Jesse Crain filling the void

The word on the street (ie. internet) is that the Sox signed Jesse Crain to a 3-year contract somewhere in the ballpark of $13MM.

The years and money seem a bit much for a setup man, but it's completely (and unfortunately) in line with the relief free agent market this offseason. Crain will presumably fill the void left by Putz, and that's a pretty big hole to fill. However, the signing of Crain does raise a couple questions.

First, if there was money to sign Crain, why let Putz go? J.J. will probably earn more per annum than Crain, but not by much, and the total guaranteed value of his contract is for less. This makes me think two things... Either the Sox don't trust Putz to stay healthy, or they tested out the trading market, didn't like what they were hearing, and decided to pony up a little bit extra.

I think the latter makes more sense. There were rumours that KW was dangling a couple players (Floyd, Quentin), but didn't like the return he was offered. It wouldn't make much sense to go "all in" with big free agent signings, and let the team fall apart because of a thin bullpen that was a relatively minor signing away from being reasonably deep.

I don't know if I like the signing, but I don't hate it either. It seems reasonable given the market, and hopefully Crain - who is still just 29 - can build on his breakout year from 2010. He was a different pitcher last year, throwing more sliders than fastballs, and it seemed to work for him. His fastball has also been gaining velocity in recent seasons, which should fit into the Sox' bullpen philosophy.

I also hope this will put an end to any Kerry Wood talk. I don't want that dud on my team.