Jones Remains an Unheralded Closer in 2008

November 14, 2007 @ 08:37:25

By Art Morath
Edited by Ryan Dodson

The Detroit Tigers have re-signed closer Todd Jones to a one-year deal worth $7 million for the 2008 season. Jones, who will turn 40 in April, has been a journeyman for most of his career. He seems to have found a home as the closer in Detroit. 2008 will be his third year with the club after signing as a free agent before the 2006 season. Jones said besides the Tigers he also would have considered signing with Atlanta this offseason, because they play close to his home in Georgia. However, the Braves decided they would not pursue a closer in free agency, since they were happy with Rafael Soriano in that role.  

Jones struggled early on last season but was solid after the All-Star break with an ERA of 2.88. Despite his effectiveness in the second half of the season, his poor strikeout-to-walk ratio of 1.44 in 2007 makes you wonder if he can continue to have success against major league hitters. While the Tigers have shown they are still committed to Jones as their closer, the one-year contract demonstrates that he is a player in the twilight of his career that soon will need to be replaced.

Table: Todd Jones in 2006 and 2007

Year	W-L	Saves	ERA	Strikeouts	WHIP
2006	2-6	37	3.94	28	1.27
2007	1-4	38	4.26	33	1.42

It was expected that closer-in-training Joel Zumaya (shoulder) might be ready to take the reins from Jones this coming year, but after having shoulder surgery Zumaya is expected to miss the first half of the 2008 season. The 23-year-old Zumaya has a lengthy injury history after just two seasons at the big league level. During the 2006 postseason he missed time with inflammation in his wrist and forearm because he was reportedly spending too much time playing the video game "Guitar Hero." During the 2007 season he missed three months with a strained middle finger on his throwing hand. After finishing the season healthy, Zumaya suffered an injury just two weeks ago while he was moving boxes in his parents' attic during the wildfires in Southern California. A heavy box fell on his pitching shoulder, and after being checked out, it was decided that the shoulder required surgery. What this latest setback means to Zumaya's career is uncertain, but it made it clear to Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski that he could not plan on Zumaya taking over the closer's role this year. With Zumaya a question mark the easy decision was to lock up Jones for 2008. 

Dombrowski has said he will put together his pitching staff for 2008 planning on Zumaya not being there. Right now the Tigers are planning to use Fernando Rodney as their primary setup man, although it is quite possible that they will address some of their bullpen needs in free agency. The 30-year-old Rodney, who spent two stints on the disabled list in 2007, was 2-6 with a 4.26 ERA, 1.32 WHIP and one save this past season. Before he can worry about adding pieces to the bullpen Dombrowski is concentrating on filling out his five-man rotation for 2008.

In upcoming fantasy drafts Jones should be picked up as a second or third closer. While his ratios leave a little to be desired when compared to the elite closers, he still should record between 35 and 40 saves if he pitches like he has the last two years. While Jones had just 33 strikeouts in 61 1/3 innings in 2007, the crafty veteran is still able to close out games. Jones was ninth in MLB in saves this past season.

Although the Tigers are expected to contend once again for the AL Central title, the one-year deal does give Dombrowski the option to deal Jones at the trade deadline, if the Tigers fall out of contention early. A more likely scenario is that the Tigers will be in the thick of things and looking to upgrade their bullpen in late July. It is quite possible that Zumaya or a Tigers acquisition will replace Jones as closer during the 2008 season, but then again, it was thought that was also a possibility during the 2007 season.

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Art Morath
Art Morath has been a contributor to KFFL since 2007.

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