News: David Riske is a Free Agent
RHP David Riske declined his $2.9 million player option with the Royals for 2008 and has declared free agency.
The 31–year-old Riske has made 393 relief appearances during his eight-
year career, during which he has a 3.40 ERA while opponents have hit .231 against him.
He had an ERA below 3.00 last season for the first time since 2003.
…my sense is that he will get offered the standard three-year, $10 million deal that seems to go to his level of pitcher in the open market of late…
…i know there will be people who scream for the Mets to sign him…the thing is, i can’t shake this bad feeling about chasing relievers around the league, hoping they duplicate the previous season’s success, all while locking them in to long-term deals, which the Mets said they were against last off-season, as a justification for not re-signing Chad Bradford, but which they gave to both Guillermo Mota and Scott Schoeneweis…i just don’t trust any one reliever any more, and certainly not enough for more than one season…
…nevertheless, if the Mets are going to dish out yet another long-term contract for a relief pitcher, riske is a good of a choice as any, since he has at least been somewhat consistent over his career…of course, his name contains the word ‘risk,’ so forgive me if i remain cautious…
