Team Announces Extensions

The Julian Javelina announced their extensions for the 2009 season last week, and one of the players receiving an extension may surprise some observers. After a season which saw the Javelina rank among the top five teams in most offensive and pitching categories, GM Jamie Hoyle decided to lock a key contributor on each side of the ball.

The first extension, which was decided long before the season ended, went to outfielder Carlos Quentin. Quentin, who is currently recovering from wrist surgery, is coming off a breakthrough season in which he hit .288 with 36 HR, 100 RBI, 96 R, 66 BB. He managed to finish in the top five in the American League in home runs (36, #2), OB% (.394, #4), SLG% (.571, #2) and OPS (.965, T#2) despite missing the final 30 games of the season after injuring his wrist. Quentin will join Adrian Gonzalez, Jason Bay, and Ichiro as the team's offensive core for 2009.

"It's nice to have some security, even if it's just for a year," said Quentin via conference call. "Right now, I'm focused on rehabbing my wrist and building on the first 130 game of last season. I should be 100% by spring training."

The second extension went to closer Brad Lidge. Lidge, who joined the team via a deadline deal, is coming off of a season which saw him go a perfect 41/41 in save chances while posting a minuscule 1.95 ERA and 92 K in 69.1 IP. Clearly, the team recognized the value of having a true "shut-down" stopper at the back end of their bullpen and decided it couldn't afford to let Lidge walk with no compensation. This point was accentuated when Lidge single-handedly captured the saves category for his team in the eSeries by converting all five of his save chances.

"I really enjoyed my three months in Julian, and am glad to be coming back," said Lidge. "I thought we had a good bullpen down the stretch, and hopefully I can help make that the case again next season."

It would appear most on-lookers were at least a little surprised that it was Lidge, and not Cliff Lee, who received the final extension. Oddly enough, it was Lee who came over in the same deadline deal as Lidge in July, and he essentially replaced Dan Haren in the rotation in the second half of the season. Some team sources have indicated that the team was not completely sold on Lee's ability to repeat his performance in 2008, and it's not completely unreasonable based on his history. For his part, Hoyle isn't disparaging Lee or his contributions.

"Cliff Lee is a great pitcher, and we could not have won the title without his contributions," said Hoyle. "In the end, the amount of available starting pitching in the draft allowed us to place a higher premium on [Lidge's] services; it's impossible to overvalue the impact a closer like Brad has on a contending team."

Swings and Misses....
It's likely the Javelina will be looking for a way to trade into the upper half of the draft in an effort to add a dynamic offensive performer...Some feel the team will place an emphasis on adding at least two players capable of stealing 30 bases...They may also look to add a starting pitcher via trade prior to the draft...The team is hoping 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff is able to continue his progress with the bat.