May 19, 2013

Betancourt? Kobayashi? Borowski?

May 15, 2008 by 7 Comments

Les gives his opinion on who should close out games for the Tribe…his answer may surprise you.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75bW4F9zWRA[/youtube]

None of the above? I’m just not comfortable with any of these three to be honest with you. How about you? Who do you want to hand the ball to in the ninth?

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  • Jon

    I’m very comfortable with Kobayashi, especially after the 2 strikeout performance of today. Borowski … not so much; Betancourt has really been a disappointment as of late.

  • Sarah Tonan

    No disrespect to Les, but I think what makes a good sports talk host doesn’t make a good manager. It sounds like common sense, until you figure that by that rationale every time you go on the DL or slump you have a great chance of losing your job. No legitimate starter would want to play under those conditions, and the revolving door would make a team that never has a chance to solidify. It may sound like truth and reason, but that’s only in a hypothetical world where we will never see a cause and effect for trading players around like kids trading baseball cards.

    Keep Borowski until you’ve decided he is not the guy, and then make the change.

  • Ricky

    I love Kobayashi so I would like to see him get the job, but I do think Borowski should get another chance to do it because apparently he wasn’t healthy to start the year. If he can do the same thing he did last year, I’ll take the added risk of a heart attack so long as we win. As far as the future goes, maybe its time to work in Adam Miller as a closer in AAA or even AA to get his confidence going. It might be the only way to keep him healthy, and he could be a stud

  • Jon

    Sarah I agree with you to an extent – but in the specialty role of Closer I think you can only be on a long enough leash until you find a replacement. As a hitter I’d be a lot more lenient on slumps as a manager than a closer blowing saves.

    Rick I’d like to know why you don’t think Kobayashi would be a good fit for the job. With 19 innings under his belt he’s rocking a 1.86 ERA and is 2 for 2 with save opportunities… Not to mention his success as a closer in Japan.

    I’m done trolling now :-(

  • http://www.waitingfornextyear.com Mike

    I am for Kobayashi. He’s experienced in the role, albeit in Japan, and really seems composed on the mound with the Tribe. His #’s so far have translated to MLB pretty well. If he works out, we can let Raffy set-up again and the bullpen can fall back into place.

    As I type this…Jalen Rose is wearing a bowtie on NBA Tonight. Must…resist…joke…

  • Phil

    I’d like to know if there’s anything Les is comfortable with…

    But that’s not the question of the moment. I would go with Masayuki Kobayashi simply because he has earned it both here and for years in Japan, where he was very reliable. I know what kind of manager Wedge is, though. He is fairly conservative. He knows what is right and his gut surely tells him when it’s time to make a move, but out of “respect for the game,” that quasi-mystical notion he never tires of evoking, he waits things out and only makes a move once general opinion has started to frown and make him feel that fate has spoken. I am not criticizing him for this. I would probably be a bad manager myself by making changes too quickly. I am only saying that he is not likely to make a jump to the far superior Kobayashi.

    Borowski has nothing to prove and no reliability to recover, may his “most saves” record last year be damned. A statistic is never going to help anyone perform one way or another on the mound. His pitches don’t move, and so he must overthrow to have a fighting chance. This has always been his problem. He is lucky every time he squeaks out a save.

    It’s almost to the point where you have to root for a total debacle–two or three crushing blown saves in a row–so that Kobayashi can finally get the nod.

  • Louis

    i don’t have the same confidence in borowski as i did last year. we should trade him away for prospects if possible. i think Mike brings up a good point discussing Kobayshi’s experience as a closer and that’s where we should go for now. However the other argument is for Adam Miller, and it’s possible that he could be a Papelbon type in that he was a starting pitcher converted to closer and has had much success in the role. However it’s not time to bring Miller up. Put kobayshi in the closer spot!!!