Free Agent Left-Handed Starting Pitchers

Here is a look at the free-agent left-handed starting pitchers for 2004. There are only ten of them, which is miniscule compared to the amount of right-handers available that I reported on.

The only big surprise about this list may be the positioning of David Wells. For those wondering why I rank him so low, it is simply because of his age. I couldn’t rate Wells, who will be 42 next year, higher than some pitchers who were 35 years of age and under.

Al Leiter is so good though, that he overcame his age to rank number three on this list of whom I believe is the best available.

To clarify some statistics, the translated statistics are NOT just a pitchers un-translated statistics in a “per nine innings” form. Translated statistics, are the translated statistics which are figure or at Baseball Prospectus (like those of a hitters) in a “per nine innings” form.

Further explanations of translated statistics are in my article entitled “Free-Agent Catchers.”

Now, to the list:


1. Odalis Perez (28): Signed with Dodgers, 3 yrs/$24 million 2004 Statistics- 3.25 ERA, 196.3 IP, 180 Hits, 26 HR, 44 BB, 128K, 49.7 VORP////Translated 2004 Statistics- 3.64 ERA, 8.5 H/9--1.1 HR/9--1.7 BB/9--5.0 K/9--////Career Statistics- 4.00 ERA, 803.0 IP, 771 Hits, 95 HR, 224 BB, 582 K////Translated Career Statistics- 4.25 ERA, 8.8 H/9--1.1 HR/9--2.1 BB/9--5.5 K/9--////Career K/BB of2.60/1--////2004 represented a career-best Hits allowed (180) for seasons in which he accumulated 100+ IP, but also represented a career-worst K total (128), and translated K/9 (5.0) under the same circumstances for Perez////2004 represented a career-worst translated K/9 for Perez (5.0)////In each of the last three seasons Perez's K totals (02'-155, 03'-141, 04'-128) have gotten worse////Has spent last four seasons in Atlanta (slight pitcher's park), and Los Angeles (severe pitcher's park)////

2. Eric Milton (29): Signed with Reds, 3 yrs/$25.5 million 2004 Statistics: 4.75 ERA, 201.0 IP, 196 Hits, 43 HR, 75 BB, 161 K, 18.7 VORP////Translated 2004 Statistics- 4.74 ERA, 8.8 H/9--1.7 HR/9--2.9 BB/9--6.5 K/9--////Career Statistics- 4.76 ERA, 1188.3 IP, 1196 Hits, 192 HR, 344 BB, 876 K////Translated Career Statistics- 4.38 ERA, 8.7 H/9--1.2 BB/9--2.0 BB/9--6.5 K/9--////Career K/BB of 2.55/1--////Since Milton only pitched 17 innings in 2003 due to injury, there are no trends of his to identify////2004 represented a career-worst for Milton in HR allowed (43), BB (75), and translated HR/9////Spent last four seasons (excluding 2003 in Philadelphia (moderate hitter’s park), and Minnesota (neutral park)////

3. Al Leiter (39): Signed with Marlins, 1 year 2004 Statistics: 3.21 ERA, 173.7 IP, 138 Hits, 16 HR, 97 BB, 117 K, 46.2 VORP////Translated 2004 Statistics- 3.26 ERA, 7.1 H/9--.7 HR/9--4.7 BB/9--5.4 K/9--////Career Statistics- 3.65 ERA, 2248.7 IP, 1198 Hits, 185 HR, 1065 BB, 1877 K////Translated Career Statistics- 3.83 ERA, 8.0 H/9--0.7 BB/9--HR, 3.8 B/9--6.9 K/9--////Career K/BB of 1.76/1--////Missed about a month of the 2004 season due to injury////2004 represented a tie for Leiter’s career-best in translated H/9 (7.1) in seasons which he accumulated 100+ IP////While in each of the last three seasons Leiter’s IP has decreased (02’-204.3, 03’-180.7, 04’-173.7), so have his Hits allowed totals (02’-194, 03’-176, 04’-138), and K’s (02’-172, 03’-139, 04’-117)////Also, in each of the last three seasons Leiter’s translated ERA (02’-4.31, 03’-4.05, 04’-3.26), and translated HR/9 (02’-1.0, 03’-.8, 04’-.7) have gotten better, while his translated BB/9 (02’-2.5, 03’-4.2, 04’-4.7), and translated K/9 (02’-6.8, 03’-6.3, 04’-5.4) have gotten worse////Spent last four seasons in New York Mets (severe pitcher’s park)////

4. Glendon Rusch (30): Signed with Cubs – 2 years/$4.0 million-- 2004 Statistics- 3.47 ERA, 129.7 IP, 127 Hits, 10 HR, 33 BB, 90 K, 27.8 VORP////Translated 2004 Statistics- 3.69 ERA, 8.6 H/9--0.7 HR/9--2.0 BB/9--5.2 K/9--////Career Statistics- 4.93 ERA, 1163.3 IP, 1342 Hits, 143 HR, 346 BB, 850 K////Translated Career Statistics- 4.83 ERA, 10.0 H/9—1.0 HR/9—2.2 BB/9--5.7 K/9--////Career K/BB of2.46/1--////2004 represented a career-best ERA (3.47), Hits allowed (127 - excluding 1999 where Rusch only pitched 5 innings), HR allowed (10 - excluding 1999), BB (33 excluding 1999), translated H/9 (8.6), translated HR/9 (0.7 - excluding 1999), and translated ERA (3.69) for Rusch////In each of the last three seasons Rusch's Hit's allowed totals (02'-227, 03'-171, 04'-127), HR allowed totals (02'-30, 03'-11, 04'-10), BB (02'-76, 03'-45, 04'-33), and translated HR/9 (02'-1.3, 03'-.8, 04'-.7) have gotten better////Rusch's total K's (02'-140, 03'-93, 04'-90) has gotten worse each of the last three seasons////Spent last four seasons in Chicago (slight pitcher's park), Milwaukee (neutral park), and New York Mets (severe pitcher's park)////

5. Shawn Estes (32): Signed with Diamondbacks, 1 yr/$2.5 million 2004 Statistics: 5.84 ERA, 202.0 IP, 223 Hits, 30 HR, 105 BB, 117 K, (-3.6) VORP////Translated 2004 Statistics- 5.39 ERA, 9.1 H/9--1.2 HR/9--4.6 BB/9--4.3 K/9--////Career Statistics- 4.71 ERA, 1505.0 IP, 1521 Hits, 137 HR, 792 BB, 1124 K////Translated Career Statistics- 4.96 ERA, 8.8 H/9--0.8 BB/9--4.6 BB/9--5.5 K/9--////Career K/BB of 1.42/1--////2004 represented a career worst for Estes in ERA (5.84), and translated HR/9 (1.2) in seasons where he accumulated 100+ IP////2004 also represented career-worst numbers for Estes in Hits allowed (223), HR allowed (30), and translated K/9 (4.3)////In each of the last three seasons Estes’s translated HR/9 (02’-0.7, 03’-1.1, 04’-1.2), BB (02’-66, 03’-83, 04’-105), HR allowed (02’-12, 03’-20, 04’-30), Hits allowed (02’-133, 03’-182, 04’-223) statistics have all gotten worse, but these declining numbers can partly be attributed to a rise in IP each of the last three seasons (02’-132.7, 03’-152.3, 04’-202.0)////Has spent last four seasons in Colorado (severe hitter’s park), Chicago Cubs (slight pitcher’s park), New York Mets (severe pitcher’s park), Cincinnati (moderate hitter’s park), and San Francisco (severe pitcher’s park)////

6. David Wells (42): Signed with Red Sox, 2 years ($8 million) 2004 Statistics- 3.73 ERA, 195.7 IP, 203 Hits, 23 HR, 20 BB, 101 K, 40.3 VORP////Translated 2004 Statistics- 3.89 ERA, 9.5 H/9--1.0 HR/9--0.5 BB/9--4.2 K/9--////Career Statistics- 4.03 ERA, 3022.3 IP, 3117 Hits, 353 HR, 644 BB, 1974 K////Translated Career Statistics- 3.94 ERA, 9.1 H/9--1.0 HR/9--1.3 BB/9--6.0 K/9--////Career K/BB of3.06/1--////2004 represented a tie for Well's career best BB total (20-2003 NYY) for seasons in which he has pitched 100+ innings////2004 also represented a tie for Well's career-worst translated K/9 (4.2-2003 NYY)////In each of the last three seasons Well's translated BB/9 (02'-1.6, 03'-.6, 04'-.5) has gotten better////Has spent last four seasons in New York Yankees (slight pitcher's park), San Diego (severe hitter's park), and Chicago White Sox (slight hitter's park)////

7. John Halama (33): Signed with Red Sox, 1 year ($1 million) 2004 Statistics: 4.70 ERA, 118.7 IP, 134 Hits, 17 HR, 27 BB, 59 K, 14.4 VORP////Translated 2004 Statistics- 4.67 ERA, 9.5 H/9--1.2 HR/9--1.8 BB/9--4.0 K/9--////Career Statistics- 4.52 ERA, 816.7 IP, 931 Hits, 101 HR, 247 BB, 443 K////Translated Career Statistics- 4.76 ERA, 9.9 H/9--1.0 HR/9--2.3 BB/9--4.4 K/9--////Career K/BB of 1.79/1--////In each of the last three season Halama’s IP has increased (02’-101.0, 03’-108.7, 04’-118.7), while his ERA (02’-3.56, 03’-4.22, 04’-4.70), and Hits allowed totals (02’-112, 03’-117, 04’-134) have gotten worse////2004 represented a tie for Halama’s career best translated BB/9 (1.8, 2001)////Has spent last four seasons in Tampa Bay (neutral park), Oakland (neutral park), and Seattle (severe pitcher’s park)////

8. Darren Oliver (34): 2004 Statistics- 5.94 ERA, 72.2 IP, 87 Hits, 14 HR, 21 BB, 46 K, (-3.7) VORP////Translated 2004 Statistics- 5.80 ERA, 10.8 H/9--1.5 HR/9--2.0 BB/9--5.3 K/9--////Career Statistics- 5.07 ERA, 1407.0 IP, 1591 Hits, 172 HR, 582 BB, 834 K////Translated Career Statistics- 4.65 ERA, 9.6 H/9--0.9 HR/9--3.0 BB/9--5.3 K/9--////Career K/BB of 1.43/1--////In each of the last three seasons Oliver's translated ERA (02'-4.35, 03'-4.65, 04'-5.80), ERA (02'-4.66, 03'-5.44, 04'-5.94) have gotten worse, while in that same period Oliver's translated BB/9 (02'-3.9, 03'-2.5, 04'-2.0) has gotten better////2004 represented a career-best translated BB/9 (2.0) for Oliver////Oliver missed parts of the 2004 season due to a shoulder injury////Has spent last four seasons in Houston (moderate hitter's park), Florida (severe pitcher's park), Boston (slight hitter's park), Colorado (severe hitter's park), and Texas (severe hitter's park)////

9. Terry Mulholland (42): Signed minor league contract with Twins 2004 Statistics- 5.18 ERA, 123.3 IP, 163 Hits, 17 HR, 33 BB, 60 K, 9.6 VORP////Translated 2004 Statistics- 4.89 ERA, 10.9 H/9--1.1 HR/9--2.1 BB/9--4.0 K/9--////Career Statistics- 4.41 ERA, 2513.7 IP, 2765 Hits, 286 HR, 663 BB, 1306 K////Translated Career Statistics- 4.82 ERA, 9.8 H/9--1.1 HR/9--2.0 BB/9--4.2 K/9--////Career K/BB of1.97/1--////As Mulholland's IP has risen each of the last three seasons (02'-79.0, 03'-99.0, 04'-123.0), his K totals (02'-38, 03'-42, 04'-60) and translated HR/9 (02'-1.6, 03'-1.5, 04'-1.1) have gotten better, while his Hits allowed (02'-101, 03'-117, 04'-163) have gotten worse////Spent last four seasons in Minnesota (neutral park), Cleveland (neutral park), Los Angeles (severe pitcher's park), and Pittsburgh (neutral park)////

10. Omar Daal (33): Out of baseball in 2004, 2003 Statistics: 6.34 ERA, 93.7 IP, 134 Hits, 11 HR, 30 BB, 53 K, (-5.6) VORP////Translated 2003 Statistics- 5.97 ERA, 11.9 H/9-- .9 HR/9--2.8 BB/9--4.9 K/9--////Career Statistics- 4.55 ERA, 1198.7 IP, 1250 Hits, 140 HR, 441 BB, 806 K////Translated Career Statistics- 4.66 ERA, 9.3 H/9--1.0 BB/9--2.9 BB/9--5.3 K/9--////Career K/BB of 1.83/1--////Since Daal was out of baseball in 2004, there are no trends of his to identify////Before leaving baseball after the 2003 season, Daal’s IP had decreased in each of the previous three years (01’-185.7, 02’-161.3, 03’-93.7) , resulting in an improvement in many of his counting statistics: Hits allowed (01’-199, 02’-142, 03’-134), HR allowed (01’-26, 02’-20, 03’-11), and BB (01’-56, 02’-54, 03’-30)////If you look at his translated per nine innings statistics in 01’, 02’, and ’03, you would see that Daal actually got worse in BB/9 (01’-2.3, 02’-2.5, 03’-2.8)////Spent last four seasons before 2004 in Baltimore (severe pitcher’s park when he pitched there), Los Angeles (severe pitcher’s park), and Philadelphia (moderate pitcher’s park)////

Next up, free agent relief pitchers.

There are many, many free agent relief pitchers. So, in order to cut down on unnecessary scouting reports being made for “ten IP per year pitchers, and the like,” I will make a qualifying standard for a relief pitcher to get a scouting report on the site.

I will let the qualifying standards be known when the first segments of the scouting reports are published.

Thank you for reading.

Frank Bundy III

If you have any questions, comments, concerns, or suggestions, please do not hesitate to email me at frnkbndy@yahoo.com.