Ricky Nolasco signed for four years and $49 million. This is of some interest because Ricky Nolasco isn't very good. His strikeout/walk numbers have always been good, but he's fairly lousy at preventing runs. It took two or three starts for the Dodgers to put him in the no-trust box and tape it shut.
Bronson Arroyo has been much better over the last few years (ERA+ of 100 to Nolasco's 90, and I wonder if the park factors underrate a flyball pitcher like Arroyo in Great American), but he can't find a job. From Jayson Stark:
"I don't even have an offer to turn down," he said. "So I might still be sitting here on March 1. I have no idea."
He might not get that dreaded third year. He's 37, so he probably doesn't deserve the third year. But if Bartolo Colon -- who is 50 and a rhombus -- can get two years from a National League team, you would have to think Arroyo would be a nice addition at two years for some team.
The Giants had multiple rotation openings when the offseason started. I figured they were a lock to sign him. See this site's tagline, which I'll change as soon as Arroyo signs elsewhere, but not before. But they went with Ryan Vogelsong, Part III: The Rerenaissance and Tim Hudson. Now, I'm firmly in the latter's camp, and I have been since the offseason started. That was a smart move. It might backfire horribly, but they call can.
I'm still wary of Vogelsong, though. I feel guilty about it, of course, because we all fell in love with his story and 2011 season, and then he won a World Series, which is nutso, so it's absolutely rude to doubt him out loud. This is still one of my personal favorites of everything I've written, especially considering how it all turned out. How can we doubt Ryan Vogelsong?
So I was sitting at home, doubting Ryan Vogelsong, when this Bronson Arroyo story started flying around Twitter. I can't decide which future I want to live in: the one where a slightly more reliable pitcher comes over for more money while the beloved Giant signs with the Twins or some crap, or the one we're currently in. I think I just answered my own question. But I figured I'd open it up to a poll.
Please, vote just once. This is a democracy, people.
Ugh. Now I have to shower. Sorry. Vote Vogelsong.