Adams Joins The Family

Wednesday, January 07 2004 @ 12:08 PM EST

Contributed by: Jonny German

Is he here to replace Lurch?

As first reported by R Billie and confirmed by Donkit R.K. in the hijack thread, the Blue Jays have signed righthander Terry Adams to a one year deal for $1.7M. According to his scouting report on ESPN.com, Terry is a severe ground ball pitcher who features a straight, low-90s fastball and a sharp slider, and must keep both offerings low in the strike zone.

Here are his numbers over the past 5 years:


Season Team G GS IP ERA K/BB K/9 BB/9 HR/9
1999 ChC 52 0 65 4.02 2.04 7.89 3.88 1.25
2000 LA 66 0 84.1 3.52 1.44 5.99 4.17 0.64
2001 LA 43 22 166.1 4.33 2.61 7.64 2.93 0.49
2002 Phi 46 19 136.2 4.35 1.66 6.34 3.83 0.59
2003 Phi 66 0 68 2.65 2.22 6.75 3.04 0.13
Career - 497 41 786 3.97 1.85 7.23 3.92 0.57

Looking at his 3-year splits makes it even more apparent why the Jays were interested:

AB H HR BB SO AVG OBP SLG
vs. RH 785 219 11 66 151 .279 .333 .382
vs. LH 631 153 8 69 137 .242 .316 .326

In addition to the excellent homer rate and the fondness for chewing on lefties, Adams has been durable (just one trip to the DL in his career, a strained oblique this past August). His experience as a swingman doesn't hurt, but he hasn't been particularly effective as a starter.

So what's not to like? Well, as noted by Ryan01 in the hijack thread, Terry is facing four charges related to an incident this past summer in which he allegedly attacked his wife in front of their infant child in a New York hotel room. Given the current front office's track record of emphasizing "good character" guys, I'm inclined to think they have solid reason to believe that Adams is innocent. I'll hold off on forming an opinion on this angle.

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