The frozen pitching market

The new year is several days old, and to a large degree the Hot Stove League has frozen up.

Part of it, of course, is that many teams have made their moves. Part of it has been the holidays — it's always a bit slow between Christmas and New Years. And, this year, part of it is the belated posting of Japanese star pitcher Mazahiro Tanaka.

Three prominent established free-agent starters remain on the market — Matt Garza, Ervin Santana and Ubaldo Jimenez — but not much is happening with them, partly because their flaws are well known and Tanaka's are not. Among those flaws: Garza missed extensive time in 2013 with arm issues; Santana's and Jimenez' strong 2013 seasons were not in line with their previous seasons; and signing Santana and Jimenez will cost not only money but a draft pick.

My expectation is that once Tanaka signs, things will unlock, at least for Garza. He will "only" cost money, not a draft pick.

(There was a report this week that the Twins had checked in with Garza, who, of course, started his career with Minnesota. The issue for the Twins, according to the report, isn't salary, it's years; they want a shorter-term deal than the pitcher wants. This may well be linked to his arm issues of the past season.)

Santana and Jimenez? With the draft pick attached, they each have the possibility of being this year's Kyle Lohse, who was unsigned until well into spring training last year.

Lohse wound up with Milwaukee, and had a pretty good season for a weak Brewers team: 11-10, 3.35 in just under 200 innings. But I don't think St. Louis regretted letting him walk — they won the pennant without him and pocketed a draft pick in the process.

The current free agent compensation system is in its second year, and none of the 22 free agents who got a qualifying offer has accepted it. I suspect that until somebody does, teams will be increasingly willing to extend the offer (expecting it to be rejected), and free agents will be increasingly frustrated by the way the draft pick penalty degrades their market.

This just in: Ubaldo Jimenez is GOOD

Thursday afternoon, Ubaldo Jimenez (pictured) allowed one run to the Twins in eight innings. This slightly lowered his ERA to 1.15 from its previously lofty 1.16.

Jimenez's on-base percentage allowed is a sparce .272. What's more, it's effectively better than that because he's so efficient at removing those runners once they reach base.

On Thursday, for example, he

• got Danny Valencia to ground into a double play in the second inning
• got Denard Span to ground into a double play in the third inning
• got Jason Kubel to ground into a double play in the fourth inning
• picked Span off second base in the sixth inning
• got Joe Mauer to line into a double play in the eighth inning.

It's a perfect storm of double plays; the Twins lead baseball in GIDP anyway, and nobody in baseball has enticed more double play grounders than Jimenez (14), this despite the fact that few men reach base against him. He's also gotten seven caught stealing (five successful steal attempts), so he's cutting off the running game as well.

And, despite pitching his home games at altitude, he's allowed just three home runs.

Is he a realistic threat to challenge Bob Gibson's 1.12 ERA of 1968? Probably not. His batting average on balls in play is exceedingly low; he is prone to walks; and Coors Field, humidor or not, is still Coors Field. And 2010, despite all the great pitching lines, is not 1968.

But Jimenez could allow 30 earned runs without recording an out and still have an ERA below 3. That's astounding.

Notes, quotes and comments

Akinori Iwamura (pictured) has been designated for assignment by the Pittsburgh Pirates, who are going to use the roster space for primo prospect Pedro Alvarez.

Iwamura is the Pirates' highest paid player, but he's lost his second base job to Neil Walker and is blocked at third base by Alvarez.

Theoretically, Iwamura would be a good option for the Twins at third base. But I'm wary of him right now:

• As poorly as Nick Punto has hit this year (.241/.314/.307), his numbers are better than Iwamura has (.182/.292/.262).
• Iwamura had significant knee surgery last season, and his defensive range is said to have been lacking this year.

This probably isn't the time to grab him. (But if the Pirates will swap him for Brendan Harris, that's fine by me.)

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Let's see ... noon game after a night game, both teams jetting out of town after the game, and a power pitcher matchup of Ubaldo Jimenez (1.19 ERA, 57 hits in 93.1 innings) versus Francisco Liriano.

Runs should be really scarce today at Target Field. (Now watch; it'll be a 9-7 final with neither starter making it out of the fourth inning.)

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I don't know what's gone haywire with the poll. I do know I'm not unique.

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Jamie Moyer, age 47, after beating the Yankees on Wednesday:

I don't think that I'm old. So I don't believe it. Regardless of what people think or say, I still feel like I can go out and compete, and that's my ultimate job.