Giants won't deal Eyre

[redsrbetter]

Giants won't deal workhorse Eyre
Henry Schulman, Chronicle Staff Writer

Tuesday, August 9, 2005


Atlanta -- Like many successful people across the spectrum of vocations, Giants reliever Scott Eyre is driven by having been told he would fail.

"I had a pitching coach in Chicago who said I'm never going to make it," Eyre said. "Now I'm the most sought-after lefty by contending teams."

This is not braggadocio, but the truth. In the tightest July trade market in years, teams with better records than the Giants -- and there were lots of them -- set their sights on Eyre, who has become one of the best left- handed setup men in baseball.

General manager Brian Sabean said no to all suitors, so Eyre remains a Giant. For that, he walked into Sabean's office during the just-completed homestand and thanked his boss, who is no dummy. Lefties who command four pitches, fire fastballs at 93 mph and are blessed with rubber arms are hard to find.

As the Giants open a three-game series against the Braves tonight, Eyre has pitched 59 times, tied for the major-league lead. Last year, he set a club record for lefties with 83 games, a mark he well could break. Rather than complain about overuse, he joked about reaching his appearance incentives before the All-Star break.

They are quality appearances, too. Before losing Sunday's game against Houston with a four-run eighth inning, the 33-year-old had allowed two runs in 232/3 innings over 21 outings. He again ranks among the majors' best relievers in lowest average by opposing hitters and stranding inherited runners. Since 2002, the year in which the Giants claimed Eyre on waivers from Toronto, he has stranded four of every five runners, third-best in the majors.

Were there such an award as Giants Player of the Year, Eyre could stake a claim.

"He might be one of the best lefties anywhere," manager Felipe Alou said. "I'm talking about a guy who can come in in the eighth inning and get three guys out or one lefty. I think he's peaking right now."

Said pitching coach Dave Righetti: "This guy has developed into a damn good pitcher. Anybody who has pitched in 142 games the last two years is pretty good and resilient and tough," although even Righetti wonders if all those games will take a toll on that left arm.

Nonetheless, Righetti said, "He's got himself in a really good spot at the end of the year. He's in position to make some money and help his family. He's one of the upper-echelon guys."

Indeed, the front office understands that middle and late relievers, while not sexy commodities, are a backbone for any team, and that re-signing Eyre when he reaches free agency this winter will be a top priority. That is one reason Sabean refused to trade him.

Privately, Giants officials worry about the negotiations because they have butted heads with Eyre's agent, Tommy Tanzer, who also represents disaffected pitcher Kirk Rueter. However, those fears can be soothed by listening to Eyre, who for now is gung-ho about returning to San Francisco.

"Everybody knows I love it here," Eyre said. "I'm comfortable, my family likes it and everybody knows a happy wife is a happy life."

Eyre is a goofy-happy presence in a Giants clubhouse that sometimes has the vibes of a gulag. Once on the mound, his persona reflects a confidence he confesses he lacked when he was a middling starter and reliever for the White Sox and Blue Jays.

That changed as soon as he got to San Francisco three years ago this month. He walked Brian Giles in his first appearance and was stunned when then- manager Dusty Baker had him face Giles again later in the series.

"Dusty's confidence in me built up my confidence in myself," Eyre said. "Same with Felipe. He put me in game after game without regard to the fact that I sucked my first few years in the big-leagues.

"I was given a chance to pitch in situations where I could actually fail. When I was in the bullpen in Chicago I'd only pitch if we were either losing by 10 runs or winning by 10 runs. As soon as I got somebody on they took me out."

Righetti regarded Eyre as somewhat of a project, saying he was a "whirling Dervish" when he arrived. Job one was getting Eyre to focus, slow things down on the mound and trust his pitches. Pitcher and coach worked on mechanical issues with the fastball, and bullpen coach Mark Gardner has helped Eyre develop a curveball that Righetti considers Eyre's most underrated pitch.

"If you want to talk about his maturation, he knows he can walk out and get hitters out with four pitches," Righetti said. "If he doesn't feel like he has his gas that day, he might throw his curve and slider and finish them off with a fastball. Then he might throw a changeup to a right-hander."

The result: a reliever who some believe should be closing in Armando Benitez's absence. But he is too valuable as Alou's chief seventh- and eight- inning troubleshooter, so there he will stay, succeeding where some thoughtful baseball people thought he would fail.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...PGBPE53TF1.DTL

[love_that_reefer]

Eyre has been a bright spot on this team. And why shouldn't the Giants keep him? They should have already offered an extension by now.