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	<title>Toronto &#187; Retirement</title>
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		<title>Brad Penny Cashed Out</title>
		<link>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/03/18/brad-penny-hangs-em-up/</link>
		<comments>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/03/18/brad-penny-hangs-em-up/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 18 Mar 2016 14:42:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Joshua Howsam]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Brad Penny]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Retirement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Toronto Blue Jays]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=492</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Two players in two days! First, Rafael Soriano called it a career before even reporting to camp, and today the Blue Jays lost another man to a world beyond baseball. After giving up 5 runs in a split squad game Thursday, rhp brad penny told Jays he&#39;s retiring &#8212; mark zwolinski (@markzwol) March 18, 2016 [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Two players in two days! First, Rafael Soriano <a title="Happy Trails: Rafael Soriano Calls it Quits" href="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/03/17/happy-trails-rafael-soriano-calls-it-quits/" target="_blank">called it a career</a> before even reporting to camp, and today the Blue Jays lost another man to a world beyond baseball.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">After giving up 5 runs in a split squad game Thursday, rhp brad penny told Jays he&#39;s retiring</p>
<p>&mdash; mark zwolinski (@markzwol) <a href="https://twitter.com/markzwol/status/710835443412049920">March 18, 2016</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Brad Penny is retiring.</p>
<p>Unlike Rafael Soriano, Brad Penny never <em>really</em> had a chance to make the 2016 Toronto Blue Jays. Heck, you&#8217;d be forgiven if you weren&#8217;t even aware that he was still pitching. He hadn&#8217;t thrown an inning in the major leagues since 2014, and hadn&#8217;t topped 30 innings since 2011. So really, it was probably the time to go for the soon-to-be 38 year-old sinkerballer.</p>
<p>Of course, it wasn&#8217;t always like this for Penny. Once upon a time he was actually a valuable big league starter. In fact, in 2007, he finished 3rd in NL Cy Young voting after posting a 16-4 record and a 3.03 ERA. And during a four year stretch from 2004-2007, Penny had a 3.61 ERA for the Dodgers and Marlins. Unfortunately, injuries began to take their toll on the tall righty, and his once elite velocity began to disappear. His overall career numbers are those of a league average or slightly worse starter, with a 4.29 ERA, 4.75 DRA, and 18.4 career WARP, but for the last eight or nine years, Penny has been a mediocre or worse depth piece.</p>
<p>Oddly, he actually may have had a real impact on the Blue Jays in his brief time in Dunedin. When I spoke with Marco Estrada last week, <a title="Marco Estrada Embraces Leadership Role; Ready to Repeat 2015" href="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/03/16/marco-estrada-embraces-his-leadership-role-ready-to-repeat-2015/" target="_blank">he told me that</a> he has been toying with a sinker grip that he learned from Mr. Penny. It&#8217;s an underrated and underreported aspect of these types of deals, but these players <em>do</em> learn from one another. We&#8217;ll see how much Estrada really uses that sinker, but if it becomes a weapon that even gets him out of <em>one</em> tough situation, then the Brad Penny signing was a good one.</p>
<p>So thank you for your ever so brief time in Toronto, Brad. Enjoy retirement!</p>
<p><em>Lead photo: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports</em></p>
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		<title>Happy Trails: Rafael Soriano Calls it Quits</title>
		<link>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/03/17/happy-trails-rafael-soriano-calls-it-quits/</link>
		<comments>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/03/17/happy-trails-rafael-soriano-calls-it-quits/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 18 Mar 2016 03:12:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Steve McEwen]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bullpen]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rafael Soriano]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Retirement]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=452</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Back at the start of camp, the Blue Jays thought they had made a good depth signing when they brought in Rafael Soriano on a minor league deal with an invite to spring training. He had been great as recently as 2014, so maybe there was a little magic left. Unfortunately, things haven&#8217;t exactly gone according [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Back at the start of camp, the Blue Jays thought they had made a good depth signing when they brought in Rafael Soriano on a minor league deal with an invite to spring training. He had been great as recently as 2014, so maybe there was a little magic left. Unfortunately, things haven&#8217;t exactly gone according to plan. First Soriano&#8217;s arrival to camp was delayed by visa issues. Then, despite his continued absence, we heard nothing about the former All-Star closer. Well, that all changed tonight.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">From former Nat dept.: hearing Rafael Soriano, who had a minor lg deal with Toronto, is retiring. Last full year in MLB was w/ Nats in &#39;14.</p>
<p>&mdash; James Wagner (@JamesWagnerWP) <a href="https://twitter.com/JamesWagnerWP/status/710659040217583618">March 18, 2016</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Rafael Soriano has apparently decided to call it a career.</p>
<p>As one of the favourites to win a bullpen job out of spring training largely due to his track record and reports of throwing well in the Dominican League, this news certainly comes as a bit of a shock.</p>
<p>Over 14 big league seasons, Soriano threw 636 1/3 innings with an ERA of 2.89, a DRA of 3.64, and 207 saves. He saved over 20 games for four different teams and ranks 44<sup>th</sup> on the all-time list. Soriano last pitched in the majors in 2015 with the Chicago Cubs, posting a 6.35 ERA and 9.02 DRA in 5 2/3 IP before succumbing to injury.</p>
<p>What does this mean for the Blue Jays? It appears more likely that one of David Aardsma, Steve Delabar, Bo Schultz, Joe Biagini, Ryan Tepera, or Arnold Leon will make the team out of spring training. Given the fact that Soriano likely would have pitched in some leverage situations, there is also an outside possibility that this could move Sanchez back to the bullpen. It would help save his innings for later in the year while giving the Blue Jays a more comforting face with the game on the line.</p>
<p>Regardless, it was a great career for Soriano and we here at BP Toronto wish all the best to Rafael in retirement.</p>
<p><em>Lead Photo: Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports</em></p>
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