bilingual. While there’s not guarantee that this is happening, at all, it’s a lot of fun to think about.

But how does that work? Do guys who throw 100 succeed with change-ups that come in at 90? We have to also throw in the issue, that, as of today’s 3 inning start by Chapman, we’re looking at converting him to a starter. Today I’ll look at the individual parts:

• Aroldis Chapman threw his fastball with an average speed of 98.1 mph last season. He also threw a slider, and a changeup. The changeup he only threw 4% of the time – and it came in at an average of 93 mph, only in the strike zone 41% of the time. Chapman actually threw his fastball in the strike zone 60% of the time, and the slider almost as frequently – but obviously, the numbers tell you that Chapman suffered from command issues that go above and beyond basic control.

• Ryan Madson still throws fast: with his fastball coming in at about 94 mph, and his changeup coming in at 84. Those two pitches essentially make up the entirety of what he throws. I’ve waxed poetic about this changeup before, but it bears repeating. He hits the strikezone about 60% of the time, and gets an overall 33% swing rate on the change – which he throws for over 20% of his pitches.

But here’s the take home point about Madson’s changeup. He’s not using it as a breaking ball, he’s using it as a straight change of pace.  I’m going to go into some comps in tomorrow’s post, but what I’ve looked at seems like a lot of guys who rely on the change-up are using it as a breaking pitch. That is, it’s coming in with a much more aggressive horizontal spin, and breaking like a screwball. Madson on the other hand, has a very similar horizontal break in his changeup as his fastball. Now, I assume that most people would consider heavy screw-type break to be a feature, rather than a defect, but I think Madson’s just showing us using a straight change-of-pace pitch can be exceptionally effective. A pitch with a lot of break is good, but putting a different spin on the ball may put a good batter on notice.

Compare the movement on the changeups (purple) to fastballs (red) - between Cueto on the right and Madson on the left. That heavy break is why over 80% of Cueto's changeups are thrown to left handed batters.

Madson’s 30 in 30 bit actually tends to explain how he gets that different break. Madson described his change as like a circle-change. Generally a circle-change will roll to the outside (to the right on a right handed pitcher) – off the thumb and forefinger, which generates that screw-ball like spin. The difference that Madson pointed out was that he drops his pinky down to support the ball on the outside. That support takes away the outside spin – the ball rolls off his middle fingers – a lot like a fastball. (This is partially based on Mr. Tiger (fiance) experimenting with changeups on his own. He says that the issue for him is simply getting the ball out of his hand, once he brings that pinky down – but at 6’6″, Mr. Madson probably has bigger hands and longer fingers, so it wouldn’t be an issue. Chapman is 6’4″, so he’d probably be fine as well.)

So, IF Chapman learns Madson’s changeup – that’s the kind of pitch he’ll be learning. A slow pitch with very little break – and hopefully, one that looks like a lot like a fastball coming out of his hand. However, in this case, I think Chapman will need to learn more than just how to throw it. A breaking ball is great because it’s just hard to hit, but a real change-of-pace pitch is strictly illusion, and probably involves a little more psychology. Obviously, it’s something that could really take Chapman to the next level, but I think it’s something we’d want him to be able to work on extensively (likely at AAA), and that’s in addition to some very needed work on his control.

Tomorrow, I’ll at some other guys who throw hard with slow changeups.

Ryan Madson, you are this planet's only hope. (Photo by phillymads63 on Flickr)

So, you guys may have heard that there were some twinges experienced in the Ryan-Madson region of Arizona. No one is particularly happy about this, but, sensibly, no one’s really losing their head over it either. Here at C-ing Red, however, we know how to properly lose our heads, and we can feel the doom-levels rising. Thus: three ways that Ryan Madson’s minor spring training injury is going to ruin the Red’s chances of winning the 2012 World Series. Even though he’s going to start throwing again today.

#1: The Reds are tasked tomorrow by the powers that be (TPTB) with an archaeological adventure, and must travel to Mexico in hopes of discovering the mystery of the whole 2012-calendar-fol-de-rol. Deep in a Mayan tomb, the Reds 25 man roster is trapped in a comparatively large chamber, quickly filling with sand – and there’s only one way to escape. The Reds last hope is for someone to throw a perfect changeup through a strike-zone-sized hole and hit the release lever that will free them and allow them to stop the dastardly Mayan calendar device that will destroy the world on October 6, 2012. L’anyhoodle, since Madson is hurt, no one can free the Reds from their sandy Mexican grave, and the world, as we know it, goes ka-boom before a World Series winner can be determined.

#2: Kim Jong-Eun, the new North Korean dictator, becomes fixated on the idea of international athletic respect, and demands that unless an athlete of his choosing from each country in the world comes to Pyongyang to give him a firm handshake, he will launch a nuclear attack on the world. Unbeknownst to either Kim, or the rest of the world, one of his closest advisors is actually a secret agent of FLURGZ, a secret multi-national crime syndicate that wants nothing more than to draw the globe into world war 3, and eventually overthrow all national governments. This agent, knowing of Madson’s minor injury, advises Kim to insist that Madson represent the U.S. in this international colloquium of hand shaking. Although Ryan gives it his best effort, the dictator is not satisfied and launches nuclear strikes against several strategic world capitals and military installations. The U.S. and its allies eventually wins the war, but the 2012 MLB season is cancelled as many of our brave players enroll in the armed services. As most able-bodied young men and women are sent to battle the makgeolli-swilling villains, baseball is taken up by robots, and the inaugural season of the All-American Robot Professional Baseball League starts up in mid-June of 2012. Plucky heroine-bot rootKit eventually leads the Rockford Perls to the League Championship after overcoming her sibling inferiority bug. More importantly, though, the Reds, in this scenario, do not win the World Series.

#3 Ryan Madson, while resting his ‘minor elbow irritation’ is at the spring training complex, enjoying in a very healthy snack – a banana. Unfortunately, his arm issues prevent him from accurately disposing of the banana peel. First baseman, MVP, and all-around handsome gentleman Joey Votto unfortunately does not notice this banana peel, slips, and hits his head on a nearby boar spear. Although he sustains no physical injuries, the cranial impact begins to wake long dormant memories, memories that reveal a shocking past – that Joey Votto is actually the lost Prince Joseph, the missing heir to the throne of Canada. Confused, Joey leaves the Reds to travel to Ottawa, and finds the Canadian monarchy badly in need of a steady, firm hand, like his. But he misses the game, and misses the freedom of travelling the open road. What will he choose – the duty of his bloodline and a nation of lumberjacks and mounties who need his leadership? Or the joy of green grass, sunshine, and worn leather gloves? Will he return to the girl of his dreams, or make a political marriage to the princess of New South Wales that will solidify an alliance that will make Canada great again?

…He chooses the Reds, obviously, but by the time he returns to the team, the Cardinals already have a firm hold on first place, as Chris Carpenter renounced his claim to the Duchy of Complainia back in late April (the castle was too damp and all the roads had potholes and the sun was in his eyes and he thinks someone put a pea under his twenty featherbeds). Clearly, this is the darkest, most terrible timeline.

So there you have it. I’m not saying that these scenarios are likely, but they are all definitely plausible. We all know the mainstream Reds media is just too cowardly to report on them. (More like LAME-stream media, amirite?). I, on the other hand, am dedicated to keeping you Reds fans informed, at any cost. As they say, knowledge is power. But, even I have to admit that outside of these three situations, I think we’re pretty safe.

My fiance went to a lot of work to put this Reds hat on a goat. Appreciate the man, people.

The 2012 Reds are winners. We’re all extremely sure of that, right? Nothing can go wrong, and our team is going to awesome, it’s agreed. Also, all the other teams in the NL central are going to suck. It’s friggin’ destiny. I mean, we Reds fans haven’t suffered through a decade of crap, followed by a year of awesome, followed by another year of crap just to sit back and not win in 2012, am I right?

But I mean, in the 0.01% chance that we aren’t awesome next year, or say, even in the 60 games or so we’ll inevitably lose, we’re going to need one, or a few guys to shoulder the blame. I’ll take a look at some of the likeliest candidates and the strongest arguments for an against.

» Continue reading “Picking A 2012 Reds Scapegoat”

Now that's what I call an enclosed area of male cows. Photo credits to BubbaFan, shgmom56,phillymads63, sideonecincy, and keithallison (Click for larger size)

Cliche masculinity references aside, the more I look at Madson and Marshall, the more excited I am about the Reds bullpen. Because they are both very, very good. I know relief pitchers can be overvalued – and yes, from a strict cash/prospect perspective we probably are overpaying. But it also turned an important are of the team from below average to excellent.

Let’s start with Madson. We finally are looking at a pretty reliable contract figure of 1 year/$8.5 million, which is expensive, but not horrible. Last year, Madson threw about 60 innings, had an ERA of 2.37, 9.2 K/9 innings , 2.37 BB/9 innings, and only 0.3 HR/9 innings. If you weren’t sure: that’s good. (fangraphs link) Madson, like so many relief pitchers, began life as a starter, but improved every year from 2007, which he spent in the bullpen fulltime, to 2010, maintaining that level in 2011. One of the craziest things about Madson last year, especially as a closer, is that he allowed only 8 extra base hits. That’s 4 doubles and 2 home runs. In 60 innings. Yeah. He’s not an extremely groundball pitcher, but most of the hits he allows are only singles. In a closer, that’s a very good trait. You can imagine how many of our relievers allowed fewer than 8 extra base hits last year. I mean, the ones who pitched more than 10 innings. (Even then, it’s a close call).

How does he do it? Mostly, through a magical, magical changeup. This comes in on average at 10 mph slower than Madson’s mid-90s fastball, and last season, induced a 33% swing and miss rate in batters. (here’s the pitchfx data for last season) Essentially, 1 in every 3 pitches Madson throws is a changeup. 1 in every 3 changeups is a whiff. That’s pretty good. The MLB average FOR CHANGEUPS was around 12% swing-and-miss last year. From the data, Madson’s general approach is pretty easy to detect. If you’re an opposing batter, you’re more likely than not to see a fastball for your first pitch (65% in 2011). If you get behind in the count, he’s more likely to throw you a changeup. If you get ahead in the count, more likely a fastball. Simple, but deadly.

The worst thing you could say about Madson is that he has missed some time with injury, but neither were the repetitive motion injuries you worry about being chronic. In 2010, he missed a surprisingly large amount of time due to “bruised right hand” when a taking  hit ball to the hand ended up worse than expected. Aaaand, in 2o11, he blew a save, threw a tantrum, kicked a chair, broke a toe, and earned another DL trip. Ok, I always think it’s hilarious when athletes injure themselves in dumb ways, but it’s really not against the code of conduct for a closer these days.

So basically, all the reasons why Madson is the best ever (may be slight hyperbole) are great, and all the reasons why he might not be the best ever are terrible. Awesome.

I’ll take a look at Sean Marshall after the jump

» Continue reading “Madson And Marshall Turn The Reds Calf Pen Into A Bull Pen”

Photo by phillymads63

EDIT: It’s official. Morosi confirmed, and Sheldon confirmed it’s a 1 year, 10 million dollar deal. That’s a lot of money. If you look at Red Reporter’s excellent payroll projection, that definitely puts us over 2011′s payroll mark. Perhaps Jocketty talked Castellini around – hey, if we win the world series, our revenue probably WILL go up.

Although almost no talk has linked Madson to the Reds until today, John Heyman of CBSSports is reporting that the Reds and Madson (previously with the Phillies)  have come to an agreement, for one year. Now, Madson is a Boras client, so it bears closer scrutiny, especially since Fay was saying a few hours ago that his source downplayed our interaction with Madson. However, it seems unlikely that Heyman would report a deal when there was none (as opposed to “talks” about Jair Jurrjens), and his relationship with Boras would explain why he has the scoop.

This move strongly solidifies the bullpen, and closes down all the closer questions. (Additionally, now that Cordero will probably sign elsewhere, we’ll get draft picks). While we don’t know how much the one year deal is for, we are pretty sure that the Phillies offered him 4 years/40 million before signing Papelbon. The Red Sox traded for Andrew Bailey, and the Angels have pretty much shut down that option, so the lack of suitors has clearly brought down his price a little.

This will probably eats up the rest of the 2012 budget (as far as we know). Compared to the Cordero deal (4 years/46 mill). This is  better, as Madson is a little younger at the time of the deal (31 vs. 33), and has better stats from the last three seasons (lower ERA, lower WHIP, lower BB/9, but also lower K/9). And lucky, or not, Cordero was pretty good for us, although maybe not >10% of our payroll good.  A one-year deal is crazy good for the Reds  since we’re playing the WIN NOW game, and not bad for Madson, as he can hit the free agent market next year, when the demand may be higher – before he gets too old.

It definitely, though, eliminates the possibility of  eliminates all but the most trivial of more free agent signings (veteran SS, I’m looking at you). So probably no LF bat. It feels very odd to be so confident of the Reds pitching situating going into the season, and wondering if the offense is going to keep up though. I’m still not necessarily unhappy with the idea, but it’s still very, very foreign.

I’m a little surprised that we weren’t bidding with the Rangers, though. They’ve probably been distracted with the Darvish issue: if so, good timing on Jocketty’s part.