Am I missing something about Jordan Lyles???

[soey10]

I was doing a bit of stat browsing and can’t believe how bad Jordan Lyles has been every year of his career and is still getting paid big bucks. He is playing his 12th season in the pros and his career numbers are horrible, they look like this:

57-83 W-L, 5.17 ERA, 1.44 Whip and has a career war of -2.5 (baseball reference)

He is playing for his 7th different team.

He has only 1 winning season in his career.

He has made over $34 million in his career and is currently making $6 million this year with the Orioles.

So why are teams consistently paying this guy to pitch on their teams. Don’t teams have a better and cheaper option on their triple A team.

So are teams really this stupid or am I missing something?


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[rman112]

Stuff. I remember watching him a few years ago wondering why he wasn't a lot better.

[atk825]

Originally Posted by soey10

I was doing a bit of stat browsing and can’t believe how bad Jordan Lyles has been every year of his career and is still getting paid big bucks. He is playing his 12th season in the pros and his career numbers are horrible, they look like this:

57-83 W-L, 5.17 ERA, 1.44 Whip and has a career war of -2.5 (baseball reference)

He is playing for his 7th different team.

He has only 1 winning season in his career.

He has made over $34 million in his career and is currently making $6 million this year with the Orioles.






So why are teams consistently paying this guy to pitch on their teams. Don’t teams have a better and cheaper option on their triple A team.

So are teams really this stupid or am I missing something?


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There’s demand for innings for teams that really have no desire to compete. They usually want to protect what up and coming talent they may have and he can turn in 150-180 innings for a relatively low price tag.

[Emergency Donut]

I think atk825 has it basically right, if you believe the Orioles' front office and Lyles himself (see quotes below).

The Orioles have innings to cover at a professionally acceptable level, and Lyles has a track record of doing that, which is honestly a really hard thing to accomplish. As expected/hoped this year, he's already covered 62 innings across 11 games (almost 6 innings per game), with a FIP that's better than his ERA by half a run, and a bWAR of -0.1. So, in one veteran guy in one roster spot, they get approximately replacement-level production, and maybe better, if his ERA eventually corrects toward his FIP. Bullpen and prospects get spared, team often has a chance to win, embarrassing blowouts are often avoided.

The Athletic's Dan Connolly wrote a great article on this a couple months ago, if you want quotes and details (and insight into a couple other reasons he's hung around and gotten paid): https://theathletic.com/3222585/2022...as-interested/

A few key bits:

“We were putting more of a premium on the health and the potential for innings and support for the rest of our young pitching staff,” Elias said. “Whereas I think another team in a different part of their (competitive) cycle might put a little more emphasis on guys that presented some impact last year, in 2021, but just weren’t on the field very much — taking like a medical gamble. We were more interested in getting a guy that was in very good health and, if things go well, would be able to help our young rotation carry the bulk that we struggled with last year.”

[...]

“I think it is very important for where I’m at in my career and what I can do to help an organization and a team,” the 6-foot-5, 230-pound Lyles said. “That’s go deeper into games and limit the guys in the bullpen, so they don’t have to cover an extra inning or two every fifth day.”

[...]

Lyles also predated the Astros’ reliance on innovative data analysis, and so he’s never really had much exposure to it. That, he said, was also a selling point in coming to the Orioles.

[...]

That’s another reason Elias was so aggressive in pursuing Lyles. He knew of his reputation as a quality person and a potential mentor. Combine that with his ability to eat innings, and Elias saw Lyles as the best fit out of the one-year pitchers.

[Emergency Donut]

edited: double posted on submission

[ScooterD]

Jeff Samardzija made $123M with stats very comparable to Lyles

[soey10]

Originally Posted by Emergency Donut

I think atk825 has it basically right, if you believe the Orioles' front office and Lyles himself (see quotes below).

The Orioles have innings to cover at a professionally acceptable level, and Lyles has a track record of doing that, which is honestly a really hard thing to accomplish. As expected/hoped this year, he's already covered 62 innings across 11 games (almost 6 innings per game), with a FIP that's better than his ERA by half a run, and a bWAR of -0.1. So, in one veteran guy in one roster spot, they get approximately replacement-level production, and maybe better, if his ERA eventually corrects toward his FIP. Bullpen and prospects get spared, team often has a chance to win, embarrassing blowouts are often avoided.

The Athletic's Dan Connolly wrote a great article on this a couple months ago, if you want quotes and details (and insight into a couple other reasons he's hung around and gotten paid): https://theathletic.com/3222585/2022...as-interested/

A few key bits:

“We were putting more of a premium on the health and the potential for innings and support for the rest of our young pitching staff,” Elias said. “Whereas I think another team in a different part of their (competitive) cycle might put a little more emphasis on guys that presented some impact last year, in 2021, but just weren’t on the field very much — taking like a medical gamble. We were more interested in getting a guy that was in very good health and, if things go well, would be able to help our young rotation carry the bulk that we struggled with last year.”

[...]

“I think it is very important for where I’m at in my career and what I can do to help an organization and a team,” the 6-foot-5, 230-pound Lyles said. “That’s go deeper into games and limit the guys in the bullpen, so they don’t have to cover an extra inning or two every fifth day.”

[...]

Lyles also predated the Astros’ reliance on innovative data analysis, and so he’s never really had much exposure to it. That, he said, was also a selling point in coming to the Orioles.

[...]

That’s another reason Elias was so aggressive in pursuing Lyles. He knew of his reputation as a quality person and a potential mentor. Combine that with his ability to eat innings, and Elias saw Lyles as the best fit out of the one-year pitchers.

This makes sense. I guess I didn’t realize how spread thin pitching was and how much of a premium is put on an inning eater that is in good health and is a good teammate. I guess as long as Jordan Lyles knows his role he will get paid.


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[soey10]

Originally Posted by ScooterD

Jeff Samardzija made $123M with stats very comparable to Lyles

Wow! I was going to reply that at least Samardzija has some years of greatness but then I looked at his stats. I guess I remember him being better than he was. He had a couple of good years but he also made $122 million in his career which just blows my mind.


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[soey10]

Originally Posted by ScooterD

Jeff Samardzija made $123M with stats very comparable to Lyles

Duplicate post


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