Dbacks, Hernandez agree to extension

[love_that_reefer]

Per ESPN.com

The Arizona Diamondbacks have agreed to terms with primary setup man David Hernandez on a two-year contract.

The 27-year-old right-hander has been one of the most effective relievers in baseball since joining the Diamondbacks to pitch in front of closer J.J. Putz. Hernandez would've been arbitration eligible after this season.

Arizona announced the deal after beating the Chicago Cubs 5-1 Sunday.

Hernandez is 0-1 with two saves and a 2.90 ERA this season, with 45 strikeouts in 31 innings over 33 games. On Friday against the Cubs, he became the first Arizona player with a hit and a save in the same game since Jose Valverde in 2003.

Last season, Hernandez set career-highs with 11 saves, 74 games and 77 strikeouts, serving as Arizona's closer for a short time when Putz went on the disabled list.

He is 17-22 with 15 saves and a 4.32 ERA in four seasons with Baltimore and Arizona.

No financials but Hernandez has been one of the better setup men in the NL the past two seasons.

[zodious]

Two year deal is perfect for the D-backs as reliever tend to have it and then not from one year to the next.

[catman]

Its always nice to have the security of a 2-year deal (or longer). As Art Howe said, its tough to work under the pressure of a 1-year contract.

[Kingdom]

I really didn't think that deal would go in favor of Arizona but Reynolds has never really recovered. Hernandez has been great. Future closer?

[love_that_reefer]

Recovered from what? Being the strikeout king? Being one of the worst defensive 3B in the game? The Dbacks did well to shed themselves of strikeout artists like Reynolds which was a huge factor in them making the playoffs last year. That and a much improved bullpen.

[HollywoodLeo]

He said Reynolds never recovered. you can strike out a lot and still be good overall. Look at Adam Dunn and Ryan Howard pre injuries

[HollywoodLeo]

Or, more on point, Reynolds in 2009

[love_that_reefer]

He said Reynolds never recovered. you can strike out a lot and still be good overall. Look at Adam Dunn and Ryan Howard pre injuries

And I said from what. Adam Dunn and Ryan Howard were never good OVERALL.

[HollywoodLeo]

They only weren't good overall if you're the type that thinks strike outs are worse than ground outs, foul outs, shallow popouts, and line outs. Oh, and grounding into double plays.

[Kingdom]

Or, more on point, Reynolds in 2009

He randomly stole 24 bases that year too, lol

[love_that_reefer]

Or terrible on defense which I do. Again, OVERALL!!

[Kingdom]

We know you're terrible on defense.

[love_that_reefer]

And strikeouts are unproductive outs. Groundouts and fly outs can be productive so yeah, strikeouts are worse than those.

[HollywoodLeo]

And strikeouts are unproductive outs. Groundouts and fly outs can be productive so yeah, strikeouts are worse than those.

A strikeout isn't any less productive than a weak groundout in the wrong direction/with no runners on, an infield popout, a foul out that's not in deep territory, a long flyout with 2 outs or no runners on, and it's actually less unproductive than a GIDP.

Why do we only fixate on one unproductive out and forgive batters for the rest?

[HollywoodLeo]

Or terrible on defense which I do. Again, OVERALL!!

Are you getting technical on me and pointing out that they don't/didn't excel at every faucet of the game? Because guys like that are rare.

I meant overall in a general term, as in they're overall productive even if they have some flaws.

You're going to tell me Adam Dunn getting on base at a career .373 clip (Hank Aaron, for comparison was .374), .503 SLG (Willie McCovey .515) hitting 40 HRs 5 years in a row and missing 100 RBIs (by 8) only once in that time span makes him unproductive overall because he strikes out a lot?