I am going to call Barry Meister this morning and ask him to represent me at my next salary negotiation at work.
Meister is the agent for Brandon Lyon and right now is the smartest guy in the room. For those of you who are not aware, Lyon signed a contract with the Houston Astros last night. Lyon signed a three-year, $15 million deal with the Astros.
This is a great day for Lyon and a sad, sad day for Astro fans.
How quickly do you think Meister and Lyon signed this contract? Five seconds? Two seconds?
Lyon will be a mess in Houston
This is the single worst deal of the offseason so far. What are the Astros thinking? To give Lyon three years to be their closer, when this guy can’t close is absurd.
Here is what I wrote in my free agent primer:
“Biggest Free Agent Relief Pitcher Bust: Brandon Lyon. If a team signs Lyon as an eighth inning, set-up guy, I have no problem with that. But if a teams signs him to be their closer, all bets are off.”
And here is what I wrote about Lyon when the Detroit Tigers signed him to a contract last offseason:
“Bottom line: Brandon Lyon can’t close. There are certain pitchers who are made for the 8th inning and there are certain pitchers made for the 9th inning. Lyon falls into the category of 8th inning pitchers. The proof is in the pudding.
All you need to do is look at Lyon in 05 and 08 when he was a closer….
Year IP H K SV ERA BAA
05: 29.1 44 17 14 6.44 .341
08: 59.1 75 44 26 4.70 .301
…..And when he was a set-up man in 06 and 07
Year IP H K HLD ERA BAA
06: 69.1 68 46 23 3.89 .258
07: 74 70 40 35 2.68 .251
“Eric Karabell set the bar at over 30 saves for Lyon. I will take the under on that bet. Even if Lyon does win the closer job, the chances of him keeping it for the entire year are slim. If Lyon couldn’t close out games in the NL, what makes anyone think he can close in the AL?”
All bets are off now with Lyon and the Astros in 2010. He was signed to be their closer. Good luck with that.
I fully expect this to be a disaster and midway through the season Lyon will lose his job to the newly acquired Matt Lindstrom.
Lyon is just another bloated contract and a team full of them.
This is a bad signing by the Astros.
You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg
Tags: Barry Meister, Brandon Lyon, Detroit Tigers, Houston Astros, Matt Lindstrom
