Tigers sign Lyon

January 24, 3:17 PMMLB ExaminerAlex Brown

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Well Tiger fans, it looks like your General Manager does care about the bullpen after all.  The Tigers have bolstered their pen with the acquisition of free agent pitcher Brandon Lyon, who signed a one-year $4.25M deal earlier today.  Lyon spent the past four seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks, all as a reliever.  He has closed games for extended periods in 2003 (Boston), 2004 (Arizona), and 2008 (Arizona).  He will compete with Fernando Rodney for the Tigers’ closer role in 2009.

The Tigers bullpen was abysmal in 2008.  They were among the worst pens in the American League, and the entire pitching staff finished the season with the third worst ERA in the league.  Lyon isn’t in the top tier of relief pitchers, but his presence as competition for Rodney can only make this situation better.  While Lyon has closed games regularly, something Rodney has not, he had a maddeningly inconsistent 2008 – so which guy are the Tigers getting?

• Lyon at home: 29.1 IP, 7.06 ERA
• Lyon away: 30 IP, 2.40 ERA

• Lyon, 1st Half: 37 IP, 2.43 ERA
• Lyon, 2nd Half: 22.1 IP, 8.46 ERA

This can be broken down even further – Lyon logged a 2.57 ERA in April, and a cool 0.00 for the month of May.  After that, his month by month ERA shot up, coming in at 4.91, 6.52, and 12.27 for June-August.  September and October were better for Lyon with a 3.86 ERA, but by that point he had already lost the closers role to Chad Qualls and wasn’t pitching at the end of ballgames.  I don’t assume that the Tigers have signed him to be a middle reliever, so this is a disturbing trend.

Is this a good signing?  Well, that depends on what you expect.  I don’t think Brandon Lyon is cut out to be an American League closer.  His struggles, which I’ve detailed above, all came in the weaker hitting National League.  Fernando Rodney, for all his faults, has at the very least had an iota of success against American League hitters.  But what this does give the Tigers is options – if Rodney struggles, Lyon will step in.  When Lyon begins to falter, they can go to Rodney again or Joel Zumaya if healthy.  As is proven time after time in baseball, you can never have enough “live arms” in the back of your bullpen.  Overall, solid move to get a veteran reliever on a one year deal.