In Buster Olney's new blog post, he takes on the Valverde Situation:
Heard this: Jose Valverde, the most accomplished reliever on the market, is asking teams for an annual salary of $8 million, and he has made it clear he only wants to be a closer, so far. The Pirates and Marlins, two teams that need closers, certainly won't pay him that much; the Tigers need a closer, but in an offseason in which they've done some financial belt-tightening, it remains to be seen whether they would go that far.
It's obvious that Jose Valverde's agent crapped the bed on the decision to not accept arbitration, and the Astros will - at some point - reap the benefit of it. Valverde's asking $8 million - same as what he made in 2009 - is not likely to happen for the exact reason that Olney put forth, but you have to wonder if he's high-balling potential suitors to make a $5 million deal more attractive.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
